postnote Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I have recently sold my Autotrail and bought a Burstner, this is where the trouble started. I rang my insurer Caravan Guard to amend my policy and was informed that now I had purchased a MH with the value of £47,000 I had to have a Thatcham Cat 1 alarm and imobiliser fitted. I tried to explain that it had a factory fitted alarm and imobiliser to which I was told was not acceptable. If I did not have a Thatcham Cat 1 fitted they would not continue with my present cover. The good news is that if I have a Thatcham fitted, approx £500 I would receive a further 5% discount on my insurance, about £20. I’m sure there are people out there who have new MH with only factory fitted alarms and immobilisers fitted that can get insurance cover without being held to ransom of having a Thatcham alarm fitted. After all the insurance companies must get a kick back from Thatcham, I say this as a couple of years ago I was insuring my new car, and yes was a high performance model and was told by Norwich Union that I had to have a Thatcham Cat 1 fitted. I explained that even with a Thatcham Cat 1 alarm vehicles can still be stolen. I offered to pay for a better option an approved Tracker installation. At least with this system they could get my car back. I was told that this proven system of car recovery was not acceptable and would not be accepted. And you the car had a factory fitted alarm and immobiliser fitted. For those of us who have MH under £40,000 then use Caravan Guard, anyone with MH over £40,000 will have to have a Thatcham Cat 1 fitted. Oh yes, nowhere on Caravan Guard website does it state this. And when insuring my first MH was I warned that there was a value ceiling should I upgrade to a more expensive MH! Anyone know a good insurance company that will insure with only a factory fitted alarm or imobiliser fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel wood Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Try The Caravan and Camping Club . We have been satisfied with them and over 9 years have found them to offer the best price for the cover we require. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 SORRY>>>>>>>>>>>>>Don't bother reading this one....I tried to delete it unsucessfully, and the full and edited version is the next posting!!!!!!!!!! I think you will find that Caravan Guard are not alone in this requirement for the 'more expensive' range of motorhomes.......although in the present market, there's not much around under £40K!. It may ne that the breakpoint for the price banding is different with other insurers. I don't know about a kick-back from the Insurers to a Thatcham Cat 1 alarm, but persoanlly I would not (having experienced it several years ago), want a 'factory fitted' alarm. What came as fitted was rubbish, and in the end I had that stripped out, and as with all my motorhomes to date had a professionally fitted, motorhome speclaised Van Bitz alarm fitted. If you are paying £40K plus for a motorhome, why 'penny pinch' when it comes to security? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I think you will find that Caravan Guard are not alone in this requirement for the 'more expensive' range of motorhomes.......although in the present market, there's not much around under £40K!. It may ne that the breakpoint for the price banding is different with other insurers. I don't know about a kick-back from the Insurers to a Thatcham Cat 1 alarm, but personally I would not (having experienced it several years ago), want a 'factory fitted' alarm. What came as fitted was rubbish, and in the end I had that stripped out, and as with all my motorhomes previously and since, had a professionally fitted, motorhome specialised Van Bitz alarm fitted. If you are paying £40K plus for a motorhome, why 'penny pinch' when it comes to security? I know that one UK manufacturer offers a 'package' which includes what I suspect is a fairly basic alarm system 'factory fitted', and it's a shame this is simply part of an otheriwse useful 'bundle'. However, Burstner are German built, and although is now four years old, I am surprised if they include an alarm in their basic pricing - was it an added 'option' or perhaps a dealer specified extra? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I had the same trouble, so told them to contact main dealer of m/h and they will confirm if it is a cat 1 or not. They did so and that was good enough for them. Worth a try, especially as the fiat part has a built in imobilisor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike P Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Have a look on the Thatcham website where it lists all the approved alarm systems, it may be that yours is included. A few years ago I changed car insurance to M&S brokers, they kept insisting that I had to show a certificate of installation for the alarm system and would not accept that it was an approved factory fitted alarm until I directed them to the appropriate part of the Thatcham site. Strange since Thatcham is sponsored by the insurance companies. Mike P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 But tthatcham does not list a lot of foreign alarms even though they are as good as the ones they list. They onl;y list the ones the manufacturers have paid them to test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caravan Guard Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Hi guys, I just wanted to respond to postnote’s original comment and the subsequent discussion about our security requirements for motorhomes, and specifically which devices we can accept as sufficient security, and within what values. The information is stated on our website's motorhome security page and says “Extra security precautions may be made a condition of cover if your motorhome is of high value. However, you will still benefit from a premium discount to reward this additional security.” We also have the value brackets stated in our FAQ’s section as: £20,001 - £40,000: Immobiliser (Manufacturer fitted or Thatcham Category 2) £40,001 - £55,000: Alarm and Immobiliser (Thatcham Category 1 or Thatcham 2 to 1 Upgrade or Van Bitz Strikeback) £55,001 - £80,000: Tracking Device & Immobiliser (A Caravan Guard approved tracking device and Thatcham Category 2 approved or manufacturer fitted immobiliser) £80,001 and over - Please call us to discuss We are however going to add a link from our motorhome security page to the value brackets in the FAQ’s to make things simpler for future users as a result of your comments. With regards to which devices qualify I would like to clarify that we can accept a factory fitted immobiliser or a Thatcham Category 2 approved aftermarket immobiliser for motorhomes worth between £20,001 and £40,000. However, if a motorhome is insured for £40,001 or more we do require a Thatcham Category 1 system to be fitted. A Thatcham category 1 approved system may be in the form of an aftermarket system where both an immobiliser and alarm are retrofitted to your motorhome, or it may be that an Thatcham 2 to 1 upgrade alarm is fitted to a motorhome with an existing factory fitted immobiliser to bring security up to Thatcham Category 1 standard, or it may be that your motorhome manufacturer has fitted an alarm and immobiliser in the factory that are already of Thatcham Category 1 standard. If your alarm and immobiliser are factory fitted and you’re not sure if this means you have Thatcham Category 1 security system, it’s worth finding out the make and model of the security and then checking on the Thatcham website (http://www.thatcham.org/security/). I hope this makes things clearer, if you have any questions please email us at info@caravanguard.co.uk Best regards Neil Caravan Guard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Caravan Guard Insurance Co are to be congratulated for being very professional and efficient in their dealing with motorcaravanners. I switched to them after being with the caravan club insurers for a number of years and continually being ripped off with silly premiums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 rolandrat - 2011-08-08 6:28 PMCaravan Guard Insurance Co are to be congratulated for being very professional and efficient in their dealing with motorcaravanners. I switched to them after being with the caravan club insurers for a number of years and continually being ripped off with silly premiums.I reckon you've got a discount on your next premium Roland:D............Only joking:-)........It's nice to see a company come on to the forum to put their point of view.............. earns a lot of brownie points from me;-)Its a shame some other companies have not got the same approach*-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Credit where it's due Dave they really are very good, I had to put my changeover day forward at short notice when I was taking delivery of another motorhome and they responded with no trouble at all, even ringing me up to ask if everything went to plan a few hours later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasmineAnders Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 I have always found the staff at Caravan Guard to be most helpful and friendly. They are always happy to explain things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 We are with them for year three (or is it four?) now. Its always good to look around to see what other quotes you can get but make sure you are comparing like with like. They did after all sort out the arguements about carrying an EFOY sensibly as well. When you have all the figures in front of you ring them up and NEGOTIATE! Take care Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coach2000 Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 I have just renewed, it was very easy and on checking through alll the details, managed to get the price down a bit more. None of the other companies could beat their price and some of them were just awkward to deal with as I mentioned in a previous post. Its my 7th year with them and long may it continue. Clive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postnote Posted August 15, 2011 Author Share Posted August 15, 2011 I would like to state that I have since been in contact with Caravan Guard and thank them for the time and trouble in emailing me. We have now happily resolved my complaint and intend remaining with them for the foreseeable future. Although I must add they have not changed their stance it was refreshing for a director of an Insurance company to actually make the effort to contact a customer, in this case me and fully explain the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Our motorhome insurance company insisted on a cat one system so when we changed our old Rapido for a new Auto-Trail we had one fitted. At the last minute the company told us they would no longer insure any motorhome over £40,000 so we needed to find a new insurance company in a hell of a hurry. We settled on Saga who we found to be very competitive with good cover and very good service. The thing is they were quite happy with the standard immobiliser and did not require anything else. Never the less given the cover such as anti tilt that our strike back has I'm still glad we had it fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Anne Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Caravan Guard get our business every year, not only because they are always very professional and customer orientated, they have always proven to be competitive when compared with other companies for the same cover. They seem to have proved this yet again with the way they have dealt with the original posting. Well done them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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