Caravan Insurance

peter1 · Veteran Member

Caravan Insurance

Big Gorilla · Guru

Hi Peter and welcome to the Forum. There are a few Insurers that are competitive with Caravans. Firstly as you are in Victoria, check out RACV. Ken Tame & Associates are very competitive but to insure thru them you must be a member of CMCA. This is their website: http://www.cmca.net.au/

Another is CIL; NRMA; QBE; AAMI. You can check them out on Google and get their telephone numbers. Other Mebers should give you ore ideas...

oldbobsbus · Guru

We got disappointed with our insurer and switched to MHIA ..

hako · Guru

CIL upped our premium and reduced the cover so we shopped around and went to YOUI - be aware that some offer a 'honeymoon' premium for the first year then up it on subsequent years.

Redlander · Veteran Member

We have just finished looking around and got Quotes from all the Big Insurance companies including CIL, GIO, Suncorp etc etc. All were over $1200.00 for $60K cover.

Youi came in at Half this. You will need to determine what excess you are happy with however as Youi are a bit higher than the others but the saving was significant.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Big Gorilla · Guru

I switched from APIA to CIL this year. For $60,000.00 with $200.00 excess, premium $753.60. What I do now is shop around EVERY year. I no longer take an automatic renewal. By doing this, I can get best Premium rate.

Bill B · Guru

oldbobsbus wrote:

We got disappointed with our insurer and switched to MHIA ..

MHIA haven't insured touring caravans for several years.

Only caravans they insure are onsite vans.

oldbobsbus · Guru

Bill B wrote:
oldbobsbus wrote:

We got disappointed with our insurer and switched to MHIA ..

MHIA haven't insured touring caravans for several years.

Only caravans they insure are onsite vans.

Well they have no problem insuring our M/H.. smile

Bill B · Guru

oldbobsbus wrote:

Well they have no problem insuring our M/H..

That's fine but the question was in relation to caravans biggrin

deverall11 · Guru

Big Gorilla wrote:
I switched from APIA to CIL this year. For $60,000.00 with $200.00 excess, premium $753.60. What I do now is shop around EVERY year. I no longer take an automatic renewal. By doing this, I can get best Premium rate.

Unfortunately this is the cold reality. We are now with CIL, had a claim paid the $200 excess and had the van fixed. Easiest insurance claim I have ever been involved with. However, when our renewal comes through, CIL will not get the job automatically. YOUI's premium seem to be the cheapest, but gut feeling tells me otherwise. NO DISCRIMINATION INTENDED, just a gut feeling. Two things:

1) If it's too good to be true it may not be

2) An insurance company is only as good as when you need to make a claim.

Larry

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

Price is unfortunately always one of the considerations. cry

However, the policy MUST cover YOUR circumstances, how you use the van and/or store the van. Read the policy and product description document very thoroughly and ask questions - of the insurer - if in doubt about anything you don't understand.

Be VERY aware of not just what is supposed to be covered but the EXCLUSIONS and explanations of what will be paid and when.

As also stated above, claim performance is very important as well.

Cheers - John

PeterInSa · Guru

Also be sure the insurance company is talking agreed value and its in writing. You may discuss $60K with them and they give you a quote on $60K but the paperwork when it arrives may not mention agreed value, and market value if you van goes missing may be a lot less.

Peter

oldbobsbus · Guru

Bill B wrote:
oldbobsbus wrote:

Well they have no problem insuring our M/H..

That's fine but the question was in relation to caravans

You are right they don't want to know touring caravans the risk is too great. biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin

Glenelg · Guru

i just done my 5th wheeler with CIL FOR I THINK IT WAS $770 for $80.000 cover with $200.00 excess. only do caravans had to go elsewhere for me Dmax.

Big Gorilla · Guru

If you accept the renewal automatically you will pay a higher premium than if you shopped around. I changed from Ken Tame because I had a claim and they told me in writing that I was not at fault, however when the renewal came the premium was 34% higher. When I queried this they told me that even though it was not my fault, they could not recover from the party at fault, so up went my renewal premium. That's the first time I started to shop around. When you do shop around, you must tell your new Insurer about previous claims. These Insurers are all in to bed together, and if you withhold information, a future claim will be rejected.

I did tell about my previous claim when I changed to Apia, and I retained my no claim status. I found with Apia they were inflexible on the excess of $500.00. I wanted $200.00. The windscreen in my Iveco costs around $700.00 inc. labor to change if cracked or broken. With Apia, they would pay $200.00 and I would pay $500.00. That's not a deal.

This year I selected CIL. Little bit more expensive than APIA but one free windscreen a year, and if you break a second within 1 year, excess is $200.00. Very reasonable. Next year I'll shop around again.

Comments made about MHIA and agreed value are correct.

justcruisin01 · Guru

peter1 wrote:
I've read the old blogs on this topic but having just received my caravan renewal today from AAMI, I would appreciate if anyone could advise me of any good insurers. My premium went down - surprise surprise - by $14. However, the amount covered was arbitrary reduced by $15,869. Perhaps it's time to have a look around to see if there's anything better out there.

Regards

Peter

Had ours with NRMA for the 12yrs that we have owned it a the valuation is still the same as the day we bought it.

JC.

justcruisin01 · Guru

Big Gorilla
This year I selected CIL. Little bit more expensive than APIA but one free windscreen a year, and if you break a second within 1 year, excess is $200.00. Very reasonable. Next year I'll shop around again.
Comments made about MHIA and agreed value are correct.

I pay a bit extra on the tug insurance to have full glass replacement free. Thats all glass.

Had two w/screens replaced in the cruiser;done here at home free.

Havent had any with the Iveco yet.

-- Edited by justcruisin01 on Wednesday 22nd of October 2014 03:37:05 PM

Umpie1 · Senior Member

deverall11 wrote:
Big Gorilla wrote:
I switched from APIA to CIL this year. For $60,000.00 with $200.00 excess, premium $753.60. What I do now is shop around EVERY year. I no longer take an automatic renewal. By doing this, I can get best Premium rate.
Unfortunately this is the cold reality. We are now with CIL, had a claim paid the $200 excess and had the van fixed. Easiest insurance claim I have ever been involved with. However, when our renewal comes through, CIL will not get the job automatically. YOUI's premium seem to be the cheapest, but gut feeling tells me otherwise. NO DISCRIMINATION INTENDED, just a gut feeling. Two things:
1) If it's too good to be true it may not be
2) An insurance company is only as good as when you need to make a claim.
Larry

My van is insured through CIL. What attracted me to them was price, excess & the fact that if the van needed repairs well away from home as the result of an accident, CIL would arrange to get the van back home. As for Youi, I have 2 cars insured with then for a couple of years now and have always been able to get a good deal from them. A point of interest is that their call centre is on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and when you call them you get to speak to an Aussie. No foreign accents. When my van renewal comes around I will talk to Youi as well as others.

justcruisin01 · Guru

Just had a quote from CIL on a new van, A few dollars dearer than NRMA.

peter1 · Veteran Member

Thanks all for responding. I will prepare a brief summary of prices in the next few days and circulate under a new blog for everyones information.

Regards

Peter

Dizzybird · Newbie

This is all very interesting and helpful.
I have often sought after insurance companies via brokers to find the best deal for home and contents.
Are there brokers out there that do the same thing for motor home, vans etc?

chaslib · Senior Member

Brokers are required to provide the best cover and price available from those insurance companies that they are contracted to deal with. Many insurers these days in the retail market now prefer to deal online direct with the public which actually is good if you are travelling. Many insurers also do not have arrangements with Brokers. A lot of brokers now are also moving away from the retail market, ie. home, contents, cars, vans etc, unless you also have other business you can give them - preferably commercial. Best advice here is to ring a broker and tell them what you want and ask which companies they use and what their fee structure is ...... no sense wasting time when all you will get is an expensive quote with a fee. Good luck whatever road you take.