Caravan Write Off

[Woodstar]

Has anyone had a caravan written off and been left with outstanding finance? We have recently had our caravan written off by the insurance, they have offered us £1500.00 short of the finance outstanding leaving us to pick up the bill for the shortfall. They will not increase their offer even though we cannot replace our caravan for the amount they are paying. We cannot afford a bank loan for the £1500.00 and a new finance agreement on a new caravan and it looks like we may have to give up caravanning until the shortfall is cleared and we can start again. Is it just me or does this defeat the object of paying insurance premiums? Any suggestions would be welcome!

 

[Mr C]

That sounds very harsh, there must be someone you can appeal too, they should tell you with te offer of settlement.

 

[Woodstar]

That sounds very harsh, there must be someone you can appeal too, they should tell you with te offer of settlement.

not sure how insurance works, all seems very unfair. The only option would be to see a solicitor but I don't think that will get us very far against a well reputed insurance company. I wouldn't mind but we already lost a lot of money when we had a van stolen several years ago, we had only just about recovered!

 

[Hamer_5041128]

Woodstar,

If your caravan was not insured new for old then you will only get the market value if it is written off in an accident.

If you borrowed upto or nearly upto the purchase price of the caravan then your caravan would most probably depreciate faster than the reducing balance of your finance in the early years of the loan.

Immediatly you leave the dealership the market value of your caravan is usually much less than you paid for it.

I hope you do not have to give up caravaning.

A solution may be to go to the company with whom you have the bank loan, negotiate a new loan inclusive of your outstanding balance, and based on a monthly figure you can afford.

Then shop around and see what you can purchase for the money.

It is worth a try and you would not have to give up caravaning or be paying off a loan with nothing to show for it.

Hamer

 

[Steve L]

Woodstar,while I can empathise with you on this one, unfortunately you have fallen foul of the sales patter.

I'm just guessing but I suspect the seller offered to lump all the accessories into a very low deposit deal for you. This is fien unless you come a cropper as has unfortunately happened to you.

It's so easy to be wise later and hind sight is a wonderfull tool, but cash is king I'm afraid.

However there are a couple of things you could do.

First of all, try declining the first offer from the insurance, then try it again on the second offer. That might get you closer to break even.

Secondly, contact the finance company, explain the situation and ask if they could accept a lower settlement figure on your finance. Don't divulge the insurance offer value and see what they come up with.

Finally, you could keep up the finance payments, and buy a van with the insurance payout. This is not strictly "legal", but it does get you a van without loosing all your ambitions.

I'm afraid only the insurance companies and new van sales come out on top. As you loose 30% of the value of the van when you roll off the fore court and the insurers always offer bottom price unless you pay over the odds for a new for old policy which, you might not use as you will of had the unlucky prang now.

I do appologise if my post sounds a bit cruel, but the hard facts do sometimes hit raw nerves.

I do hope you can come out of this with a caravan and are still able to enjoy a wonderfull hobby.

All the best.

Steve L.