Guest Peter Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 I am purchasing a motorhome next year and intend to join one of the caravan clubs but am confused as to which one to join, there seems to be so many different organisations, so that I can take advantage of the offers and member discounts on sites. I was also told that it could be beneficial to join the national trust as this allows free access to their parks and sites etc. I am also interested in peoples preference in insurance companies and breakdown cover for a 20' 6" Elddis. As a new motorhomer there is many things I need to learn and these forums seem to be a good starting point. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pete Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Hi peter We are in camping & caravanning club, and Caravan club C&CC are better if you are going abroad especially in wniter And we have moved our insurance to CC both have club sites and some 5 van locations in this country (CL or SL) You can often get ferry discounts on the web just as good as the clubs If you got abroad out of season you can use 'Camping Cheques' from campingcheques.co.uk Cheques now cost about £10 each They also do insurance and travel tickets 20'6" is about the same as ours at 6m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 Only join a club if you need to. If you tour Europe mainland then its argueable. We use camping municipal sites in France plus some wild but considerate camping. If you like nice tidy structured UK sites then yes, join a club. Camping cheques? well I have picked up reports that a growing number of European sites will offer better bargains for cash than camping cheques. You pays your money and ....... We belong to the Camping and Caravan club for one reason only, RAC arrival. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ralph Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 This can be an emotive subject for some, not sure why. For my observation clubs depend on you, some people don't feel the need others like some of the advantages of having membership, the Caravan Club Magazine is worth the annual subscription compared to the cost of magazine subscriptions IMO. For breakdown cover you will need to belong to one or the other to get recovery as neither the RAC nor the AA will cover vans over a certain size, unless you are a member of a club. The Caravan Club for their recovery uses Green Flag and is cheaper than the other two organisations. The two major clubs both have a good network of sites and tend on the whole to be better quality, cleanliness and condition and price, than commercial sites, plus they both have a network of small 5 van only sites. Having said that I disagree with the way some facilities are priced i.e. Electric hook up I don't need but I am forced to pay for it!! I would advise joining both in your first year and then decide which, if either, you preffer. From my standpoint The analogy I would use, to differentiate between the two major clubs, is it is the difference between shopping in an upmarket store, where ther is some protocole or a jumble sale, that is a free for all, I leave you to decide which is which. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ralph Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 By the way I meant to also say that I believe there are definate advantages for European travel too, not from ferry bookings as you can get that cheaper direct, but from breakdown and recovery insurance, which is VFM but does not suit everyone. I have had personal experience of using Mayday, it could not be faulted and all I ended up paying for was the new part that was fitted to my vehicle in Germany on the Austrian border. £50 out of a £630 bill, Mayday had cost me £92!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Roy Pledger Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 We are members of the Caravan Club - just for the CL's which we use all the time and they are arguably better than C&CC. We have been with MCIA (see advert in MMM) for 16 years for insurance - they also do good value continental breakdown and personal insurance. Our UK breakdown is with Guild of Experienced Motorists (GEM) - you need to be a member. You make your own arrangements for the service (they also have a help line) and pay up front. They repay within days. National Trust is excellent - if you decide to join, join the SCOTTISH National Trust which covers all UK and is much cheaper for pensioners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 Thanks for all your messages, this is something that I will have to address early next year. As it will be our first motorhome we will be travelling in the UK only for the first year to find my way about and get used to motorhoming, I will obvioulsy need to arrange breakdown cover if it does not come with the new van, I must check this out with the dealer! Well, back to research in the MH mags and web sites to learn some more. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brian Kirby Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 Re Clive's comments. We, too, had used CCC + RAC Arrival but when we bought our 'van got quotes from various sources, including CCC. To ma amazement, I found that the cost of Arrival + the CCC quoted insurance for our 'van far exceeded other insurances that included virtually identical RAC Europe breakdown, unrestricted as to length/weight of van, within the overall premium. Worth checking. We ended up with Comfort (see MMM ads), whose policies would be worth checking to see if they offer what you want. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Petec Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 hi Peter Im Back Regardind Green Flag or RAC We have been let down 3 times by Greeen Flag One didnt know how to connect up jump leads when my delivery van had a flat battery & had to send for a garage Second couldnt work on a flat tyre & sent for a tyre firm Third took 2 hours to get to us then couldnt fix a simple fault on a distributer We nw have RAC through C&CC and the discount pays for the C&CC Fees Not had problems with them for either the 2tnne delivery van or the 3.5Tonne MH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Us, Definately the Jumble Sale brigade I guess! Don,t like being organised and prefer to do our own thing - which we have since 1972 and our first Bedford Dormobile Freeway. (Accent on FREE) But we are most definately not all the same, a good selection of comments above. We must look at our Insurance / Club / Breakdown package in detail when its next due. Our problem is that we have 3 vehicles on one policy so get a very good rate with Liverpool Victoria Frizzels near Bournemouth. We have got quotes from Comfort before and these have never been competitive, but I didn,t cost the complete package. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ja Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 if you join National Trust don't be too surprised if you can't get on their car-parks because of a proliferation of height barriers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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