Red Pennant - Lack of Information Online
In the past you have always been able to download a Red Pennant brochure which contained the various lengths of cover and prices. Apparently this is no longer available and the only way to get a price is to use the official quote system. It would be nice to have a see at a glance price range for various periods so that you could see how much a few days extra between say 31 and 45 days would cost. I had a chat with Wendy using the chat system and she confirmed that such details are not on the website! All seems a bit daft to me?
David
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Google Red Pennant Brochure and it comes up as a PDF. Yes? Or is that last year's price list?
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ET
The last brochure I can find by your method is the one dated 2017. The 2018 brochure is the detailed list of cover rather than the one with prices. There was an indication, in my online chat, that some prices might be cheaper this year so I don't know if that means a more flexible approach which would be difficult to record in a fixed publication? This is where we miss Hazel who always seemed to be on hand to help out with overseas queries.
David
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It's perhaps like car insurance then ! You haggle and negotiate and the price changes . My car insurance renewal from LV today was only £2 more than last year, but after a conversation with the call handler it came down by £25. I will try that with Red Pennant tomorrow.
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I don't know if that means a more flexible approach which would be difficult to record in a fixed publication?
I suppose that will show up if they accept the dates you've given and then quote a price. Last year they extended our finish date by 3 days as they said I was paying for it anyway, wether I wanted it or not.
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Hi All,
I can confirm there is no price brochure for our Red Pennant policies this year as we feel it would become a little too complicated. Costs can vary depending on age of people, vehicle, length of trip as well as weight of outfits. We are unable to offer any discounts with the policies so the premium would be identical whether obtained online or over the phone.
Hopefully this has cleared any queries up but if not please let me know.
Thanks
Tracy
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Tracy
Thanks for coming back on this. I do think there needs to be some general price guidance available online to view without having to go through a mock application either by phone or online. When planning a trip you often don't know how long it will be and being able to cut it down by a day or two or even extend by a few days to maximise the charging period used by RP can only be easily achieved if you have a price list in front of you. I am not suggesting a printed leaflet but perhaps a .pdf file online?
David
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An indication of the duration price bands would at least be a help.
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Hi All,
I'm sorry for the delay in my reply but I have not been on Community for some time.
The policy document booklets and comparison of cover table can all be downloaded from the Red Pennant page.
For motoring and motoring and personal policies you can get single trip cover in the following days brackets......1-6, 7-12, 13-24, 25-31, 32-45, 46-66, 67-94, 95-122 days. Annual cover a maximum length of trip of up to 31, 45 or 66 days. Long Stay policies can cover up to 365 days.
For Personal only policies you can get cover for up to 5, 12, 17 or 24 days. After 24 days the cost increases in weekly increments.
I hope this helps.
Best Regards
Tracy
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Hi Tracey,
I'm afraid I still don't see why you can't publish some sort of 'base price' table! As many have already mentioned, it's good to see the range of prices rather than having to start the ball rolling with a 'mock' quote.
You conveniently ignored the comments and requests by DavidKlyne and Cyberyacht….
We are capable of reading tables of figures...we know our age(s) and the length/weights of our outfits (or at least we should…) and we have an idea of the length of trip! What other 'CAMC' skill do we need?
Sounds to me like the 'club' wants us to go elsewhere!!
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AJB, things have all changed. There is no base price these days,and the loading according to age is enormous.
We are inFrance right now and I was quoted £306 for two of us for motoring and personal cover for ten days - and that's car only because we are in a holiday house. I got insurance elsewhere at a fraction of that price.
Shop around.
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No wonder they are not publishing the rates!!!
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That's what happens when people praise a product to the heavens .... and then swear that they would never consider going anywhere without RP.
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And I am one of them. We paid £380 in April for personal and motor insurance for as many trips in a year as we like for no longer than 45 days per trip. Hubby was 74 at the time and has angina. I didn't think that was bad.
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The price shocks start when one gets older. Wait and see !
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Hmmm - lots of food for thought.
Why the huge increase? Does the CAMC underwrite this in the same manner that they do with Caravan insurance? Who is profiting from these highly inflated premiums?
We took RP single trip standard cover in March as per usual - for 94 days. Motoring and Personal cover, plus cover for the dog.
We are both in our mid-60s and have minor health issues that don't load our premiums..
Total cost - £284. It seems now that the price was a bargain! ….and probably the last time we take RP from what I am reading!!
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I have used RP for about 15 years, 13 with a caravan, two with MH. I renewed in Feb this year just before shooting off to Spain and had no time to look around. The Club and their underwriter ripped me off big time. With a new caravan and two dogs I used to pay around £260 for multi-trip but this year it cost £552. This included £227 for loading on the length of my MH, because it is over 8m, it is actually 8m 06cm. So those 6cm cost me an extra £227. I queried this with The Club and asked them to speak to the insurance company about this small amount over 8m. The answer came back that the breakdown companies have to use a bigger truck for my MH. So I contacted RAC Europe, as a customer of their’s, and they said, no we don’t have to use a bigger truck, we don’t have any bigger trucks.
I have tried the other club for a quote this week and that was an ordeal. Their online system wouldn’t work so after a dozen tries I found out when I rang up that the online system cannot deal with anything over 8m! But no note on the site about that. But I got a quote with much more flexibility than this clubs policy, which was for £283. No loading for length, they just need to ring the underwriter to get permission for a longer van. This gives me a max of 183 days away in any one year and upto 93 days per single trip, just one price. Guess who will insure me next year? Hope our Club Staff are reading this....
BillC
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BillC - that sounds a bit more palatable...
I'll make a note to contact the other club when required early in 2019.
We generally go to Europe once year so it will be a long single trip policy that will be required.
Like you I hope our Club staff are reading these comments...it's about time they realised they don't have sole access to my wallet!!
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If Bill and ET's experiences are common place then one would imagine the Club would see a reduction in the number of policies which should flag up the issue of competitiveness?
David
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I must admit that whilst being a member of the C&CC I have never checked out their Overseas insurance. One advantage to us of Red Pennant is that the Club take a pretty generous view of medical conditions without loading the price. Is this true of the C&CC policy?
David
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Red Pennant was, for us, an expensive error when we changed from the C&CC's policy to RP a couple of years ago. (OH had been swayed by comments on CT along the lines of "you get what you pay for".) We were very badly let down by RP when we had an incident in Spain in the winter of 2016 and were left to fend for ourselves. (They admitted they "could have done more", so we did not "get what we paid for", and we were given a partial refund; it was still expensive, even with the refund, and we would have preferred help.)
We are now back with the C&CC.
As well as the generous time limits, the other advantage, for us, is the fact that the multi trip policy also covers us for travelling independently of our 'unit', and also if we travel singly without it.
And for a very reasonable extra premium - £142, when Saga were quoting £900+ for the single trip - it covered us for a month's trip to the USA this year.
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You ring the medical screening line. There may, or may not, be an extra charge. OH pays an extra £9.95 for the annual policy for one "condition". Everything else is noted but not charged for (minor things).
There was no "extra" for medical condition in addition to the already paid "extra" for the top up for the USA (as I referred to in post above) - and the price for insurance for the States is notoriously high usually.
As the base price is so much lower, it's always worth getting a quotation; even with the additional costs it may work out less than RP.
Annual multi trip policy (now coming to the end of its year) was £282 for personal and outfit. (Plus the £9.95.) As well as travels with our van, it covered us for a trip when we flew to Berlin for a short break.
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Hi all, I have alerted Rowena, The Club Community Manager, about this string and requested that this is brought to the attention of the relevant senior management at Club HQ. Rowena has replied saying this has been sent to the Emergency Services Business Manager and will post a reply when she gets a response.
BillC
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Thanks Bill,
Out of interest I just looked to see what Red Pennant Motoring and Personal insurance would be if the two of us took car and caravan to France for the month of September.
Sit down while I tell you. £430 for standard cover or £600 for Plus cover for that one month.
Yes, we are old, but No I won't be buying it.
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Hi everyone,
I forwarded this discussion to my colleague who has advised the below:
Although we have previously been able to publish prices for Red Pennant, this often led to confusion and upset when quotes were produced that exceeded the published base rates.
Of course we want Club members to be as informed as possible when deciding which Overseas holiday insurance and roadside assistance combination they will use. We appreciate that an upfront base price would help members decide who they go on to request a quote from and this is something that may be re-introduced in the future.
As a Club we want to be the first point of call for all members and their travel needs. We regularly review our insurance arrangements to ensure that our members are protected with particular attention to the needs of caravan and motorhome holidays. Red Pennant is underwritten by an Insurance provider and from an insurance point of view they need to ensure the insurance premiums accurately reflect the insurance costs.
For Motoring only policies and for the majority of members who use the “Personal” element of the insurance we have been able to maintain the level of premiums charged with only slight amendments for a number of consecutive years, even reducing the premium in some instances. Unfortunately for members aged 80 and above that use a “Personal” element of cover the insurers have enforced increases to the premiums.
As users of CT will know, members feedback is important to us and we use this feedback to improve Red Pennant where we can. We have been able to make improvements to levels of cover offered by Red Pennant and increase the flexibility of travel dates. We will continue to evolve Red Pennant to ensure we remain competitive in the future and members have a product to fully meet their needs.
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Hi Rowena,
Many thanks for the reply.
It's good to know that your colleague is capable of 'regurgitating' the clubs version of 'marketing' speak.....
I was disappointed to see that it appears CAMC will not be re-introducing the RP price brochure but would rather have its members on the end of a phone line for an extended time.
It appears that the aim 'to remain competitive' has probably become a lost cause - particularly when you read the earlier posts. If you wish to improve something, then change is required - but the reply given contains no change whatsoever!
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Hi Rowena,
Thank you for bringing this to their attention, maybe in the longer term they will review the terms, but have to agree with AJB’s reply, sounds like one of our MPs!
I would like to re-itterate the issue and comment from the insurer about charging so much for additional length, when one of the biggest motoring organisations say they only use one size truck! Maybe The Club should speak to the insurer about this point and get back to me personally. Hope he is following this string to gather more useful feedback......
BillC
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