Insurance again

[darcywick]

It is that time again. Has any members experience of COMFORT or SAGA Motorhome insurance.

I do no require overseas travel or breakdown cover.

I am at present with CARAVAN GUARD

Thanks

[colin]

I've handed my money over to them for last couple of renewals, not (yet) had to claim, they got my bussiness as CIS refused to insure my van as it wasn't on database and couple of other comapies hummed and harred about transfer of NCD. The policy doesn't mention make and model of van IIRC it has reg engine size and value.

[crinklystarfish]

The industry relies on customer apathy to create vast wealth. Go figure.

[sshortcircuit]

Quotes I have had from both these companies were very high. Do a "Go Compare" or similar site and you will be pleasantly surprised. Please give feedback so we all can learn.

[FRANKP60]

Went with Comfort including overseas breakdown for second year this year ,by far the cheapest back in April.C C was not on same planet,brother in law has used Comfort for many years and lives in van abroad for must be 8 months of year due to work.

[lennyhb]

Comfort have been the cheapest for us for the last 3 years, policy went up by less than 20 quid this year despite having a claim.

 

Do not be mislead by comparison sites as they usually quote for cars or vans and are not offering Motorhome policies.

[johnnerontheroad]

We have been with SAGA for years no problems, tried Comfort this year double the price they seem obsesed with full timers by the questions the were asking (we are not full timmers). If you don't need breakdown try the Caravan Club the were cheaper than most but we need the breakdown cover

 

Good luck

 

Dave

[Guest JudgeMental]

using comparison sites is far from unbiased as most tied to certain insurers. You need to use a few + independent insurers as well and brokers. It really depends on your post code and other criteria, so what is good for one not necessarily good for another.....we live in London and get hammered *-)

 

DONT whatever you do call Saga as they will hound and spam you to the grave! 8-)

[Wooie]

I`m in the process of sorting out my insurance.

 

I have never had a claim or any points on my licence.

 

My present insurer is Comfort and last year i was with Sureterm.

 

I have now been told by 3 different companies that both Comfort and Sureterm are what

they call " Net Policies " and do not include any " No Claims Bonus ".

 

They are saying that because i have been with these companies for 2 years that i have now

lost my all my NCB and i have to start again with " Nil " NCB.

 

When i contacted Comfort about this they said they would provide a letter saying i have

" X " amount of years of driving with no claims and that will do instead.

 

Has anyone else come across this because it has taken me a bit by surprise and i do not

want to risk my NCB because the quotes with " NIL " NCB are quite frightening.

 

If i was planning to stay with Comfort for ever this wouldn`t be a problem but i do not want

to be held to ransom by 1 company.

 

Regards.

 

Graham.

[Wooie]

Am i the only one that this has happened to ?

 

1 of the companies said that i`ve already lost my NCB and the other 2 have said

that if i change " before " my renewal date ( 7th Oct ) i`m still in the 2 year grace

period that companies will hold it for.

 

Comfort are still adamant that they are right and all you need is a letter from them

to say you haven`t had any claims and everything will be OK.

 

[lennyhb]

If you have a car policy with NCD a lot of the Motorhome insurers will mirror the car policy NCD but they won't give you a protected NCD for the first year.

[Wooie]

Hi Lenny,

 

I have nearly 40 years of " claim and point free " driving.

 

I also have a HGV Class 1 and have held this for 34 years and i still

have it ( keeping it now for old times sake ) whilst the health permits.

 

Whilst the children were young the " family car " was in the wifes name

because she needed it with the kids and i was a named driver because

i only drove it occasionally at weekends.

 

When we started motorhoming several years back now i found that none

of the companies would give me any NCB because i didn`t have a policy

in my name and that named drivers did not count.

 

I rang every company that did motorhome insurance but everyone said the

same " Sorry no can do ".

 

I managed to find 1 company that gave me a " Introductory 10% " and that

was the best i could find, so i went with them.

 

Over the years i`ve built up the NCB to what i think is " Full NCB " some say

4 years some say 6 years whatever.

 

I now find that i might have lost it all because i shopped around for a good price.

 

Our car is still in the wifes name and so is the insurance otherwise she will loose

everything.

 

Regards.

 

Graham.

[derek pringle]

hi darcywick,

have been using Caravanguard and they have been fine with everything to do with premiums, admin. and paperwork but have not ,fortunately, had to make any claims yet. Some will say that is the defining way of deciding which is a good insurer and which is a bad insurer.

cheers

derek

[mike 202]

Not a direct answer to your question, however Caravanguard as you already know will mirror the car policy NCD.

Been happy with them so far, lucky no claims so how good they respond I cannot comment.

 

You could always go to another Company for one year, get a renewal letter and then decide whether to stay with them of not at renewal. You can always return to CG.

 

Hope this helps

 

Mike,

[eric hobson]

With regard to motorhome insurance I have tried to raise the issue before but everyone seems afraid or unwilling for whatever reason to discuss the attitude of the insurance companies. Saga state if you travel abroad for over 6 months you are none domecile and your insurance is null and void. Comfort state if you live in your van for over 6 months you require full time insurance which they will provide at extra cost. How does that sit with Saga,s statement. The C&C offer 270 days European cover, Caravan Guard 8months and Safeguard 365 days. It would appear that the example given by Frank of 8 months abroad for work would leave his insurance invalid. This appears to fall under the same category as losing your health entitlements and having to re-register with a GP. Whilst many people just get on with it and keep quiet about the length of their stays it would be nice to have a clear understanding of what is and what is not legal.

[Mike B.]

Wooie - 2012-10-05 10:03 AM

 

Hi Lenny,

 

I have nearly 40 years of " claim and point free " driving.

 

I also have a HGV Class 1 and have held this for 34 years and i still

have it ( keeping it now for old times sake ) whilst the health permits.

 

Whilst the children were young the " family car " was in the wifes name

because she needed it with the kids and i was a named driver because

i only drove it occasionally at weekends.

 

When we started motorhoming several years back now i found that none

of the companies would give me any NCB because i didn`t have a policy

in my name and that named drivers did not count.

 

I rang every company that did motorhome insurance but everyone said the

same " Sorry no can do ".

 

I managed to find 1 company that gave me a " Introductory 10% " and that

was the best i could find, so i went with them.

 

Over the years i`ve built up the NCB to what i think is " Full NCB " some say

4 years some say 6 years whatever.

 

I now find that i might have lost it all because i shopped around for a good price.

 

Our car is still in the wifes name and so is the insurance otherwise she will loose

everything.

 

Regards.

 

Graham.

 

Could you not insure the van in your wife's name then and use her NCB? Safeguard will mirror a car NCB for new customers and I've found them to be competitive for the past 6or 7 years

Worth a try?

Mike

[Wooie]

Right i`ve got it sorted with the reasonable success .

 

Firstly.....

Mike............ that would put " me " back at square 1 with Nil NCB.

 

Secondly

I`ve now gone with Safeguard who openly say that they will hold NCB for 2 years.

 

I was with them 2 years back and i argued the fact that 2 years are not actually up

until Sunday 7th Oct and that i was still in the " Grace Period ".

 

They have given me back my NCB minus the 2 years i`ve been with Comfort and Sureterm

 

Comfort right up to the end still said that a simple letter from themselves stating how many

years you have been with them and that you had not had any claims would still count towards

NCB with all the other companies.

 

Up until this episode i had never even heard of " Nil Rated Policies " before.

 

I suppose this is the best outcome i could achieve given the circumstances.

 

 

The reason i came into this posting was to give warning to other members who

might be in a similar position and not realise it.

 

Regards.

 

Graham.

[Wooie]

The above should say " Net Rated Policies " before anyone picks me up on it.