Insurance after Theft

[smida040]

I fell foul slightly on the new for old value when my 10 month old can was stolen. I have added approx 10% on to the value of my new van to hopefully make sure I am covered, but that will go up each year.
if you do get insured with Ripe, my personal experience of their claims department was excellent.
Some insurance companies have stopped offering cover in certain post codes, it does seem a very difficult market at the moment.
I have had to put an additional £1000 worth of security around my van in order to get cover. I wish you well on sourcing cover

 

[Bob1235]

Thank you, I’m certainly going to ask ripe for a quote, it’s all been a nightmare but hopefully the new van will be available soon and we can get back to using it.

 

[Buckman]

Our car insurance was with the CC many years ago and I had a claim for just over £850 for damage. The next year the premium shot up to £650. I went elsewhere and got insurance for £250. The cost of that current year and the new premium woudl have covered the cost of the repair?

 

[Andrew & Maureen]

I fell foul slightly on the new for old value when my 10 month old can was stolen. I have added approx 10% on to the value of my new van to hopefully make sure I am covered, but that will go up each year.
if you do get insured with Ripe, my personal experience of their claims department was excellent.
Some insurance companies have stopped offering cover in certain post codes, it does seem a very difficult market at the moment.
I have had to put an additional £1000 worth of security around my van in order to get cover. I wish you well on sourcing cover

Hi, what extra security have you put in. We've had a similar thing happen to us in the last 3 days & are working out how to make the caravan which is at our home more secure?

 

[Buckman]

Hi, what extra security have you put in. We've had a similar thing happen to us in the last 3 days & are working out how to make the caravan which is at our home more secure?

Do you have ALKO secure locks fitted? They may be an optional extra with a new ncaravan and maybe cheaper than buying from ALKO. Again it will slow them down. Also ALKO Premium hitch lock may help slow them down further as they will require a grinder. Lastly look for CASSOA secrue storage site near to you.

 

[smida040]

Hi, what extra security have you put in. We've had a similar thing happen to us in the last 3 days & are working out how to make the caravan which is at our home more secure?

8” diameter steel posts at the rear, retractable steel posts either side of A frame,

 

[Andrew & Maureen]

Do you have ALKO secure locks fitted? They may be an optional extra with a new ncaravan and maybe cheaper than buying from ALKO. Again it will slow them down. Also ALKO Premium hitch lock may help slow them down further as they will require a grinder. Lastly look for CASSOA secrue storage site near to you.

Yes, we had all of the above but not the Premium hitch lock. We have quite a large area in which to store it at our home & therefore provisioning it is easier. What do you think about security lights that are very significant more than the usual movement activated lights? We have thought about contacting the crime prevention police for advice?

 

[Buckman]

Yes, we had all of the above but not the Premium hitch lock. We have quite a large area in which to store it at our home & therefore provisioning it is easier. What do you think about security lights that are very significant more than the usual movement activated lights? We have thought about contacting the crime prevention police for advice?

How did they manage to remove the ALKO locks without the noise alerting you or your dogs if you have any? You need to be careful about positioning security lights as you do not want them to switch on and wake up the whole neighbourhood. Sadly if they want it, they will take it and best you can do is make it was awkward for them as possible.
One big advantage of having the second Phantom Tracker fitted is that they will find the original reactive tracker in its normal position, remove it and then think it is all done not realising there is a second tracker in the caravan.
Just as a matter of interest our daughter has two proactive trackers fitted by an independent fitter in her car as it is mandatory to be able to get comprehensive insurance where they live in South Africa and she does not have a fancy car.

 

[Andrew & Maureen]

How did they manage to remove the ALKO locks without the noise alerting you or your dogs if you have any? You need to be careful about positioning security lights as you do not want them to switch on and wake up the whole neighbourhood. Sadly if they want it, they will take it and best you can do is make it was awkward for them as possible.
One big advantage of having the second Phantom Tracker fitted is that they will find the original reactive tracker in its normal position, remove it and then think it is all done not realising there is a second tracker in the caravan.
Just as a matter of interest our daughter has two proactive trackers fitted by an independent fitter in her car as it is mandatory to be able to get comprehensive insurance where they live in South Africa and she does not have a fancy car.

Thank you for your help. I think the idea of another tracker is a good one. Yes we have dogs who did bark but they do that sometimes anyway because a fox or something has dared to come into their territory!! We therefore tend to say, shut up & go back to sleep!! Probably not in the future!! The police don't know how they got it off but our son who was a Major in the Royal Scots told us how.....!!!

 

[Dustydog]

A bit of a pain but for the sake of say 5 minutes a side have you considered the Square storage steel “wheels”?

 

[Bob1235]

Yes, thats o fine but as you say a bit of a pain. When my van was stolen it had a Nemisis ultra wheel lock, a bull dog hitch lock and it was alarmed. The ************** that took it along with another van at the same time went across fields cutting through fences and locked gates and some how removed the locks before towing them away. The locks were removed as the CCTV that was available clearly showed the wheels rolling and the hitch appeared to be normally coupled.
As has been said, if they really want it they can take it. I have already book a Gold cassoa site and other locks as described above for the new van when it arrives. Its a worry starting out again but I will do as much as poss to avoid going through this grief again.

 

[Hutch]

Do you have ALKO secure locks fitted? They may be an optional extra with a new ncaravan and maybe cheaper than buying from ALKO. Again it will slow them down. Also ALKO Premium hitch lock may help slow them down further as they will require a grinder. Lastly look for CASSOA secrue storage site near to you.

A hitch lock will not stop them, the Toads just put a chain around the hitch and away.

 

[Raywood]

Before you take out insurance with a new company check two things. firstly try the FSA website and check the percentage of complaints settled in favour of the claimants to see if this is high and if so avoid them. Also try google and check the reports on them. Ignore statements that they took the money quickly and set up the policy easily as they nearly all do that, you want the comments on the claims service.
Remember as with most things in life the cheapest is normally that for a reason and the more expensive should be better. that applies to insurance just as much as anything else so my advice would be never take the cheapest they have to be cutting out something and to my knowledge some of the cheapest are simply rubbish.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Before you take out insurance with a new company check two things. firstly try the FSA website and check the percentage of complaints settled in favour of the claimants to see if this is high and if so avoid them. ..

Is that what you really meant?

 

[Buckman]

Before you take out insurance with a new company check two things. firstly try the FSA website and check the percentage of complaints settled in favour of the claimants to see if this is high and if so avoid them.

Are you saying that the insurance company rejected the claim and when customer approached FSA, they ruled against the insurance company and claimant was then successful?

 

[Raywood]

Is that what you really meant?

Basically the FSA show the statistics including the number of complaints settled in favour of the claimant. The actual number of complaints is no use as this is dependant on the size of the company to a large extent so larger ones have more and smaller ones have less.
The percentage of complaints found in favour of the complainant tends to show if the company is being too hard on the policyholders or is giving bad service, so the higher percentage ones are generally best avoided.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Basically the FSA show the statistics including the number of complaints settled in favour of the claimant. The actual number of complaints is no use as this is dependant on the size of the company to a large extent so larger ones have more and smaller ones have less.
The percentage of complaints found in favour of the complainant tends to show if the company is being too hard on the policyholders or is giving bad service, so the higher percentage ones are generally best avoided.

Ah! So you were referring to "complaints" lodged against the insurance company. I and apparently some others missed that point.

 

[Dustydog]

Ray , I must be losing it. I can’t find anything on the FSA site that gives the info you describe😵‍💫Do you have a link please👍👍

 

[Raywood]

It is a bit since I downloaded this and it seems to be missing now. I did have it saved at one time but have changed the computer and lost it. Think I would just try Google and other reviews now. I did get a quote for the car insurance from C&CC to see what they could do and the result on the web was appalling for that company to the extent I am now doubting their entire insurance offering. No one who reads the reviews would touch them.

 

[Steve1962]

Isn't vehicle insurance a nightmare sometimes?

Last year I had a car written off on a motorway , having only owned it for two months - I paid circa £5k for the car which had FSH and one owner, very low mileage and was in very good condition.
The insurers ( I had been with them on a joint car policy with my wife for over 15 yrs) offered me £2800.
I spent 45 minutes on the phone with them and pointed out that on Auto Trader a like for like car was around £4500 - the lady on the phone " put me on hold whilst she went to speak to her manager" and then came back to me with a counter offer of £3500 ......I refused and suggested that they just buy me a replacement car and I would be happy with that, even if they only had to pay a fiver for it.
In then end I managed to get £4500 but boy did I have to battle to get it....
Steve

 

[otherclive]

Isn't vehicle insurance a nightmare sometimes?

Last year I had a car written off on a motorway , having only owned it for two months - I paid circa £5k for the car which had FSH and one owner, very low mileage and was in very good condition.
The insurers ( I had been with them on a joint car policy with my wife for over 15 yrs) offered me £2800.
I spent 45 minutes on the phone with them and pointed out that on Auto Trader a like for like car was around £4500 - the lady on the phone " put me on hold whilst she went to speak to her manager" and then came back to me with a counter offer of £3500 ......I refused and suggested that they just buy me a replacement car and I would be happy with that, even if they only had to pay a fiver for it.
In then end I managed to get £4500 but boy did I have to battle to get it....
Steve

I had a similar experience some years back when my wife’s Saab 9000 was written off in a no fault accident. I used the autotrader and other website adverts and eventually got the insurer up to something resembling replacement value. But not before I told them I would refer it to the Ombudsman. That seemed to clear the fog from their brain.

 

[Raywood]

Possibly the problem is down to the choice of insurer. The best will simply offer the engineers valuation but others will start well below and battle. Not sure who the insurers were but I suspect the cheaper ones.

 

[otherclive]

Possibly the problem is down to the choice of insurer. The best will simply offer the engineers valuation but others will start well below and battle. Not sure who the insurers were but I suspect the cheaper ones.

No; mine was a well known leading brand at the time and not particularly cheap either. The initial offer was around one third of the average asking price on Autotrader, despite having FSSH and low mileage. That insurer has now been incorporated into another company. When I mentioned it a long while back on the Forum I was informed doing so broke Forum rules as my comments were not complimentary. Strange as there are numerous non complimentary comments about caravan brands and equipment.

 

[Raywood]

I would say that the asking price on Autotrader or anywhere else is normally a bit higher than they want to give some wiggle room, but you should be getting near. The company will normally have an engineers report and valuation which they base any offer on but there are some who will take a fair bit off in the hope of making a saving on the claim.

 

[RogerL]

I would say that the asking price on Autotrader or anywhere else is normally a bit higher than they want to give some wiggle room, but you should be getting near. The company will normally have an engineers report and valuation which they base any offer on but there are some who will take a fair bit off in the hope of making a saving on the claim.

The asking price on Autotrader, or anywhere else, needs to be adjusted downwards to reflect the fact that with no car to p/x then a discount would be possible.