C
Calikan
Hi guys first time poster long time lurker for the last 6 months - first off thanks for the amazing info on this forum has really helped me in buying and now owning my 1st Cali!
I thought i'd just post an unusual / poor experience with campervan insurance situation i've had after buying my first '22 California Coast at the end of March 2024.
Basically we were very happy with our lovely new camper we picked up from Peterborough VW at the end of March - what a machine. From someone who wasnt sure and who likes his fast cars I decided to trade-in my fast and thirsty Merc c43 AMG for a more leasurely experience and have Zero regrets
I decided to opt for Admiral as my insurers for my van - which i now majorly regret and wanted to share my experience. Long story short after less than 2 months I was involved in a no-fault accident and my campervan was written off as a Cat S. Although I was insured with Admiral i decided to claim entirely through the 3rd party that rear-ended me - which turns out was also insured through Admiral.
The experience has been terrible from start to finish. Even though they do their own Campervan insurance they have NO idea how to deal with California claims. I spent the first week, hours on end trying to get a temporary replacement / rental campervan which they could not do, even if they wanted to (long story here alone!). After a whole week (luckily the AA provided me a temp rental during this period) Eventually they provided me a horrible Nissan SUV. By this point they had ground me down so much I went with it. Also due to the fact we had Glastonbury with Campervan tickets booked, and only by escalating right up to the Head of 3rd Party claims on LinkedIn did i finally get them to pay for a rental van for this period when we were away. All the while they spent weeks messing me and my family around and with no settlement figure etc - again because they have no idea how to value Californias - even though as we all know they are a standard factory build 'car'! Worst thing is if they had any common sense they would have saved themselves literally thousands of pounds not having to pay for my replacement hire car and campervan and a whole host of other expenses, and saved me LITERALLY hours of phone calls with agents that have NO idea and are not skilled at all.
Good news is it is finally resolved (though they are still standing by that my van is worth £1500 less than I paid for it less than 2 months ago!) and I am now a proud owner of a California Ocean as a replacement - managed to get a newer 2023 van, with lower mileage, higher Ocean spec and 204hp engine with pretty much every option on PCP for a similar monthly price due to the price drops that have been commented on in the forum
I have now opted for Comfort Insurance - and quoting experience was superb and very quick - and they seem to know what they are talking about. In addition the insurance was also CHEAPER than the Admiral policy I had on my previous Coast! Looking forward to a 2 week trip with my wife and two young kids at the end of July in our new Cali - named Shania after seeing her at Glastonbury
)
So TLDR - I would persomally avoid Admiral for campervan insurance - cant comment on general car insurance but can confirm they are NOT setup at all for campervan claims if/when something bad happens. I've spent weeks of my life even though common sense should have prevailed, and so far I would recommend Comfort as an alternative.
Hope this helps people make their minds up on insuring our pride and joys!
I thought i'd just post an unusual / poor experience with campervan insurance situation i've had after buying my first '22 California Coast at the end of March 2024.
Basically we were very happy with our lovely new camper we picked up from Peterborough VW at the end of March - what a machine. From someone who wasnt sure and who likes his fast cars I decided to trade-in my fast and thirsty Merc c43 AMG for a more leasurely experience and have Zero regrets
I decided to opt for Admiral as my insurers for my van - which i now majorly regret and wanted to share my experience. Long story short after less than 2 months I was involved in a no-fault accident and my campervan was written off as a Cat S. Although I was insured with Admiral i decided to claim entirely through the 3rd party that rear-ended me - which turns out was also insured through Admiral.
The experience has been terrible from start to finish. Even though they do their own Campervan insurance they have NO idea how to deal with California claims. I spent the first week, hours on end trying to get a temporary replacement / rental campervan which they could not do, even if they wanted to (long story here alone!). After a whole week (luckily the AA provided me a temp rental during this period) Eventually they provided me a horrible Nissan SUV. By this point they had ground me down so much I went with it. Also due to the fact we had Glastonbury with Campervan tickets booked, and only by escalating right up to the Head of 3rd Party claims on LinkedIn did i finally get them to pay for a rental van for this period when we were away. All the while they spent weeks messing me and my family around and with no settlement figure etc - again because they have no idea how to value Californias - even though as we all know they are a standard factory build 'car'! Worst thing is if they had any common sense they would have saved themselves literally thousands of pounds not having to pay for my replacement hire car and campervan and a whole host of other expenses, and saved me LITERALLY hours of phone calls with agents that have NO idea and are not skilled at all.
Good news is it is finally resolved (though they are still standing by that my van is worth £1500 less than I paid for it less than 2 months ago!) and I am now a proud owner of a California Ocean as a replacement - managed to get a newer 2023 van, with lower mileage, higher Ocean spec and 204hp engine with pretty much every option on PCP for a similar monthly price due to the price drops that have been commented on in the forum
I have now opted for Comfort Insurance - and quoting experience was superb and very quick - and they seem to know what they are talking about. In addition the insurance was also CHEAPER than the Admiral policy I had on my previous Coast! Looking forward to a 2 week trip with my wife and two young kids at the end of July in our new Cali - named Shania after seeing her at Glastonbury
So TLDR - I would persomally avoid Admiral for campervan insurance - cant comment on general car insurance but can confirm they are NOT setup at all for campervan claims if/when something bad happens. I've spent weeks of my life even though common sense should have prevailed, and so far I would recommend Comfort as an alternative.
Hope this helps people make their minds up on insuring our pride and joys!