motorhome insurance

[John H]

Comfort will give anyone a quote for 365 day EU insurance cover but it is more expensive and is classed as fulltiming.I believe they are the only company to offer this cover for genuine fulltimers that live in their vehicle and don't have a UK address.

And therein lies the reason why it all depends on your needs. Safeguard automatically include 365 days comprehensive cover; Comfort do not, so to compare them you have to take that into account. I realise that to most people it is not an issue but the OP talked about travelling widely in Europe so it may (or may not) be significant for him.

 

[John H]

Do you mean 'significantly changes' to the extent that you don't actually have ANY meaningful cover?

Our motorhome is 4.5 tonnes and we have full breakdown recovery with Safeguard.

 

[Deleted member 9849]

And therein lies the reason why it all depends on your needs. Safeguard automatically include 365 days comprehensive cover; Comfort do not, so to compare them you have to take that into account. I realise that to most people it is not an issue but the OP talked about travelling widely in Europe so it may (or may not) be significant for him.

The OP actually said soon to become fulltimers.......................

Hello,
we have never had to purchase motorhome insurance before, soon to become full timers (over 50) travelling europe......and recommendations........

so Comfort is the only insurance company that will cover them if they fill in the tick boxes honestly.

 

[John H]

The OP actually said soon to become fulltimers.......................



so Comfort is the only insurance company that will cover them if they fill in the tick boxes honestly.

I said that it may or may not be significant to him. And to say that Comfort is the only company that will cover them is pure nonsense. Safeguard cover you for 365 days in the EU. If you have a UK address, are on the electoral roll and are resident (which, as has been established on another thread) can mean only 30 days in the UK then you are covered. "Full timing" is not a legal phrase - it all depends on the conditions of the insurer.

 

[Deleted member 9849]

I said that it may or may not be significant to him. And to say that Comfort is the only company that will cover them is pure nonsense.

Thanks for that contribution John,perhaps you can make a positive contribution and recommend another UK insurance company that the OP can use for fulltiming which he intends to do eventually.

 

[Byronic]

Our motorhome is 4.5 tonnes and we have full breakdown recovery with Safeguard.

So possibly significant changes, but not significant enough to affect you. But they may be significant enough to affect me (should I happen to consider going with Safeguard) @ 7 tonnes.
I'll probably just have to rely on my socket set and own resources as always.

 

[John H]

So possibly significant changes, but not significant enough to affect you. But they may be significant enough to affect me (should I happen to consider going with Safeguard) @ 7 tonnes.
I'll probably just have to rely on my socket set and own resources as always.

Sorry, can't help you with 7 tonnes - hope you find what you are looking for.

 

[John H]

Thanks for that contribution John,perhaps you can make a positive contribution and recommend another UK insurance company that the OP can use for fulltiming which he intends to do eventually.

As I said above, there is no legal definition of full-timing. Each insurance company will have its own terms and conditions and it all depends on precisely what the OP needs and wants. In my case, I own a house in England; it is my legal residence; it is my only residence; I spend virtually all my time in the motorhome; I spend the 30 days a year minimum in the UK that is required in my circumstances to maintain residence; I have a motorhome policy that covers me for 365 days in the EU with no limitations on time or mileage. I therefore recommend that the OP considers Safeguard.

 

[Deleted member 967]

As I said above, there is no legal definition of full-timing. Each insurance company will have its own terms and conditions and it all depends on precisely what the OP needs and wants. In my case, I own a house in England; it is my legal residence; it is my only residence; I spend virtually all my time in the motorhome; I spend the 30 days a year minimum in the UK that is required in my circumstances to maintain residence; I have a motorhome policy that covers me for 365 days in the EU with no limitations on time or mileage. I therefore recommend that the OP considers Safeguard.

By Full Timing I and Comfort understand my Motorhome is my sole residence. I do not have a UK residence, or a house let to others which therefor is not my residence any longer. If you maintain a UK residence then Safeguard will fit the bill otherwise your only choice is Comfort or AIB and MHFacts who also use the same AVIVA policy. I have contacted MHFacts and AIB and they could not match my Comfort quotation. I have been with them since 2006 and full time since Feb 2010. Being a UK resident and having a UK residence are two separate issues.

I now spend about 5 to 6 months a year touring full time in the UK and the rest abroad in the winter months.

The breakdown over has proved to be excellent both at home and abroad, and inexpensive at £60 including IPT.

Another point is there was no charge to a change of contact address, when our daughter moved house, as we were only changing a contact address and were not rated for a new address.

I have asked other companies and on explaining my circumstances they all say that 365 day cover would not cover my circumstances. The CC did say they offered full time cover but only allowed 90 days EU comprehensive cover. The terms also indicated that I had to maintain a UK residence. It is your duty to answer the questions honestly, fudging answers could leave you in the s--t and large bills to pay.

I know that I am covered for any problems that could occur including repatriation to the UK, if I am unable to continue driving for any reason, for us and the Motorhome.

 

[Deleted member 9849]

By Full Timing I and Comfort understand my Motorhome is my sole residence. I do not have a UK residence, or a house let to others which therefor is not my residence any longer. If you maintain a UK residence then Safeguard will fit the bill otherwise your only choice is Comfort or AIB and MHFacts who also use the same AVIVA policy. I have contacted MHFacts and AIB and they could not match my Comfort quotation. I have been with them since 2006 and full time since Feb 2010. Being a UK resident and having a UK residence are two separate issues.

I now spend about 5 to 6 months a year touring full time in the UK and the rest abroad in the winter months.

The breakdown over has proved to be excellent both at home and abroad, and inexpensive at £60 including IPT.

Another point is there was no charge to a change of contact address, when our daughter moved house, as we were only changing a contact address and were not rated for a new address.

I have asked other companies and on explaining my circumstances they all say that 365 day cover would not cover my circumstances. The CC did say they offered full time cover but only allowed 90 days EU comprehensive cover. The terms also indicated that I had to maintain a UK residence. It is your duty to answer the questions honestly, fudging answers could leave you in the s--t and large bills to pay.

I know that I am covered for any problems that could occur including repatriation to the UK, if I am unable to continue driving for any reason, for us and the Motorhome.

Excellent answer John,did you find there was a significant increase in premiums when declaring and changing to the fulltimers insurance and have you been satisfied with Comfort's claim handling procedure?

 

[John H]

Being a UK resident and having a UK residence are two separate issues.

Of course - which is why I was careful to point out from the start that there is no "best" answer; it all depends on the circumstances and needs of the person concerned. Clearly, Safeguard would not suit your needs; it suits mine perfectly. Only the OP will know his precise needs and therefore what path to follow.

 

[Deleted member 967]

Excellent answer John,did you find there was a significant increase in premiums when declaring and changing to the fulltimers insurance and have you been satisfied with Comfort's claim handling procedure?

Yes wakk4. There was a 100% increase in the premium on going full time. I was paying £375 which was renewed December 2009. We went full time in February 2010 and the premium was adjusted and we had to pay the difference. Each year since then, the premium has gone up. Last December the premium was £1400 including breakdown cover. They did say there was no actual increase this year in the premium but the government had imposed an increase in Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) and that had added £150.

I had a claim just before going full time. Awning and Safari Room blown over the top of the van. This also damaged the satellite dish. This claim was settled no problem. We have had a number of breakdowns both a home and abroad and each one was handled very well.

I asked AIB for a quote and they said they would have to start with a base quote of £1,500 and adjust upward.

 

[Deleted member 9849]

Yes wakk4. There was a 100% increase in the premium on going full time. I was paying £375 which was renewed December 2009. We went full time in February 2010 and the premium was adjusted and we had to pay the difference. Each year since then, the premium has gone up. Last December the premium was £1400 including breakdown cover. They did say there was no actual increase this year in the premium but the government had imposed an increase in Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) and that had added £150.

I had a claim just before going full time. Awning and Safari Room blown over the top of the van. This also damaged the satellite dish. This claim was settled no problem. We have had a number of breakdowns both a home and abroad and each one was handled very well.

I asked AIB for a quote and they said they would have to start with a base quote of £1,500 and adjust upward.

Good to hear that Comfort are good with claims handling,I have been with them for several years and only had a stone chip on the windscreen which was repaired foc with no loss of NCD.
A friend had his Rapido severely damaged by a freak hailstorm a couple of years ago and Comfort were excellent,even assisting him when the initial repair was unsatisfactory and insisting it was taken elsewhere and done properly.

 

[Deleted member 39129]

Camper Van Insurance

We converted a VW T5 from a panel van to Motor caravan, during the fit out we had special insurance for 12 months that allowed us to do the fit out, upon completion of the fit out we changed details with DVLA from Van to Motor caravan, we then stayed with the same insurance company.
We sent the insurance company photos of the finished camper, we then took out an agreed value insurance, which is far higher than market value.
Our Insurance is due next month, we have received our renewal premium of £470.00. With this info I contacted AIB who quoted just over £1000.00 for exactly the same cover, they also offered a market value cost of £378.00 I did mention Wildcamping.
We will be staying with Adrian Flux Insurance.

 

[Deleted member 39129]

Insurance quote

A VW T5 is a lot less than 3500KG I have checked the small print, the policy is custom made to each situation.

Happy Camping

 

[FULL TIMER]

So far we have avoided the real need for full timers insurance but in the case that we ever go that route bearing in mind that only Aviva offer this through various brokers ( I understand they don't offer it direct) didn't I read somewhere that there is an age limit clause also?

 

[Deleted member 967]

So far we have avoided the real need for full timers insurance but in the case that we ever go that route bearing in mind that only Aviva offer this through various brokers ( I understand they don't offer it direct) didn't I read somewhere that there is an age limit clause also?

We have full time insurance with AVIVA through Comfort. We have a 1992 4600Kg van and I queried the age thing when I heard about some having difficulty getting insurance through them. We got the reply that as long as we were continuing to insure through them, there was no problem with renewals regarding age either of the vehicle or the driver.

We have unlimited mileage and I asked about limited mileage and was told it would make no difference to the premium charged.

 

[jagmanx]

Similar

We have full time insurance with AVIVA through Comfort. We have a 1992 4600Kg van and I queried the age thing when I heard about some having difficulty getting insurance through them. We got the reply that as long as we were continuing to insure through them, there was no problem with renewals regarding age either of the vehicle or the driver.

We have unlimited mileage and I asked about limited mileage and was told it would make no difference to the premium charged.

Comfort seems to be our only choice (if that is a choice) and our premiums are similar but a bit less as our vehicle is under 3.5 tons.
We had a slighly complicated claim last summer in that
1 Another couple were using our vehicle (we had to pay extra...OK)
2 The wind totally trashed the awning
3 the couple bought and paid for a new awning (£465)
4 Aviva were helpful and we got it all sorted fairly quickly and they refunded £265 immediately (£465 less the excess)

Breakdown..
I got a flat tyre (fortunately in a campsite)
Rac were contacted and arrived after 45 mins (OK) and duly sorted.
Interestingly they check oil water and brake fluid as a matter of routine.

 

[John H]

I would reread the small print you will find that they significantly alter the cover on vehicles which are over 3500 kg

Small print duly read and all is ok