Self service and Insurance

[Spector]

I've recently become disenchanted with the service centre that I use and decided to service the van myself. I'm an engineer so most is straight forward and there is a local travelling service engineer who I can get to do the gas and electrics.
I'm wondering where I stand with regard to insurance ! I'm aware that Red Penant insurance says the van must be serviced in accordance with the manufacturers instructions but it doesn't say who can carry it out !
Any advice would be gratefully accepted.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I've recently become disenchanted with the service centre that I use and decided to service the van myself. I'm an engineer so most is straight forward and there is a local travelling service engineer who I can get to do the gas and electrics.
I'm wondering where I stand with regard to insurance ! I'm aware that Red Penant insurance says the van must be serviced in accordance with the manufacturers instructions but it doesn't say who can carry it out !
Any advice would be gratefully accepted.

My first thought is that if the relevant policy clause is exactly as you have written it, then it might not be sustainable in law, because it effectively means your policy is effectively controlled by the whim of a third party who is not part of your insurance contract.

Is your quote word for word?

 

[Spector]

This is from their brochure ....
Cars, caravans and motorhomes must
be serviced in accordance with the manufacturer’s speci cation both before, and if necessary, during the tour and must be in a roadworthy condition, not overloaded and mechanically sound.

 

[ProfJohnL]

This is from their brochure ....
Cars, caravans and motorhomes must
be serviced in accordance with the manufacturer’s speci cation both before, and if necessary, during the tour and must be in a roadworthy condition, not overloaded and mechanically sound.

The wording is subtly different to what you told us first, and it makes quite a difference.

The wording is to the manufacturers "specification" which is different to "instructions" . This means as long as the servicing is the equivalent to the manufacturers specifications it will meet satisfy the policy clause,

Where as if the wording were to the manufacturers "Instructions" then it would require the work to be carried out by the service agents specified by the manufacturer.

As this is an insurers policy clause, my opinion has little value, You need to seek clarification from the insurer.

 

[Spector]

Ahhh....in that case I am concerned about is proof.
When the van is serviced at an approved caravan service centre they stamp the caravan book as proof it has been done. If I do it myself there is no proof that it has been carried out.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Spektor,

Its not me or any other forum contributor you need to be able to convince, its your insurance company. So it really is best to contact them to find out if you can carry out such works and how you can, for want of a better word "prove" its been done to specification. Its the insurer you need to satisfy,

 

[Spector]

Thanks...I appreciate that. I just thought that someone on the forum may have been in a similar situation and wondered about their experiences.

 

[Hutch]

Hi, Spectator,, I had a similar situation, ref my car, but the outcome came back to the fact was the service had to be done by a VAT service station.. I carried out my own servicing on the car and signed it, on the service book as the owner, the dealer never said a word, when I sold the car.

 

[Spector]

That's interesting ...I wonder if anyone has serviced their van themselves and signed the service book..

 

[ProfJohnL]

Let me just say that if you fail to comply with the insurers requirement, the consequences could make life quite difficult:

if you make a false statement to your insurer, first of all they may decline an liability for the "insured risk",
They may prosecute for fraud
and they are likely to withdraw the policy, which will blacken your insurance history and make obtaining future policies of any kind more difficult and a lot more expensive.

Have the discussion with your insurer about meeting their servicing clause.

 

[Spector]

I certainly will be checking and have no intention of making any false statements.
In retrospect I probably approached the situation wrongly. I'm just more than a little miffed that maintaining my own caravan seems no longer possible if I want to insure it for recovery abroad.
Perhaps it would be better if we had a caravan MOT test....then we could maintain our own equipment and if it passes the test you get insurance.

 

[otherclive]

I certainly will be checking and have no intention of making any false statements.
In retrospect I probably approached the situation wrongly. I'm just more than a little miffed that maintaining my own caravan seems no longer possible if I want to insure it for recovery abroad.
Perhaps it would be better if we had a caravan MOT test....then we could maintain our own equipment and if it passes the test you get insurance.

To make a caravan MoT meaningful would probably require national registration of all caravans and trailers above a certain weight too. Then there is the location of testing centres which would probably have to be at caravan dealerships, or via approved workshop or mobile mechanics. It could become a bureaucratic nightmare which wold have to be paid for by the users, and one which once registration was completed could open owners up to some form of taxation.

 

[Raywood]

If you have any doubts as to the servicing requirements then give the insurer your qualifications and ask them to confirm if they will accept his. It would also help if you had some documentary evidence of you doing the work, but apart from the purchase of the one shot bolts I am not sure what they would want.