Club Caravan Insurance
Comments
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Hi again
We thought it might be helpful to provide a bit more information about the claims and complaints process, following on from further queries that have arisen.
If there is disagreement between the covered Member and the CAMC, any complaint must be made to the Club in the same way as you would go directly to an insurer in the event of a complaint.
As well as the claim protection to our members, the Group policy with Builders is designed to allow recourse via the Financial Ombudsman Service in the event of a complaint with us, which we felt was an important element to provide.
The Builders policy was indeed taken out by The Club, and therefore is in The Club’s name. However, the policy protects YOU as Members of the Discretionary Mutual, not the Club. If any unlikely reason Builders can’t meet their obligations the Financial Services Compensation Scheme covers them.
Here’s a bit more detail on the processes for claims and complaints.
The claims process
- A claim is submitted in the same way as previously, via Devitt, who process them on the Club's behalf - but the Devitt claims team are now working under the remit of the Club rather than the insurers (so they process all claims based on the guidelines from the Club)
- All claims are considered using the Caravan Cover wording as the basis for its decision
- Where required, loss adjusters or engineers etc will be appointed to deal with the claim on our behalf
- The member will be advised of the outcome of the claim in the same way as previously
- The possible outcomes of the claim can be summarised as follows:
- Claim accepted and then paid by applying the wording of the Caravan Cover booklet
- Claim declined as we do not feel the claim criteria, as shown in the Caravan Cover booklet, is met
- Partial settlement offered based upon the Caravan Cover that the member has taken out with The Club where we do not feel the claim criteria, as shown in the Caravan Cover booklet is fully met
Complaint escalation process
The following assumes that the claims negotiation does not provide the outcome that the member is satisfied with: the claimant can, if they wish, “skip” the first line and follow the rest of the process
- The member can appeal to the Clubs Senior Management responsible for Caravan Cover: they provide guidance and oversight, as is common with other areas of operation within The Club and have ultimate control on how we exercise discretion on a claims payment
- The member can claim under the Group Policy. Builders who are providing this cover for The Club have asked that we provide these services on their behalf, as this will speed up the claims process. The investigation will be undertaken by an appropriate member of The Club’s staff and a Final Response issued. This Final Response is the trigger that enables a member to take the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
- The member can then take the complaint to the FOS as the Builders policy puts the claim in their remit. We use the word ‘may’ because there are some circumstances where the FOS may say the complaint is outside of their remit ie a member can always refer to the FOS but the FOS doesn’t always accept them (although this is unusual). It is established practice for the FOS to accept complaints from the beneficiary of a Group Policy, as they look at who will “gain” financially from the claim.
- Builders will honour the FOS decision, having followed their normal process
If you have specific questions regarding the cover / processes, please do get in touch with the Club directly, as although we do keep an eye on what is happening on Club Together we are unable to guarantee we’ll pick up on specific questions given all the discussions that happen on the site.
Many thanks
Dave
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The old policy was certainly more generous with claims than a lot of the opposition and hopefully this is being maintained.
If the club want members to fully embrace the change from insurance to mutual cover it would have done well spelling out benefits for those seeking cover in detail - if any.
Significant premium reduction? I personally doubt it but who knows. I have read of no benefit for me, the potential consumer.
When most companies change a financial product they go out of their way to promote the improvements for the customer. When there are none they keep quiet. When the CC changed its name or its booking system it trumpeted the improvement for its consumers.
Not seen a fanfare for this change boasting improvements for members. Have you?
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Not sure about the actual benefits Surfer. The club did produce much hype about how we would become adventurers following the rebrand.
The fact that their was little hype about changes to type cover makes me suspect that even the club could find little of good to say regarding any great additional benefits to members.
Still not read of any
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I think that the more generous approach to claims was partly behind the higher premiums. Others were asking for less but to achieve the lower premiums they had to cut out other things like generous claims settlements and possibly service.
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I have found reading through this thread really interesting.
Firstly, let me say that I hope that the OP has received prompt and liberal settlement of his claim and will be back on the road again very soon.
I looked into the situation in full as my old policy was nearing renewal.
An insurance policy is a contract between two parties. To my mind, words like “discretion” have no place in such arrangements. Either a claim is valid, or it is not.
After raising the issue in writing with the club, I received a lengthy response very similar to the quoted post above.
To my mind, the salient points were;
- It seems apparent the club has made the change to generate a larger income for itself than under the previous arrangements. As members of the club, this should be to all of our benefits, as it will allow the club to invest more in sites and services without raising the membership fees. The key issue is the risk profile that goes with this additional income.
- It is now the clubs own balance sheet that is liable to meet claims
- Despite what is stated in the quoted post above, I personally find it really hard to believe I can claim on a policy I am not a party to and have no detail of (Policy Number, insured risks, insured sums, excesses, limitations and exclusions etc.).
- The details of and in particular what the excess (the quantum of risk that the club is now exposed to) is on the Builders Policy, do not appear to have been made freely available to members
- The renewal premium quoted to me was c30% higher than that quoted by the “other” club (where the Policy is with a substantial Insurer) not the club
- The Bank of England is the regulator for Insurance companies, but as explained in the post quoted above, the Club is now risking the assets of the club and individual policy holders now no longer have the comfort of this oversight.
- I conducted a brief internet search and as far as I could ascertain, but of course I may be wrong, there appears to only be one employee of the club that is authorised by the FCA in respect of insurance business. How will the club be able to (legally) continue to provide and operate any insurance business should that one individual, for example, leave the employment of the club?
On balance, I reached the conclusion that I was more comfortable being insured through the “other” club with an insurance company with a balance sheet in the billions than a “mutual” with a balance sheet not much over £100 million, and so did not renew with the CAMC.
I do think it is a pity that the club did not more widely publicise not only that these fundamental changes were being introduced, but also the full rational including the financial reasoning behind them.
All of the above is in my personal opinion.
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Well....apparently 24,000 of CaMc membership are convinced !!
Quote from web page....
Award winning Caravan Cover
We’re delighted to announce that our Caravan Cover scooped up 'Best Caravan Cover Provider' at the 2018 Insurance Choice Awards.Over 24,000 of our members voted in the Insurance Choice Awards this year, naming us the 'Best Caravan Cover Provider' for 2018.
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Not sure there is going to be an improvement in the service as from our one claim we had with the old scheme there was nothing to criticise. What we have is a different financial basis for the cover which hopefully will reduce premiums.
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Checked out C&CC insurance quote.
CC - £245
C&CC - with same protected no claims protection and legal aid £247
With C&CC I have to use tow hitch lock at home. Presently don't but one on the side in the garage so happy to use at home. C&CC says 'free' 500 contents included. I don't presently insure contents and never have. Over the last, nearly 40 years, I have happily underwritten these myself.
I have a while until renewal but C&CC will certainly be on my list - would not have been before. If they are as close they will get my business.
I think that the caravan club have made a P poor job of introducing change here .... no surprise really as they do seem, to me, to need far better PR with members. The name changes a while ago were fine by me - the PR hype stunl IMO
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OOOps. Prices above were wrong. Being idle I took info from my profile to 273 check how much I was paying. In doing so I was reviewing a renewal quote not the amount for actual insurance.
I removed the tracker from my policy before renewing.
Therefore Caravan and Motorhome - £273
C&CC quote £247 so £26 cheaper
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Ever since I bought my first new van in 1991 I've been covered by Caravan Guard. Of course in those pre internet days it helped that CG were ,and still are, based in Halifax where I lived at the time, so I could just pop down to their office and talk to them face to face.
In about 1995 I managed to clonk the gatepost at the end of my drive with my almost new ABI Jubilee. The van needed a complete new offside at a cost of not far short of £1000. CG paid up with no quibble and I've stuck with them since.
From time to time I have got a quote from the Club for insurance but each time it has been far in excess of what CG's renewal price was.
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I've recently swapped my MH insurance to CG from Saga.
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Our experience of Caravan Guard about 10 - 12 years ago has been the total opposite although we have never claimed. A very rude person when we had a query regarding our policy.
About 6 years ago we decided to give them another go and because the total value including contents of the caravan exceeded £30k, they refused to offer insurance so have never bothered with them again.
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I always have in my mind what happened when we had our van stolen some years ago. Someone else had their caravan stolen at the same time from the same storeage - he was next door to us. We were insured with the Club, he was insured elsewhere. Coincidentally the Club's insurance and the insurance company of this other person engaged the same assessor. The other chap told me that the assessor was coming to speak to him, take photos etc. I rang the assessor and asked if he would like to see me at the same time to save a double journey. His reply was that he didn't need to see me at all - different requirements of different insurance companies. The other chap ended up by having a 3 hour interview and had to fight his corner for every element if the claim. Mine went through without any hastle at all. In fact, everyone was so efficient, helpful and sympathetic.
Now, there may well have been other factors involved - I've absolutely no idea. But my experience on this occasion has meant that I have insured the caravan with the Club ever since. They did insist that we changed our storeage facility, (which we did,) but we do live in the Bermuda triangle for caravans - with easy getaway routes to anywhere - access to the M42, and therefore the getaway route could easily be towards the M1 M5, M6 or M6toll.
David
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I shop around every year but no one has ever beaten the CC&C for cover and premium.
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That has also been my experience, but it won't stop me shopping around at the next renewal time.
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We have claimed twice via cc insurance,once when i backed the caravan we had at the time into an "invisible" concrete post, and a complete rear panel was needed all done within a month,and when an awning was destroyed,during a storm while on holiday in Kent,a new awning arrived by courier the day, after i contacted the club insurance,(two days in all)so i am sticking ,at the moment with what has been first class
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For me, it's not just about the most competitive price, but is also to do with the level of cover and the way the claim is processed. I guess the problem is that you don't know about the process of claiming unless you are unfortunate enough to have to go through the process. This is why I stick with the Club - I've claimed before and was extremely happy .
David
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