Hi Grams, i understand your concerns regarding insurance cover .The insurance policies are usually 50 pages riddled with exceptions and definitions.To make it even more complex , there are a ton of insurers out there., all with different policy documents and exceptions. You really need to be an expert to fully understand your policy or to find a new one that suits your needs. Look for WRIGGLE OUT clauses the insurers use!Are there items that simply can't be insured ?Does your insurace help you while your travelling.The market trumpets lots of fabulous extra services like replacment vehicles and accommodation in the event of a accident , but find out what extra excesses may also apply' and compear the value on offer( believe me just this alone can differ by thousands of dollars )Not all insurers cover you for damage that accurs while reversing, Make sure every effort to securer the RV , or move it to a safety , in the event of a incident . If you don't any subsequent damage may not be insured.Camper trailers and pop tops may even be treated more like annexes with restricted cover only.Always inform your insurer of any modifications to your RV as these must be added to policy.Find out what your insurer defines as off road, as -are you covered on any gazetted track , private property, the beach . Find out if you are covered for any accommodation if your RV becomes unusable -what is the limit on how much the insurer will pay. Ask can you insure valuables like precious gems and so on. But if on the road fulll time and this is your primary residance , you will have a hard time covering your valuables like gems .Find out what value each item in your contents is covered for,for example $500 might be the max for anyone item and it would be easy to have things worth a lot more. Chech to see if your electronics are covered , things like camera, computers, digital tvs, mobile phns could well be excluded, or have pay out caps much lower than the worth of the item. Ask what excusions apply to your annex Exlusions often include annexes over five years old. Canvas annexes, or damage due to hail, break- ins or cyclones. Car insurace is less helpfull, but depending on your car insurance you might be able to store certain small items in the car in order for them to be insured.Here i am thinking tools/ golf clubs only the tools that come with the van are covered by default.Caravan cover will probably not cover additional tools.Content cover may start quite low by default ,and you could have to pay a higher premium to bring the value coverage up to the insurer's ceilng ($40.000)as an exampleWhat is covered by most insures is carpets/ household goods /cd's, dvds , games , books, clothes ,luggage, stereos and tvs, furniture, furnishings food spoilage. An example of items that invaribly have ceilings or exclusions ---- cash, coins, bank notes. Furs, jewellery and watches , credit cards or financial transactions, cards. fishing/ surfing,sailbarding, water skiing or any other sporting equipment. Bycycles scooters. Motor vehicles of any description , boats trailers, or aerial devices and the equipment for any of them.There is so much gear excluded you would need to read every word on your policy .Before you leave on your trip prepear an insurance file that has copies of your policy details and receippts for everything that is covered-- that's just not the van, but valuable contents as well ,take photoes to prove ownership and original condition. Leave one set of documents with someone you can trust and take another with you. For the ultimate in redundancy and accessibility scan your documents and store them online with google Docs or drop box. Grams i hope this bit of infor is some help to you,,,and yes a whole lot different on road full time than going off for a short brake in the van and you have a home to go back to as this can change your insurance policy set up a whole lot.
Regards Herbie.(if i can help in some other way re your insurance let me know )
-- Edited by herbie on Thursday 9th of May 2013 01:34:45 PM
After reading about a fellow GN and their accident and having stuff stolen, it got me wondering about the insurance....
At the moment we have: Car, House, Contents and Caravan Insurance. But as we are still tied to the house this is fine. But when we sell up, move what precious stuff we want to take with us and live permanantly in our van and car...what do we do then?
Do we need to also get contents insurance for the caravan?
Knowing roughly what it would take to replace the contents in a house is easy....but what about in the van?
Do you include all the fittings, like stove etc or is that the van insurance....i guess just personal stuff. Is that right?
It needs not be too confusing. One way is to contact your current insurer of van, house etc and find out from them, through their policy document and Product Disclosure Document (PID) just what would be covered in the van at the moment. That will probably not change when you sell the home and live in the van.
I would imagine your current van insurance details what is covered and the value of any contents, either the default $1000 or a sum nominated by you.
The policy document and PID will, SHOULD, detail what is INCLUDED in the policy and the EXCLUSIONS in the policy.
If you want also contact other insurers and see what they offer.
My advice regarding insurance is ALWAYS ... obtain policy document and PID, make sure it coveres what YOU need because if you need to claim you need to know the things that are important to you are covered. Try to determine from forums like this for instance what the claims 'performance' of the various companies have been/are. Then, and only then, compare prices.
It will all fall into place as you learn more.
cheers - John
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2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE Auto - 2008 23ft Golden Eagle Hunter Some people feel the rain - the others just get wet - Bob Dylan
Thanks John, I never got a new Product Disclosure Booklet this time, I will ring them and ask them to send me one out. As I have no idea what is included or not. The van is insured for its agreed value, but I have nothing for the contents of it, as we have nothing in it yet. But I will need to get this sorted before we leave.
I would be asking for sure the reason for the drop in value,that is a hell of a big drop in two months. Do they know the van is just sitting in your yard or do they think you are out on the road useing it. As the insurance i have changes to what ever situation i am in at the time. Like at moment i am classed as onsite.So it takes my insurance payment down. But as soon as i am on the road i ring them to have it changed, it is a pain but it saves me heaps of money over a year...With this drop in value is your premium still the same or has it dropped to match the value of the van ?..The best place to start to get some idea of prices is to google in caravan insurance quotes. some of the names are as follows
ARIA (one of the dearest i found for what one gets ) my oppinion only here though.
AAMI
CIL
MHIA
TCIS
Just remember a on road van will not be covered for off road use.
But Australia Wide means on-off road, in a paddock, as long as you are on Australian soil you'r covered.
Another thing to remember when you get on the road full time and if you decide to head to Tassie , check to see if your Tug and Van are covered on the boat heading over and back, as a lot of insurance covers do not cover for any boat by sea.Mate found this out the hard way back in Feb coming back from Tassie.
I hope all this jargon i have gone on with , in some way help you understand the complexity of being covered water tight can be.As i say when it is going to be your home the right insurace is no different than if you were insuring your home. Can you tell me what the name of the insurance company you are with now. As not sending the disclosure /bible and then getting the name of your van spelt rong is ringing alarm bells to me.
Regards Herbie
-- Edited by herbie on Thursday 9th of May 2013 03:53:03 PM
Hello Again Grams, also forgot to add to the long drawn out answer to you question on Insurance Find out what additional Cover you get and what the caps are, for example , if the van has to be stored in the event of a claim , Towing ,Emergency repairs, you may be able to perform emergency repairs up to a defined value with out prior authorisation from the insurer, The Temp accommodation is one to for you to check out as in some policy cover it is only 24hrs, so check how long acommodation will be covered for ( up to a certain cost ) and number of days. The other thing is burnt out motors, motors that form part of the van are covered if they burn out within the accepted time period (eg 10 years )The Flip side to all this is it's not unusual for insurers to exclude damage resulting from deliberate damage by you, stored explosives exploding,,, war,,radioactivity,, insect/vermin,,,breakdowns(this is why you have to have extra cover for road side assist ( Also check this out as some road side assist only go up to a certain limit to tow vehicle and van) ,,,wear and tear ( which includes roofs ),,tyers,water damage and rust and the big one is TERRORISM.,,,Even for events that are generally covered there are exceptions from one policy cover to the next. Some of these include you were breaking the law at time of accident, your CAR or VAN was unroadworthy,,,you failed to properly maintain your vehicle,,,flood damage was causered by sea or tidal wave,,,Annex damage if the storm is a named CYCLONE ( so all lets hope the next cyclone is not named if one happens to be in that area )IN these cases cover may be denied....Insurance is a pain in the bum to understand and get one's head around , maybe it is all designed that way so we think we have the best cheapest cover,but if the s...t hits the fan maybe that cheapo cover was't that cheap after all.
Wow that's a lot to think about. My insurer sent me a renewal policy today, my insurance on the van has dropped by $7,000 in 2 months. I have asked why, I have also had to correct the spelling of the van...they put Island Start Opal instead of Island Star Opal. It might seem trivial but it might mean they decide not to cover it. They still haven't sent out a booklet on the what is or not included. All I got was an amendment to the booklet.
I am going to spend tomorrow searching through different insurers to see what is best.
Is there a web site where they compare insurers and let you know what is and not included?
As this is just over my head in details. Though I will write down all the things you have mentioned here, and also if these aren't mentioned then I will ask them if they are or not.
The insurance company knows it is being stored at our house. Our insurance is with CGU, we have had them for everything for the last 13 years, they have been brilliant especially during claims. I think the misspelling of the vans name may have been because I spoke to the insurer over the phone. We had to get the van insured the day before we went to pick it up, so it was a rush job, I am guessing they didn't understand me very well.
As for the drop in price, I can't think of anything that might be. I am still waiting to hear back from them. I don't like using the phone, mainly because I have a phobia of phones and talking to strangers. I emailed them instead, so I'm waiting for a reply. If I don't hear back Ill ring them.
No not too much info, but it's made me think of a lot of things I never thought of, so thank you.
Hi Grams, while your van is sitting in your yard, until D day maybe look at the basic insurance cover , as while you still have a home that is your primary residence, you can use your home insurace to cover what your caravan insurance may not cover(some times you may need to do this by default ) for example , you might specify jewellery pieces as extra items have bikes/ cameras/ computers /laptops.But on the road full time you will have a hard time covering your valuables. When i mentioned basic insurance make sure it cover for theft/ fire /floos that kind of stuff. Note if some thing happens to your van and you have to be payed out from your insurer, It should be payed out what ever the 'Agreed value is 'that is stated on your policy document. For new vans this will be the full amount you payed. - for older vans this will be reduce in line with current market value. If you brought a used van , then the agreed value will most likely be what you payed for it.Hope you get it all sorted out and would be interested to hear why the drop in value over two months was all about. Regards Herbie.
I have just heard back from the insurer....this is what they said:
"The value shown on the renewal has gone down because we offer a market value policy."
This doesn't make sense. The caravan is now insured for $10,000 less than we owe for it. It is brand new. I definitely will be shopping around for another insurer.
Hi Grams, will ring my son who lives in Noosa later tonight ,he manages a big insurance companie and ask him regarding all this. Will get back to you on it. ( so what you are saying is if something happened to your van ,you owe more than the van is insured for ,am a right in saying that .
I have a background in claims with a brokers office, although brokers do not generally use direct to the public insurers, they do use the reputable ones. Personally, i would go through brokers, tell them exactly what you want, get them to provide the alternate quotes with full details of cover, exclusions and the type of settlement, ie market value or agreed value. Also very important to understand the application of the excess. Also if you have choice of repairer or do you have to use their preferred repairers... Are parts used genuine. Some companies do offer agreed value policies ... We have one for our camper for the amount we paid for it incl extra fittings and fixtureS, however, we do know that next renewal, the agreed value will drop as it does with AV motor vehicle policies,Make sure the broker provides it all in writing. Make sure you get copies off each insurers PDS. make time to sit down with your broker and have them fully explain what they are selling and what you need. If there is a problem down the track and the broker stuffed it up, then you may still have a good outcome as the broker is required to Get It Right!
I prefer to pay a bit extra and get what we need rather than something sold over the phone for a cheaper price.
these are just things that i have learnt over the years, the biggest thing that is drummed into a broker is dont screw it up because that is a professional indemnity claim!
-- Edited by chaslib on Monday 13th of May 2013 07:13:22 AM
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The Maccas ....
2013 Avida Esperance Motorhome - based in northern NSW.
Hi Grams, will ring my son who lives in Noosa later tonight ,he manages a big insurance companie and ask him regarding all this. Will get back to you on it. ( so what you are saying is if something happened to your van ,you owe more than the van is insured for ,am a right in saying that .
Regards Herbie.
Thanks Herbie, yes your right. We bought the van for $70,000, we had to insure it before the loan company would let us have the money. Instead of the insurance company making out a new policy for this van. They just swapped the caravan details with the old one we cancelled, which only had 2 months left on the policy.
Now that the policy has ended they sent out a renewal with the drop in value of $7,000, so it's now $63,000. I will be looking around to see if I can find someone else.
-- Edited by Grams on Monday 13th of May 2013 08:02:28 AM
Just a thought and it may not work with cgU. You can dispute the market value but it will be at you instigation and cost through an independent valuerer May or may not work. I believe the majority of CGU business may be through brokers, so if this is the case with you, that is where you should start. NRMA generally takes all the direct business as both companies owned by IAG.
best of luck ... I would dispute it ... You don't have anything to loose,
-- Edited by chaslib on Monday 13th of May 2013 08:15:44 AM
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The Maccas ....
2013 Avida Esperance Motorhome - based in northern NSW.
I have a background in claims with a brokers office, although brokers do not generally use direct to the public insurers, they do use the reputable ones. Personally, i would go through brokers, tell them exactly what you want, get them to provide the alternate quotes with full details of cover, exclusions and the type of settlement, ie market value or agreed value. Also very important to understand the application of the excess. Also if you have choice of repairer or do you have to use their preferred repairers... Are parts used genuine. Some companies do offer agreed value policies ... We have one for our camper for the amount we paid for it incl extra fittings and fixtureS, however, we do know that next renewal, the agreed value will drop as it does with AV motor vehicle policies,Make sure the broker provides it all in writing. Make sure you get copies off each insurers PDS. make time to sit down with your broker and have them fully explain what they are selling and what you need. If there is a problem down the track and the broker stuffed it up, then you may still have a good outcome as the broker is required to Get It Right!
I prefer to pay a bit extra and get what we need rather than something sold over the phone for a cheaper price.
these are just things that i have learnt over the years, the biggest thing that is drummed into a broker is dont screw it up because that is a professional indemnity claim!
-- Edited by chaslib on Monday 13th of May 2013 07:13:22 AM
Thank you. I have just found an Insurance Broker in the next town, not bad for a small country place. I will be ringing to see if I can find out how much they charge, and when I can get them to see me. We had a Broker for our loan, I never knew they did it for insurance too.
Hi there, insurance is done by insurance brokers... Finance brokers generally stick to the loan side of the industry, however there are some brokers who are part of the larger cluster brokers that cater for both needs. good luck ... There are always alternatives and options, you just née to stand up and say no....
Cheers
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The Maccas ....
2013 Avida Esperance Motorhome - based in northern NSW.
I went to see an Insurance Broker today, they were great. They found CIL Insurance, they specialise in Caravan and RV's.
So to compare: CGU - Excess: $100 Premium: $1,197 Market Value: $63,000 No PDS has been given. Not happy with the depreciation of $7,000 within a two month period.
CIL - Excess: $200 Premium: $885 (including brokers fees) Agreed value: $73,000 (what we owe on the loan) PDS was given. Very happy.
I explained what we planning on doing later, and I also asked about contents insurance. She said when we sell up and are ready to move into the caravan we can go back to them and they will organise contents insurance for what we have in there. She also said this is Australia wide insurance cover.
So thank you everyone. It's has been a learning curve for us, and with all your help, we now have insurance for exactly what we want.
Good to hear you have got it all sorted out Grams, as i said for the time being you would only need the basic coverage, but once it becomes your home it ,becomes a whole new ball game. Just remember if you intend to get a Generator it will not be covered by insurance unless it is hard wired into your van,Kind of a new ruling insurance cover has brought in, this is not just for us who use van as our home it is for all RVs also hard to get cover for SAT Dish and Solo Panels not on the roof of van/ motor home. We just really take extra care when using the Gen /solo/ sat dish when on the raod. We still take care not to just become slack when in a van park either,as believe it or not most solo panels go missing from c/ van parks.
I didn't read anything in the PDS about generators, so thanks for that. As for solar panels ours are bolted to the roof, it mentions things will be covered if they came with the van including accessories. As it came with a lot of accessories, that's great for us.
Yes this is basic cover for now, well at least it covers the loan amount. But when we do put our personal belongings into the van and head out we will up the contents on it, the standard at the moment is $1,000 so I'll have to increase that for the digital camera, laptop and iPad, etc that I will be taking with me.
I went to see an Insurance Broker today, they were great. They found CIL Insurance, they specialise in Caravan and RV's.
So to compare: CGU - Excess: $100 Premium: $1,197 Market Value: $63,000 No PDS has been given. Not happy with the depreciation of $7,000 within a two month period.
CIL - Excess: $200 Premium: $885 (including brokers fees) Agreed value: $73,000 (what we owe on the loan) PDS was given. Very happy.
I explained what we planning on doing later, and I also asked about contents insurance. She said when we sell up and are ready to move into the caravan we can go back to them and they will organise contents insurance for what we have in there. She also said this is Australia wide insurance cover.
So thank you everyone. It's has been a learning curve for us, and with all your help, we now have insurance for exactly what we want.
Great to hear Grams, Our insurance is with CIL (which is an agency of Vero) and I did the alternate quote thing also and they came up trumps. CGU are getting very expensive now, which may be because they want out of the caravan lines.
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The Maccas ....
2013 Avida Esperance Motorhome - based in northern NSW.
