WHICH VAN INSURANCE?

[Bulletguy]

Yes it's THAT time again.......Insurance. *-)

 

I'm currently with SafeGuard and their renewal quote is £297 which gives 12mth Breakdown UK and Europe with an excess of £250. Got it down to £295 with Scenic MH who give 12mth UK breakdown and 6mth European (which is enough).

 

Done an online search and found one company, Staveley Head, offering £193 :-D.....but thats without breakdown cover. :-(

 

 

Anyone with suggestions/experiences of alternative companies?

[maggyd]

We have just gone with Safeguard £196 as CaravanGuard quoted £280, you could try it the other way around as new customers seem to get bigger discounts.

[Keith T]

In answer to the heading, there is no 'right or wrong' answer....surely it's just a case of shopping round, and seeing what each company want for the insurance cover you require.

Personally, I have been with Safeguard for many years, and although I have had other quotes, often lower, I normally go back to Safeguard and they will pretty much match.

I find their included Euro Breakdown policy suits me, and that usually makes the final cost good value.

Also having had to use them for a claim on one occasion, I found their service excellent.

[Bulletguy]

maggyd - 2012-04-18 6:15 PM

 

We have just gone with Safeguard £196 as CaravanGuard quoted £280, you could try it the other way around as new customers seem to get bigger discounts.

 

You are right, new customers do get a good deal though I got nothing like that when I first insured with Safeguard last year. Most quotes i've had are coming in around the £300 mark and I paid about the same to Safeguard last year as a new customer!

 

What type of van do you have and how old is it? I'm assuming they've also given you full UK and European breakdown recovery in that price too?

[flicka]

Which Motorhome has recently published it's Motorhome Insurance survey, which may be helpful.

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/News/General/Which-Motorhome-reveals-best-insurance-provider/_ch1_nw1226_pg1

[Mike B.]

I'm with Safeguard and it runs out in mid May. Last year was £365 inc European breakdown. However, out of the blue recently I got a quote in the post from Comfort and they were quoting £309 inc Euro breakdown-I am waiting to see what Safeguard come up with anytime now for renewal.

One thing that interested me was that if the spouse was on the insurance and the policyholder was taken ill in Europe, the spouse would be expected to drive the van home. If spouse is not named on insurance then a chauffer would be provided to bring it back. Difference in premium? none. Interesting as my wife hardly ever drives (She says she's on holiday!) so may take her off.

 

Mike

[maggyd]

Bulletguy - 2012-04-18 8:26 PM

 

maggyd - 2012-04-18 6:15 PM

 

We have just gone with Safeguard £196 as CaravanGuard quoted £280, you could try it the other way around as new customers seem to get bigger discounts.

 

You are right, new customers do get a good deal though I got nothing like that when I first insured with Safeguard last year. Most quotes i've had are coming in around the £300 mark and I paid about the same to Safeguard last year as a new customer!

 

What type of van do you have and how old is it? I'm assuming they've also given you full UK and European breakdown recovery in that price too?

 

 

It does go on the value of your van :-S ours is a 2003 Kontiki if you have a more valuable van then you can expect to pay a higher premium, both Safeguard and CaravanGuard offer a good deal we always take fullycomp; european cover and breakdown as well, you need to make sure you are getting like for like to compare.

[Bulletguy]

flicka - 2012-04-18 8:52 PM

 

Which Motorhome has recently published it's Motorhome Insurance survey, which may be helpful.

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/News/General/Which-Motorhome-reveals-best-insurance-provider/_ch1_nw1226_pg1

 

Thanks for that Flika.

 

It's in the April issue so will see if any Newsagents still have a copy.

[Bulletguy]

maggyd - 2012-04-18 10:05 PM

 

It does go on the value of your van :-S ours is a 2003 Kontiki if you have a more valuable van then you can expect to pay a higher premium, both Safeguard and CaravanGuard offer a good deal we always take fullycomp; european cover and breakdown as well, you need to make sure you are getting like for like to compare.

 

Yes I know........but i'm quite staggered at the price Safeguard have insured your van for. Even my car, (a bog standard 1.8 Ford Focus), the cheapest fully comp I could find for that is £150!

 

Safeguard have quoted me £100 above your premium.....and that's a big difference in price. Which Kontiki model is your van?

 

Ooops......just seen your model!!

 

Well thats very interesting as the trade price on your van is a good £9 -10k more than my van. Looks like i'm on the phone to Safeguard tomorrow!

 

[Bulletguy]

Mike B. - 2012-04-18 8:53 PM

 

I'm with Safeguard and it runs out in mid May. Last year was £365 inc European breakdown. However, out of the blue recently I got a quote in the post from Comfort and they were quoting £309 inc Euro breakdown-I am waiting to see what Safeguard come up with anytime now for renewal.

One thing that interested me was that if the spouse was on the insurance and the policyholder was taken ill in Europe, the spouse would be expected to drive the van home. If spouse is not named on insurance then a chauffer would be provided to bring it back. Difference in premium? none. Interesting as my wife hardly ever drives (She says she's on holiday!) so may take her off.

 

Mike

 

That's crazy isn't it?

 

Must admit though usually on car insurance if you have a wife or 'partner' on the policy....the premium does reduce, which personally I think is discriminatory against single or divorced people. I cannot see how being married or having a 'partner' makes them a lower risk. In fact i'd have said the risk is higher as the vehicle is in use by two people instead of only one.

 

[MandyAndy]

We are with Safeguard again, did shop around but had to put a biggish claim in last year after a run in with a little car *-) . Safeguard still came out on top more or less so stuck with them as they proved excellent when going through the claim.

 

When away in France last week had strange noise from back of van and only when moving, rang them and they had someone there within the hour, escorted us to nearest tyre garage the guy explained to them what the problem was and job done in half an hour . 4 new back tyres required around £350 fitted, which Andy was quite pleased with, problem solved and away we went. (only needed 2 but recommended to have all 4 replaced, 6 years old, 48,000 on clock)

 

I think it is nice to hear how people get on when problems arise as its ok having the insurance there but it is how they deal with problems should they arise.

 

Mandy

[Wooie]

I was with Safeguard for several years and the premiums kept rising steadily.

 

When i got my latest renewal i couldn`t believe how much it had gone up by, when i telephoned the to find out why it had gone up so much the answer i got was " Safeguard is by far the best policy and the rise is down to general insurance increases and the amount of claims that are being put in "

 

When i said " what claims- i haven`t put any in " they said that didn`t matter as it was the overall picture that counted

 

We have been motor-homing for over 15 years now and have never put a claim in, both myself and my wife have been driving for over 35 years and are both conviction and point free.

 

I then started to have a good look round and came across Sureterm, they came up with a like for like policy including full breakdown cover and european use for less than half what the Safeguard quote was.

 

So for a little bit of time and trouble i saved over £250.

[Mike B.]

Wooie - 2012-04-19 8:31 AM

 

I was with Safeguard for several years and the premiums kept rising steadily.

 

When i got my latest renewal i couldn`t believe how much it had gone up by, when i telephoned the to find out why it had gone up so much the answer i got was " Safeguard is by far the best policy and the rise is down to general insurance increases and the amount of claims that are being put in "

 

When i said " what claims- i haven`t put any in " they said that didn`t matter as it was the overall picture that counted

 

We have been motor-homing for over 15 years now and have never put a claim in, both myself and my wife have been driving for over 35 years and are both conviction and point free.

 

I then started to have a good look round and came across Sureterm, they came up with a like for like policy including full breakdown cover and european use for less than half what the Safeguard quote was.

 

So for a little bit of time and trouble i saved over £250.

 

I did a similar excercise last year and found that Sureterm were in fact substantially cheaper than Safeguard but with the Euro breakdown there wasn't a lot of difference and then Safeguard discounted my premium for loyalty. So I stayed with them. However, did a similar excercise with Sureterm for bike and they were 5 times more expensive!! So I stayed with Bennetts! The car was a different kettle of fish altogether-Did a Meerkat and the AA came out £70 cheaper-and included AA breakdown for a year foc inc Europe. This being the case I can save £128 on Greenflag/mayday (Which I don't need anymore) on top of the £70-almost £200 saving on one small car. What a minefield-good job I've retired, haven't got time to work for all this 'surfing' on car insurance!

 

Mike

 

[maggyd]

Mandy&Andy - 2012-04-19 6:52 AM

 

We are with Safeguard again, did shop around but had to put a biggish claim in last year after a run in with a little car *-) . Safeguard still came out on top more or less so stuck with them as they proved excellent when going through the claim.

 

When away in France last week had strange noise from back of van and only when moving, rang them and they had someone there within the hour, escorted us to nearest tyre garage the guy explained to them what the problem was and job done in half an hour . 4 new back tyres required around £350 fitted, which Andy was quite pleased with, problem solved and away we went. (only needed 2 but recommended to have all 4 replaced, 6 years old, 48,000 on clock)

 

I think it is nice to hear how people get on when problems arise as its ok having the insurance there but it is how they deal with problems should they arise.

 

Mandy

 

Thats good to know Mandy that you had first class service :-D puts your mind to rest when you know someone has used the service. thanks for letting us know. maggy

[maggyd]

Bulletguy - 2012-04-18 8:26 PM

 

maggyd - 2012-04-18 6:15 PM

 

We have just gone with Safeguard £196 as CaravanGuard quoted £280, you could try it the other way around as new customers seem to get bigger discounts.

 

You are right, new customers do get a good deal though I got nothing like that when I first insured with Safeguard last year. Most quotes i've had are coming in around the £300 mark and I paid about the same to Safeguard last year as a new customer!

 

What type of van do you have and how old is it? I'm assuming they've also given you full UK and European breakdown recovery in that price too?

 

 

 

SORRY SORRY SORRY :$ I got that wrong !! our quote with CaravanGuard came in at £375 Safeguard is £332.41 put it down to a senior moment and my head full of Insurance fig £196 was for Red Pennant travel Insurence so your quote was about right Id say. Oh I hope you havent had an argument with them. :-(

[PJay]

Changed to Safeguard this year from Caravan Guard (been with for 6 years)

Cost Safeguard £294 89

Caravan guard £391.50

This is with full European breakdown cover included. (Both Drivers over 75!)

 

Cover was identical, so not worth staying true to one company.

 

PJay

[PJay]

 

 

 

SORRY SORRY SORRY :$ I got that wrong !! our quote with CaravanGuard came in at £375 Safeguard is £332.41 put it down to a senior moment and my head full of Insurance fig £196 was for Red Pennant travel Insurence so your quote was about right Id say. Oh I hope you havent had an argument with them. :-(

 

It appears that our quotes are simular, with I think your van being a larger one than ours . we have 2006 Sundance. Both over 75 . It also is affected with where you store van,ours is in a Gold Cassoa site.

PJay

[yeti]

Just had a quote from Camping club for my 2010 Hymer it is three times that from my present insurer-so much for the benefits of membership!

[Bulletguy]

maggyd - 2012-04-19 3:37 PM

 

SORRY SORRY SORRY :$ I got that wrong !! our quote with CaravanGuard came in at £375 Safeguard is £332.41 put it down to a senior moment and my head full of Insurance fig £196 was for Red Pennant travel Insurence so your quote was about right Id say. Oh I hope you havent had an argument with them. :-(

 

LOL........that's more like it!! Senior moment indeed! I'm a Senior too! (lol)

However even at £332 that's only £35 more than Safeguard quoted me for my van, so you got a very cheap premium for a much larger van than mine, and three years newer too.

 

No I haven't chewed off at Safeguard today as i've been busy phoning around for quotes. *-)

So far Comfort are coming in the best at £281 with just £200 excess (Safeguard is £250), £75 Windscreen (Safeguard is £100), and eight months European Breakdown and Insurance. Plus their policy is inclusive of £750 Contents.........with Safeguard that's an 'extra'.

 

[Bulletguy]

yeti - 2012-04-19 4:18 PM

 

Just had a quote from Camping club for my 2010 Hymer it is three times that from my present insurer-so much for the benefits of membership!

 

Fully agree. It's just another way in which some folk get conned into believing they benefit by being 'a clubby'. No use telling them though as they get upset. A few years ago I was taking a Ferry crossing and this chap was proudly boasting about 'how cheap' he'd got his crossing for as he was a CC member. I asked him how much. He had paid almost £30 more than me, so I expected his van to be over 6m.....it wasn't. I hadn't the heart to tell him my Ferry fare cost less and I wasn't a 'clubby'.

 

When phoning around today, Comfort asked if I was a member of any club. I'm not so she then asked if I read any magazines to which I replied "yes.....MMM". "That's fine, she replied, you qualify for a discount then"!

 

I probably read a MMM once every five years! (lol)

[Mike B.]

Mike B. - 2012-04-19 11:47 AM

 

Wooie - 2012-04-19 8:31 AM

 

I was with Safeguard for several years and the premiums kept rising steadily.

 

When i got my latest renewal i couldn`t believe how much it had gone up by, when i telephoned the to find out why it had gone up so much the answer i got was " Safeguard is by far the best policy and the rise is down to general insurance increases and the amount of claims that are being put in "

 

When i said " what claims- i haven`t put any in " they said that didn`t matter as it was the overall picture that counted

 

We have been motor-homing for over 15 years now and have never put a claim in, both myself and my wife have been driving for over 35 years and are both conviction and point free.

 

I then started to have a good look round and came across Sureterm, they came up with a like for like policy including full breakdown cover and european use for less than half what the Safeguard quote was.

 

So for a little bit of time and trouble i saved over £250.

 

I did a similar excercise last year and found that Sureterm were in fact substantially cheaper than Safeguard but with the Euro breakdown there wasn't a lot of difference and then Safeguard discounted my premium for loyalty. So I stayed with them. However, did a similar excercise with Sureterm for bike and they were 5 times more expensive!! So I stayed with Bennetts! The car was a different kettle of fish altogether-Did a Meerkat and the AA came out £70 cheaper-and included AA breakdown for a year foc inc Europe. This being the case I can save £128 on Greenflag/mayday (Which I don't need anymore) on top of the £70-almost £200 saving on one small car. What a minefield-good job I've retired, haven't got time to work for all this 'surfing' on car insurance!

 

Mike

 

Well, finally got it sorted today. After comparing a number of quotes, Comfort were the cheapest for exactly same cover as Safeguard at £309 (inc new business discount) as against £354 with Safeguard including UK & Europe breakdown cover. I rang Safeguard to tell them I was not renewing with them and rather than lose my business they offered a couple of discounts and came back with £292! This is £60 cheaper than last year!

I have decided to stay with them as been happy with them just didn't want to pay through the nose. On saying that when I spoke with Comfort at Peterborough I felt they just wanted to get me off their desk and not answer my queries-I felt uneasy about what would happen in the case of a prang when they said they don't handle it you just deal direct with Aviva. I felt with Safeguard they really didn't want to lose the business and tried to keep me. However, it just goes to show if you just accept the renewal quote you are on a loser-so much for loalty!

So that's the lot sorted for another year!

 

Mike

[Derek Uzzell]

Mike B. - 2012-05-02 8:47 PM

 

...when I spoke with Comfort at Peterborough I felt they just wanted to get me off their desk and not answer my queries-I felt uneasy about what would happen in the case of a prang when they said they don't handle it you just deal direct with Aviva...

 

Mike

 

Safeguard's motorhome insurance policies are underwritten by Aliianz Insurance, while Comfort's policies are underwritten by Aviva.

 

In the event of a claim (or potential claim) Comfort will indeed direct you to Aviva, but I would not have thought that's unusual as it's the insurance company that will need to handle the claim, not the broker. As long as Aviva is efficient, it may well be better to be dealing directly with the insurer rather than via an intermediary.

[Guest JudgeMental]

its your post code that makes all the difference price wise..being in London ours are always well above what I see quoted on these type of threads :-S

 

safeguard very good during and after a claim, premium has not risen substantially, could have maybe got it a bit cheaper elsewhere.but happy to stay with them, as they are good when things go wrong!

[Mike B.]

Derek Uzzell - 2012-05-03 8:48 AM

 

Mike B. - 2012-05-02 8:47 PM

 

...when I spoke with Comfort at Peterborough I felt they just wanted to get me off their desk and not answer my queries-I felt uneasy about what would happen in the case of a prang when they said they don't handle it you just deal direct with Aviva...

 

Mike

 

Safeguard's motorhome insurance policies are underwritten by Aliianz Insurance, while Comfort's policies are underwritten by Aviva.

 

In the event of a claim (or potential claim) Comfort will indeed direct you to Aviva, but I would not have thought that's unusual as it's the insurance company that will need to handle the claim, not the broker. As long as Aviva is efficient, it may well be better to be dealing directly with the insurer rather than via an intermediary.

 

Hi Derek

I don't know if that's the norm as never had to claim so far ( thank god!) so maybe I was being a bit over cautious.

However, my recent dealings with Aviva were a nightmare-I had an endowment policy I had been paying for 25 years with them and when it came to maturity they wouldn't pay out! Said they had no record of my signature or my wifes or that we had paid the installments. This was despite being paid by DD from the same account for 25years. We had to send out passports, marriage cert, birth cert and copy of original proposal + policy and even after all that they wouldn't accept my signature because someone in Punia (!) couldn't read it. When I stated I wouldn't be able to read Waalkeer Pratell's (the guy in Punia) signature in Urdu or Arabic etc either if he showed it me they were totally uncooperative. In the end, my wife and I had to go to a solicitor, sign Aviva's document and get him to witness it/verify our signature and then send by recorded delivery to Aviva (all at our expense) to get my money-and it was £3k less than it should have been.

If that is the norm for Aviva, I'm glad I decided to stay with Safeguard/Allianz!

 

Sorry to go off topic-just still hate Aviva!!!

 

Mike

[Travelling Tyke]

Hello,

Just gone with Safeguard for £293.23. with all of their usual cover.

 

It was @£20 more than Adrian Flux (Without the home start, EU cover etc) but Safeguard are advertising a £50.00 cash back in the June MMM "Which Motorhome" mag that they accepted.!

 

A 10% saving............ Being a tyke, it was too good to pass up........

 

:-)