annetweddell Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Have previously insured my motor home through Motorhome Facts, never claimed. The renewal notice I received today says they are now Comfort Insurance. The sting in the tail is that underwriters Aviva won’t renew my insurance unless I fit a Thatcham Approved tracking device. Apparently Fords have been targeted and are easy to steal. Not happy at all as we are extremely security conscious, van parked on drive behind other vehicle when at home, extra security locks on all garage doors & habitation door, PLUS device to render clutch & brake inoperable and therefore vehicle undrivable. Unlikely anyone would tow away a 7 meter, 3 and a half ton plus of vehicle that is 14 years old. Feeling very angry. Anyone also caught out? Certainly won’t buy a tracker, have it fitted and then pay the annual charge. Feel I am being FLEECED! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasnt Me Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Blimey! Our van is a Ford and 11 years old. I would have assumed this would only affect newer vans. We are also insured with Comfort. I shall look forward to the renewal. How much is a Cat 1 tracker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgnbuk Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 "Our van is a Ford and 11 years old. I would have assumed this would only affect newer vans." The newer vans are just not as easy to steal as the older ones. My brother in law works for a specialist broker & he had told me that they were going to be declining business for pre-2014 Transit motorhomes due to high levels of theft & the easy availability of lock picking devices on the internet. The newer vans don't use the Tibbe round shank locks & have immobilisers built in to the ignition key. Nigel B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annetweddell Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 Has to be Cat 5 or 6. Cost for Cat 6, fitted, £199. Then annual subscription of £149, or £399 for the duration of vehicle ownership. I very much doubt you can buy one and fit it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagey Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 read this https://www.wildcamping.co.uk/forums/motorhome-chat/68973-stolen-motorhome.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasnt Me Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 These look worthwhile http://www.garrisonlocks.co.uk/van-locks-and-security-products/transit-hykee-lock-upgrade/transit-pre-2013-for-tra-hyk-pre2013 I think I just assumed an 11 year old van would be low in the list for thieving scumbags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanf1 Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 When we got our new to us Chausson on a Ford chassis we looked at getting a tracker fitted. We are also with Comfort and their quote was half the price of other providers if we had the tracker fitted. The cost of the comfort insurance and the tracker fitted and a years subscription was about £100 more than the cost of the insurance from the other providers so it might be worth it in the long run. Next year I will expect to pay about £200 less and that includes the cost of a yearly tracker subscription. Have a look around and do the sums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langdav Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 You don't need a key to get into the latest Transit just a mole grips on the lock bezel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 annetweddell - 2018-04-07 4:33 PM The renewal notice I received today says they are now Comfort Insurance. The sting in the tail is that underwriters Aviva won’t renew my insurance unless I fit a Thatcham Approved tracking device. Feel I am being FLEECED! Yes you are. I've never heard such a load of codswallop...particularly as you mention they specify a tracker! Are you absolutely sure of that and not Thatcham spec alarm? My van is Ford Transit based which is 18 years old now and had both Aviva and AXA as underwriters without any issues. I have a Thatcham spec alarm fitted for which i get a small discount but the fitment has never been a compulsory requirement. The answer is.....take your business elsewhere. And if i were you i'd phone and tell them why too! If it helps i use Scenic and have done now for past four or five years because 1) the premium is sensible and 2) their renewal quotes are damned hard to beat! They also supply Green card cover free of charge (many other companies charge for it which they shouldn't be doing) and cover me for countries i can't get with other well known name companies. Give them a call....it's free! https://www.scenicinsurance.co.uk/motorhome-insurance/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 annetweddell - 2018-04-07 4:33 PM Have previously insured my motor home through Motorhome Facts, never claimed. The renewal notice I received today says they are now Comfort Insurance. The sting in the tail is that underwriters Aviva won’t renew my insurance unless I fit a Thatcham Approved tracking device. Apparently Fords have been targeted and are easy to steal. Not happy at all as we are extremely security conscious, van parked on drive behind other vehicle when at home, extra security locks on all garage doors & habitation door, PLUS device to render clutch & brake inoperable and therefore vehicle undrivable. Unlikely anyone would tow away a 7 meter, 3 and a half ton plus of vehicle that is 14 years old. Feeling very angry. Anyone also caught out? Certainly won’t buy a tracker, have it fitted and then pay the annual charge. Feel I am being FLEECED! Have you actually spoken to Comfort to ask them if there are alternative devices that can be fitted in lieu of a tracker? Insisting on a tracker alone just seems unreasonable, and fitting dead-locks to the doors would prevent break-in in the first place, whereas a tracker merely allows the van to be located after it has been stolen, and does nothing to additionally protect contents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazdog6007 Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 We have a transit based van,2017 also insured with Comfort with no mention of any extra security requirements on renewal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 tazdog6007 - 2018-04-10 2:53 PM We have a transit based van,2017 also insured with Comfort with no mention of any extra security requirements on renewal. I'm thinking the op has possibly got 'crossed wires' somewhere on this! The only time i've heard of an insurance company insisting on fitment of a tracker was a neighbour of mine.......but that was £80 grands worth of motorhome! High end expensive vehicles (think along the "supercar" line) often need them fitted to get insurance due to their 'desirability' in vehicle theft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanf1 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 I don't think wires have been crossed. Certainly for Mk7 Transit based motorhomes comfort require a tracker fitted and will not activate the cover until it is live, and they specifically told me this when I called for a quote. If you get a quote on line you can only take it so far as they say you need to call them due to the type of base van being quoted. I'm not sure about the mk6 as we had previously. We were insured through CCC and there was no mention of trackers there. However when we got the new van, the insurance through CCC was over 3 times as much for the new van. I did expect it to be more but not that much. So after weighing up options and getting quotes from other insurers it did seem that the cost over the old van would be well over twice what we paid for the old van. Through comfort, with the tracker fitted and a years subscription the cost was slightly over the lowest cost of insurance alone, so we went for that option and next years renewal should be less than half the cost of the oposition as the tracker is fitted. Just leaves the subscription to the tracker but I should still be much better off and will have recouped the extra paid for the tracker fitting and some more. The mk7 transit has issues with the locks but also the remote key entry and OBD2 port, which makes it much easier to steal. I don't think it's about getting into the van (as that would be easy with all the flimsy hab windows and door) but more about the ability to access and then drive it away, hence the tracker for recovery purposes. We also have a disk lock for extra security Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annetweddell Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 Thank you, Bulletguy. I have, of course, looked elsewhere! So far I have a very good quote from Safeguard which includes extras like breakdown both in Uk and EU. I will also contact Scenic. Comfort were totally specific it had to be a Category 6 Tracker. Anne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annetweddell Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 The ACTUAL wording of my renewal letter is: “Over the last 18months we have seen a steady increase in the number of thefts of Ford motorhomes. While motorhome thefts are rare, our claims statistics show that Fords are continuing to be targeted and are being stolen more than any other makes. We have therefore had to make some changes to the policy requirements and for us to continue to renew your policy the underwriters, Aviva will require your motorhome to be fitted with a Thatcham Approved Category 5 or 6 tracking device.” Signed by Steve Rogers, Manager. Naturally I phoned Comfort and was give exactly the same information. Anne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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