Proof of bill payments?

[Clunegapyears]

We are full time. Postal address is my parents, registered with local doctor and on electoral roll here etc. Our insurance Saga, does not limit how long we use the MH in Europe. Some MH friends said they'd heard that insurance companies asking for proof of residence - evidence of utility bills having been paid. Has anyone come across this before?

 

[jagmanx]

My experience

We are full time. Postal address is my parents, registered with local doctor and on electoral roll here etc. Our insurance Saga, does not limit how long we use the MH in Europe. Some MH friends said they'd heard that insurance companies asking for proof of residence - evidence of utility bills having been paid. Has anyone come across this before?

IS...
That only Comfort (AVIVA) will insure you if you are honest and inform them fully of your situation.

We use MH all summer and migrate to Thailand for the winter (Not europe)
MH in "gold" storage.
Thus in many ways our theft risk is very low however we pay over £1000 for insurance !

I know many do as you and I am unclear as to whether or not you risk a claim being refused due to having not "told the whole truth" !

Not suggesting you do as I have done but just a thought !

 

[vwalan]

hi, you do hear folk talk about showing bills but if you were to rent a room somewhere like your mum and dada . you wouldnt have any bills ,only the rent . and that could be a token payment . so long as they are 2 people living there before you rates wont be effected and it wont bring in tax as the rent could be peppercorn rent .
even so other insurers do allow 365 days away fully comp but dont insure fulltimers so live in the room a bit .
just answer the questions truthfully . you live with your parents .

 

[Channa]

This is becoming increasingly prevalent with static caravans, a lot of people living residential on holiday sites is the issue. Sites and councils wanting to see utility bills from another address and insurers.

Main thing is you are on the electoral register, I assume bank statements, mobile telephone bills are sent to your parents address ? if you dont own the property highly unlikely utility bills in your name.

What you have to remember with insurance is it is a contract of "utmost good faith" in other words anything which may affect premium or the insurers willingness to even accept risk must be declared. in the event of a claim, if they believe you are using an address of convenience. they can do a couple of things

1.pay third party refuse your claim and sue you for what they have paid out to that third party
2) reduce the amount paid under the claim.

Thereafter extremely difficult to obtain insurance and you will pay a ransom.

I dont mean to scare you but I think only fair to point out a likely scenario if the insurers feel you havent been truthful

Channa

 

[pughed2]

tell your insurers what they want to hear

channa..........I would like to know how you are supposed to ensure your insurers get the truth. I changed my address, and went into a rented room. When changing vehicle details, and speaking to my insurer on the phone, he said `ah you need to prove to us you have moved into that new address.` I could supply a landlords contract with all details on, but obviously no utilities, and I was not then on electoral roll. Then he said `well if you cannot prove that you now live at that new address, I am afraid we cannot insure you`. So I said, `well if that's the case, you better leave it as I live at my previous address, and let the insurance continue`. He replied, `ok, I will leave it as you live at your previous address, and the insurance continues`. That was about 4 years ago, and the insurance still continues. If queries arise, obviously I will tell them they been told my new address but declined it...........sort that out............steve bristol

 

[Channa]

channa..........I would like to know how you are supposed to ensure your insurers get the truth. I changed my address, and went into a rented room. When changing vehicle details, and speaking to my insurer on the phone, he said `ah you need to prove to us you have moved into that new address.` I could supply a landlords contract with all details on, but obviously no utilities, and I was not then on electoral roll. Then he said `well if you cannot prove that you now live at that new address, I am afraid we cannot insure you`. So I said, `well if that's the case, you better leave it as I live at my previous address, and let the insurance continue`. He replied, `ok, I will leave it as you live at your previous address, and the insurance continues`. That was about 4 years ago, and the insurance still continues. If queries arise, obviously I will tell them they been told my new address but declined it...........sort that out............steve bristol

You have superbly demonstrated my point, in that you acted in utmost good faith and the insurer refused risk. I suspect it was a broker you spoke too ? I would be very surprised the insurer themselves doing that. Would it happen today ? most calls if not all recorded, when I fulltimed i had a similar situation with safeguard, who refused to insure. I switched to NFU and they were happy.....strange world insurance

Channa

 

[sasquatch]

What ever happened to the 'post rest ante' scheme?

 

[didds]

You have superbly demonstrated my point, in that you acted in utmost good faith and the insurer refused risk.

as is their prerogative of course.

I think its a case of insurers being stupid, but that's their funeral. The downside I do appreciate that if that only leaves an insuerer with a ridiculous premium its our funeral too! I think its at this juncture that the advice to use a broker rather than a website comes in, but that;s is quite trite I appreciate also.

didds

 

[vwalan]

What ever happened to the 'post rest ante' scheme?

it still works . use the main post office where you are . we use it alot when away .
a while ago i was stopped in brittany for a few months and the local postman even brought out my mail to save me going into town .
i was with some other french folk that were almost permanently living there . but i thought it nice of him.
mind post restante isnt an adress you live . insurance is really based on where you live . i,m glad i live in cornwall its a cheap insurance area .
all things to think of if moving houses etc .

 

[klaatu]

What ever happened to the 'post rest ante' scheme?

Post Restante still exists - Poste Restante | Post Office

I'm not sure how it's relevant to full-time insurance, though?

 

[didds]

David's idea is a sound one but WADR how would my bank manager know that i resident in the UK?

He doesn't know me, I don't know him, all he can go on is that I have a bank account with a UK address. Which then I would already have as proof of address anyway.

whether I lived there or not! And that I could have a forwarding setup to anywhere else in the world that I fund continually.

didds

 

[didds]

With
All
Due
Respect.



Sp MHers don;t have bank accounts? My own ignorance here showing ~

didds

 

[Channa]

FSA regulations are far reaching as are the FCA regs for banks and insurers, who are heavily governed by the rule book. They have a duty of due diligence because of money laundering regulations as a starter. So proof of ID and address is a standard ask. The reason they ask and like utility bills they insist dated in the last 3 months. The reasoning is the customer is living where they say they are. Of course that may not necessarily be true but works in the majority of cases.

Slightly OT but anyone any idea of the best form of ID you can have ? trivia moment Ticks all the boxes in one foul swoop

Channa

 

[didds]

No, its me

yes banks need proof of address etc. But when the banks required proof of address is another bank statement with an address on it, that doesn't mean that the address on the bank statement means that person actually lives there, just that that person has access to the bank statements that are delivered there. And in this day and age of electronic statements, all that really means is that they have access to a printer and the internet.

As an example when i lived in Germany 1989-1991 i still had bank accounts that used my previous address which happened to be my parents' house (in the UK).

So wrt proof of ID, all they have actually done is "best efforts" because the bank manager doesn't personally known that person, and all they have to go on is that at some time in the potentially very distant past that person once lived somewhere. that's all I meant. So coming back to asking a bank manager to write a letter merely means they check on a database that a claimed address matches an account number.

Maybe I am still missing something

didds

 

[Clunegapyears]

Thanks

hi, you do hear folk talk about showing bills but if you were to rent a room somewhere like your mum and dada . you wouldnt have any bills ,only the rent . and that could be a token payment . so long as they are 2 people living there before you rates wont be effected and it wont bring in tax as the rent could be peppercorn rent .
even so other insurers do allow 365 days away fully comp but dont insure fulltimers so live in the room a bit .
just answer the questions truthfully . you live with your parents .

It can be a bit of a minefield. Agree to being honest ... And we do 'live' at Aged P's pretty much when home. Here at the moment, although it is enforced as van is with fiat and they can't work out why it will start / won't start ... Another thread possibly. The breakdown insurance cover we have with Saga has been pretty good too. Roadside recovery in Donegal and then the low loader last week.

 

[Delboy]

I'm not sure if this applies to this sort of instance, but it was only about a month ago, was there not a legal case involving an insurance company turning down a claim made by a marine shipping company, because one of the major facts was false in the case, but the court ruled that it was immaterial and the insurance had to pay out! I think there was some out cry by the insurance companies, because they could not void the claim. Not sure where this takes us but they were claiming that seen as the declared facts were not true they were in the right. Not sure the case went any further.

 

[didds]

I get all that

So what do banks do to check that you live where you say you live? Drive round and knock on the door? And how would they know the person that opens the door that says their name is Fred Bloggs is actually Fred Bloggs (signature aside maybe ?)

didds

 

[Deleted member 967]

After 6 years of full timing I know that if you are up front and tell people you are dealing with, that you are living fulltime in a motorhome touring and the address you have given them is a contact address they are quite happy.

We dealt quite happily with our bank and when we went in the staff always asked where we had been to and had we had a good time. It was on our record when they brought up the info screen.
DVLA do need a physical (street) address for your drivers licence and vehicle, but that is for contact purposes and as long as mail is dealt with they are OK. Licences and VED can be done online now, so it is only if you are naughty and get a ticket that they need to contact you by snail mail. They will only use a mailbox as part of the address for a limited liability company/business, not an individual.

We used a family members address and didn't have any problem even when they moved house.

As for utility bills we did have contract mobile phone bills. There are some advantages of contract over PAYG. Most bills can be online, but if you ask they will send/print off a paper copy.

Motorhome Mail (a division of Boatmail used by cruisers and canal dwellers) will offer a street address that is acceptable. They will even open and scan any communication to you anywhere in the world and you can reply by email and they will put it on paper and post it in the UK for you. Mail forwarding and scanning - the specialist service by Motorhomemail.co.uk They don't use a mailbox address.

Comfort (AVIVA) only specify they may need to see a utility bill if you claim to have a UK address. They do not ask for these if you pay the full timing premium. Most other insurers have trip limits, as they assume or you have told them, you have a UK address. No trip limit with Comfort when full timing premium has been paid.