insurance disappointment
I have always praised the caravan club to friends, family and on social media groups on how good they are. I have been a member for many years and have always used them for overseas bookings, European breakdown cover and insurance. But today I have had my mind changed drastically. I phoned the club insurance up to renew my insurance and in the process of doing this the advisor asked me if the van had been serviced to which I replied yes. He said can you prove this back 5 years and I said no as I have not owned the van for that long. He then told me that I would not be covered on the top insurance. This means that for the past few years I have been paying a premium rate on insurance that I would never have been covered for. Nowhere in my renewal documents does it state that the van needed to have a full service history all I got was a separate letter stating that the van will need servicing yearly not that it had to have full history. No example was given of what service is required weather it be a full service or just a chassis and brake service. SO BEWARE if you are paying for the full 5c cover be sure you have a full service history and if you have purchased the van second hand this might be impossible as it was in my case. I will be seeking to purchase insurance somewhere else in future.
Comments
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There was a thread recently that dealt with the subject of the annual service requirement for the super 5 C's policy. However, no one brought up this requirement and I have not found it in the policy booklet online. We would be able to prove it, but many may not, and the CC should make the fact much clearer. There could be many who have been paying enhanced premiums, that would have a new for old claim rejected on this technicality.
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Thank you for bring this to our attention.
I don't think that an insurance company can introduce such changes retrospectively or verbally and therefore suspect that the person you spoke to is ill informed. I accept that they could make it a new condition at renewal but such advice should be in writing.
Having said that it certainly does need clarifying and reassurance issued that it is a mistake,
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'When the Caravan becomes more than 5 years old it must be serviced annually by a competent caravan workshop. Failure to provide evidence of compliance with this requirement will result in any claims being settled on the basis of Market Value'
The above is from the 5c's super policy, on line.
Note: market value not new for old?
Question on the above, what about mobile servicing?
It is also in my present insurer policy (not CC) that the caravan is to be serviced yearly
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As I said on the other thread the requirement was the caravan had to have been serviced by a competent person within the last 12 months. I do think the advisor was mistaken although I do have the receipts for the services on our caravan. They are a useful point when negotiating to sell it as well as for the insurance requirements.
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As I said on the other thread the requirement was the caravan had to have been serviced by a competent person within the last 12 months. I do think the advisor was mistaken although I do have the receipts for the services on our caravan. They are a useful point when negotiating to sell it as well as for the insurance and guarantee requirements.
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I'm site staff so not qualified to comment professionally, but hasn't this always been in the small print?
Jk
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The real point is that no one, myself included reads the small print.
If the whole wording of a policy was pointed out when purchasing it would take hours with a nap becoming more important! Surely though with insurance, it is not the fault of a vendor if the purchaser is ignorant of what he has been sold when it appears in black and white for perusal?
JK
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I think that the only way the club could enforce this stipulation is if they stated that the caravan had to have a full service HISTORY. If they merely state that the van has to have an annual service then one would expect the annual service to find any intrinsic fault in the second hand van and rectify it, similar to having an MOT.
So does the policy state full service history or merely annual service?
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Anyone from Staff Insurance Dept care to comment?
Mod Comment - Staff don't always look at the forum on a daily basis, if you wish to alert them to a particular question it's often best to report your own post as the Community Manager will see that and can pass it on.
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Good luck with that, when I emailed about the subject I was told that I should have read the insurance policy before taking out the policy.
One can't argue with that accept to say that the way the policy is written is most misleading with the requirement for a complete service history buried in two different parts of the document. The result is that I and I'm sure many others have overpaid for cover that we will never be able to take advantage of.
I have no objection to the insurance company including such stipulations but the should be referenced in the CC advert to avoid entrapping members.
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I looked again at the Super 5Cs Policy to ensure that I have my facts correct and after several attempts found the killer paragraph under Section 1 Caravan at the bottom of page 9. I quote:
When the Caravan becomes more than 5 years old it must be serviced each year by a competent caravan workshop. Failure to provide evidence of compliance with this requirement will result in any claims being settled on the basis of market Value.
In my case the previous owner either didn't have the van serviced or failed to record the fact in the service manual.
This clause is at odds with the clubs insurance advert which states that:
A Caravan Club insurance policy includes:
• New for old replacement for the caravan and equipment in the event of loss for items up to 5 years old on Standard cover and 15 years old for Super cover.And the Super 5Cs Policy Summary states:
Section 1 Definitions
New-for-old cover for the caravan and associated equipment...
New-for- old-cover only available for items less than 15-years old. Caravans over 5-years old must be serviced annually by a competent caravan workshop.Nothing there about keeping a record of the van's service history!
It all very underhand, possibly fraudulent and needs immediate amendment by the Caravan Club.
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Goodbye to any mobile servicing too.
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Cannot a workshop be mobile?
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The ability to enforce it would depend on exactly what was said in the policy. I have found my old policy wording and it simply says " Warranted the caravan is serviced annually by a competent caravan Workshop". That is certainly not strong enough to require you to go back five years and prove that it was serviced in each but if the wording has been updated then someone will tell me.
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I have checked the policy wording which is as follows:
When the Caravan becomes more than 5 years old it must be serviced annually by a competent caravan workshop. Failure to provide evidence of compliance with this requirement will result in any claims being settled on the basis of Market Value.
Frankly if this is strong enough to require you to produce the receipts going back to whenever the caravan became five years old I would be very surprised and it certainly needs none for the period before that.
From the point of view of reducing fraud it should not be available to people who have not had the caravan for several years, if not from new, as if you buy the caravan second hand then the price you pay is the most you should be getting for it or you are profiting from any loss. Imagine buying a second hand caravan for £10,000 and if it is stolen or written off you get £20,000 plus then the temptation is there.
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