Insurance warning and eventually a good result, it’s a mine field out there

[Paul_W]

So just to summarise, we we brought our California last August and added it to our Aviva multi car policy, cheap and good insurer but a major exclusion, fire damage as it has cooking equipment installed. We took the chance because we needed cover in a hurry but always intended to insure elsewhere at renewal.

So the renewal arrived in the week and was a very reasonable £308. Started ringing round and thought I’d do the ones off the club website, so Safeguard and Comfort.

Safeguard first, quote came in at £556.00 including breakdown cover and with the 48 hour theft exclusion where vehicle is not slept in and kept away from home address. Person on the phone seemed to have no knowledge of campervans, wasn’t particularly helpful and when I said we didn’t need breakdown cover and that they seemed very expensive transfered the call to a partner company “Scenic” who could quote without breakdown cover. So they quoted £353.00 with a £450 excess with a company called “Markerstudy”. I googled them as I’d never heard of them and the reviews were shocking, 1 out of 10 was a common theme with people saying if they could leave a score of 0 they would. I asked them to post me details of the quote out. Now for a shocker, the quote arrived and had a major exclusion highlighted in the terms, no cover would be in force if you didn’t have access to another vehicle to use in addition to the camper at all times. I told them specifically that this was the only vehicle we had access to so in effect the insurance would have been useless.

Next Comfort, again the person seemed to have little knowledge of California’s, argued over the alarm insisting we needed a fitting certificate and proof that it was being maintained despite it being a factory fitted system. Also told me we couldn’t possibly be insured with Aviva as they did not insure camper vans directly. Finally quoted £596.00 with a £450 excess but the paperwork said we needed to provide the alarm fitting certificate or the insurance wouldn’t be valid and stated we had access to another vehicle when I said we didn’t.

Getting a bit dishartened tried a couple of the online insurance comparison sites and got more quotes around the £350 region but they were all through brokers and ended up being with Markeystudy so no chance I was going with them.

Finally tried the Caravan and Motorhome club who were guaranteeing to beat your renewal by £25. They quoted £25.02 cheaper than Aviva with a £250 excess with the insurance being through Axa on a proper motorhome policy with great cover and no nasty exclusions.

Needless to say we went with the Caravan and Motorhome club policy which has been thoroughly checked and offers fantastic cover with no nasty exclusions.

So be warned don’t just take it for granted that because something is promoted on this website that it’s a good choice, I was quite shocked by just how bad Safeguard and Comfort were. Had we not read all the small print we could easily have been left without cover.

I think most people would rather pay a reasonable price for their insurance and feel secure that they have a good product, it’s not like California’s are cheap and for sure we couldn’t afford to loose £35K in the event of an insurance dispute and declined claim.

So beware, I’m just glad the whole insurance nightmare is over, we’ll at least until next April

 

[California4x4]

Good of you to share your experiences.

 

[Meoncoast]

Needless to say we went with the Caravan and Motorhome club policy which has been thoroughly checked and offers fantastic cover with no nasty exclusions.

Having been with them for a number of years now can only say we had a 1st class service. Having had a £9k no fault rear-ended to our T5 by a reluctant to inform his insurance company boy racer in his BMW process taken over by CMHC claims company - all repaired at VW approved body shop and cost all claimed back from other parties.

 

[D'sCali]

So just to summarise, we we brought our California last August and added it to our Aviva multi car policy, cheap and good insurer but a major exclusion, fire damage as it has cooking equipment installed. We took the chance because we needed cover in a hurry but always intended to insure elsewhere at renewal.

So the renewal arrived in the week and was a very reasonable £308. Started ringing round and thought I’d do the ones off the club website, so Safeguard and Comfort.

Safeguard first, quote came in at £556.00 including breakdown cover and with the 48 hour theft exclusion where vehicle is not slept in and kept away from home address. Person on the phone seemed to have no knowledge of campervans, wasn’t particularly helpful and when I said we didn’t need breakdown cover and that they seemed very expensive transfered the call to a partner company “Scenic” who could quote without breakdown cover. So they quoted £353.00 with a £450 excess with a company called “Markerstudy”. I googled them as I’d never heard of them and the reviews were shocking, 1 out of 10 was a common theme with people saying if they could leave a score of 0 they would. I asked them to post me details of the quote out. Now for a shocker, the quote arrived and had a major exclusion highlighted in the terms, no cover would be in force if you didn’t have access to another vehicle to use in addition to the camper at all times. I told them specifically that this was the only vehicle we had access to so in effect the insurance would have been useless.

Next Comfort, again the person seemed to have little knowledge of California’s, argued over the alarm insisting we needed a fitting certificate and proof that it was being maintained despite it being a factory fitted system. Also told me we couldn’t possibly be insured with Aviva as they did not insure camper vans directly. Finally quoted £596.00 with a £450 excess but the paperwork said we needed to provide the alarm fitting certificate or the insurance wouldn’t be valid and stated we had access to another vehicle when I said we didn’t.

Getting a bit dishartened tried a couple of the online insurance comparison sites and got more quotes around the £350 region but they were all through brokers and ended up being with Markeystudy so no chance I was going with them.

Finally tried the Caravan and Motorhome club who were guaranteeing to beat your renewal by £25. They quoted £25.02 cheaper than Aviva with a £250 excess with the insurance being through Axa on a proper motorhome policy with great cover and no nasty exclusions.

Needless to say we went with the Caravan and Motorhome club policy which has been thoroughly checked and offers fantastic cover with no nasty exclusions.

So be warned don’t just take it for granted that because something is promoted on this website that it’s a good choice, I was quite shocked by just how bad Safeguard and Comfort were. Had we not read all the small print we could easily have been left without cover.

I think most people would rather pay a reasonable price for their insurance and feel secure that they have a good product, it’s not like California’s are cheap and for sure we couldn’t afford to loose £35K in the event of an insurance dispute and declined claim.

So beware, I’m just glad the whole insurance nightmare is over, we’ll at least until next April

Thanks for sharing,just about to insure ours ready for pick up on Wednesday so I will check all the small print before we go ahead.
Having phoned around a few last week, I too had a similar experience with Safeguard, the girl on the phone had no real idea of the vehicle I was trying to insure and when pushed I managed to get the quote reduced by nearly £100, but it took me a few goes! However still more expensive than others for the same cover and higher excess.

 

[Paul_W]

Thanks for sharing,just about to insure ours ready for pick up on Wednesday so I will check all the small print before we go ahead.
Having phoned around a few last week, I too had a similar experience with Safeguard, the girl on the phone had no real idea of the vehicle I was trying to insure and when pushed I managed to get the quote reduced by nearly £100, but it took me a few goes! However still more expensive than others for the same cover and higher excess.

Whoever you go with the Caravan and Motorhome club are a good shout when your renewal comes round as they do what they say and beat your quote by at least £25 and it’s a really good policy. That said even without giving them a renewal quote to beat they were still over a £100 cheaper than Safeguard and a better policy

I was just a bit shocked by the lack of knowledge of the staff at Comfort and Safeguard, I was expecting to speak to someone who knew what a California was

Good luck with your insurance hunt

 

[Fergie Collier]

Thank for sharing - I have been using the multi car policy too but will change this year. Many thanks

 

[BikerGran]

Useful info, thanks. I've been with Safeguard for the 3 years I've had the Cali, haven't bothered changing as the quote was a few ££ less each time, but I was thinking of changing this year as the included AA cover doesn't include getting the van home, only recovery to nearest garage. That was ok as I had other cover for any vehicle because I had another car but now the Cali is my only vehicle I need to rethink.
I'm thinking of trying A-Plan which I've seen recommended on various campervan sites (but only if you talk to Dan the campervan specialist).
But I have to investigate Rescue services that will do the full personal cover so if anyone knows anything I'd be glad to hear.