Caravan insurance

[Holidaysforever]

Hi, am looking at caravan insurance, particularly key cover question and this Company ( not sure if allowed to name them) they are well known, have in their policy the wording "keys will not be considered irrecoverable until lost for at least 5 days, when i queried this since I could be on site when lost and would not be able to get into the van for 5 days" which is ludicrous of course. They have said when I questioned them that if we were away in the van and lost the keys, we would immediately be covered. If that is the case then why do they not say it, one only has the word of the staff that this is the case. Think I would have to ask them to put it in writing. The other question I had was that the van is slightly under insured and asked them if there was a total loss claim and was say 20% underinsured as per the guide, would they pay 20% less on the existing value stated in the insurance, they said it would not effect the claim and they would only pay up to the market value on the insurance, does that sound right ?
This van is 14yrs old and did not pay megabucks for it but is sound.
Many thanks.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi
Why would you underinsured a caravan?, I suspect there are some legal issues here that you may not be aware of. I seem to recall a case where a claim for some jewelry was lodged and becasue the items were not insured for their full value, the insurance company launched an investigation and the claimant had is insurance voided and I think he was prosecuted for fraud. I can't remember the explanation, but it was an eye opener.

The consequence is that having had an insurance policy voided, he now has enormous difficulty in getting any insurance for any type of policy including cars. Just think how inconvenient that would be.

Raywood I believe was in the insurance industry and he may well have more information.

 

[Holidaysforever]

When I contacted the insurance company, they gave me a market value price and then found out it was incorrect after taking out the policy, the market value stated is more than i paid for the van as it is 14 yrs old so am not too worried about it as Insurance Company have said even though it is slightly under insured they would not cut down should i have a claim, they would just pay out the figure if total loss which will more than cover the cost of the van. When I took this up with the Company they said that this was fine, maybe I need to rethink !! Thanks I have noted your comments.

 

[Holidaysforever]

When I contacted the insurance company, they gave me a market value price and then found out it was incorrect after taking out the policy, the market value stated is more than i paid for the van as it is 14 yrs old so am not too worried about it as Insurance Company have said even though it is slightly under insured they would not cut down should i have a claim, they would just pay out the figure if total loss which will more than cover the cost of the van. When I took this up with the Company they said that this was fine, maybe I need to rethink !! Thanks I have noted your comments.

Bottom line to this story it looks like the Insurance Company looked at Classes guide and did not come up with the correct market value for my model of Caravan so there was a lot of confusion, it has ended up that the market value shown is the correct one... thanks for the replies...

 

[RayS]

Concerning keys, if you have a fairly recent caravan you may find it very difficult indeed to get a spare key other than from the manufacturer. My British made van has Trimark keys which are of American origin.
No locksmith, car key provider etc. that I have tried in UK or France or Spain has been able to offer replacement. I have enquired through family in America and it seems the blank is special and supplied only to this particular caravan manufacturer. Replacement keys here are supplied only in pairs and complete with replacement lock barrels which I assume to imply that the keys will not fit the existing lock barrels. replacement costs were around £80- £90.

This is a totally ridiculous situation in the name of 'high security'. The door hinges are external and it would be the work of very few minutes to push out the hinge pins - or just jemmy the door.

It is also very inconvenient if you have a third family member or friend who requires access to the caravan when you are elsewhere

To be fair, I have not looked at this for a couple of years, so would be very happy to learn if there is a more reasonable and accessable source of such keys.

 

[Raywood]

I wonder if the insurance payout point is because you are paying the minimum premium and the true value would still mean you paying that same sum so there is no loss of premium to the insurer. Basically when that happens the insurer should cover you up to the maximum sum the minimum premium would cover so you still get the full market value.
As for cover as new where their is under insurance most companies will give you the sum insured if it is not high enough to replace as new but some revert to market value which can be a lot lower. Frankly if the policy says market value never use that company for a replacement as new policy as even if you miss a price rise in the new model you could end up thousands down. My feeling is that if that happens complain to the Ombudsman who requires insurers to be fair to customers and that is not, but I would not want to risk trying it.