I am now using my van to live in and work on a farm, the insurance is due and is with QBE after talking to them they will no longer continue my insurance as I live in my van. What do others do as I can't be the only one. From what they said anyone continually travelling in van are not covered as policy is for recreation use and for a set amount of days use per year.
hope yous can help know I can;t be the only one doing it,
-- Edited by Mackayak on Tuesday 25th of February 2020 05:20:42 AM
Assume you mean Policy not Police; Caravan Insurance for full time use causes much grief as a search of these pages will show - CIL are the Caravan Insurance people try them. Shannon's are another that sometimes are co-operative.. Pat Calinhan is always saying 4WD Insurance are helpful. Otherwise try talking to an insurance Broker.
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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
According to the records of those agencies who insist upon a house address I live with my son, it's just that I take very long holidays in my caravan.
Do you really need insurance if your van is in a safe location on a farm?
Go with another company and don't tell them.
Not telling them is not wise Mike. In Australia an insurance buyer has a duty under the Insurance Contacts Act to disclose to a prospective insurer all matters which may influence the insurers decision to accept the risk and on what terms. Failure to comply with your duty of disclosure may reduce a claim to nil depending on the level of non disclosure or the insurer may avoid the policy entirely if the non disclosure is fraudulent.
ConsumerMan wrote: Not telling them is not wise Mike. In Australia an insurance buyer has a duty under the Insurance Contacts Act to disclose to a prospective insurer all matters which may influence the insurers decision to accept the risk
I know and I don't care.
Insurance companies rip us off left, right and centre and I have no hesitation manipulating their risk level to my advantage, they most certainly do the opposite.
The more important question is whether they can *prove* I'm living in my van if I sue them for refusing a claim because I believe I can easily prove I'm not.
btw... what is the legal definition of "living in"?
-- Edited by Mike Harding on Tuesday 25th of February 2020 02:44:53 PM
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
Not telling them is not wise Mike. In Australia an insurance buyer has a duty under the Insurance Contacts Act to disclose to a prospective insurer all matters which may influence the insurers decision to accept the risk
I know and I don't care.
Insurance companies rip us off left, right and centre and I have no hesitation manipulating their risk level to my advantage, they most certainly do the opposite.
The more important question is whether they can *prove* I'm living in my van if I sue them for refusing a claim because I believe I can easily prove I'm not.
btw... what is the legal definition of "living in"?
-- Edited by Mike Harding on Tuesday 25th of February 2020 02:44:53 PM
I think that you are being a little rude to the insurance companies. I live in the fire areas in East Gippsland and all I hear is good things about the insurance companies and the way that they have handled this disaster. Personally I would not want to deal with some people who are not at all truthful with the companies and then demand payouts. I know that there will be instances where the insurance company could do better but all in all they have been very good recently.
yes I must have missed this very interesting thread. I have just read the insurance PDS of the carrier mentioned by the OP. Unfortunately that insurer is correct in that their policy excludes damage caused by mechanical failure, which in my opinion is a major carve out by that particular underwriter. There is no escaping the benefit of reading an insurers PDS before entering into a contract of insurance to ensure the cover is right for you, as well as being honest with answers and disclosing important information.
ConsumerMan wrote:I have just read the insurance PDS of the carrier mentioned by the OP. Unfortunately that insurer is correct in that their policy excludes damage caused by mechanical failure
Page 41 of the PDS states:
"mechanical, structural or electrical failure"
However no mention is made in the PDS of "the consequences thereof" which, I assume, is why the assessor sited only the U bolt as a failure.
If mechanical failure is excluded and my tow coupling breaks and my caravan subsequently is destroyed and in the process kills and injures people then my insurance is null - clearly this is a nonsense.
What they *actually* mean by "mechanical failure" is that you can't claim for the cost of repairing the normal failures of a vehicle eg. punctures and the like.
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
Ok so far I have I have talked to CIL and they are similar Suncorp has a cover for people all ways om the road and so do NRMA going to go with NRMA as I have had road side service with them for over 40 years so get a good discount will need to research it more before next year.
ConsumerMan wrote:I have just read the insurance PDS of the carrier mentioned by the OP. Unfortunately that insurer is correct in that their policy excludes damage caused by mechanical failure
Page 41 of the PDS states:
"mechanical, structural or electrical failure"
However no mention is made in the PDS of "the consequences thereof" which, I assume, is why the assessor sited only the U bolt as a failure.
If mechanical failure is excluded and my tow coupling breaks and my caravan subsequently is destroyed and in the process kills and injures people then my insurance is null - clearly this is a nonsense.
What they *actually* mean by "mechanical failure" is that you can't claim for the cost of repairing the normal failures of a vehicle eg. punctures and the like.
Sorry Mike you are not reading the wording correctly. The exclusion is damage caused by mechanical failure. The OP may have had some success in arguing the the broken U-bolt is not a mechanical failure but that us up to him. I agree it is pure nonsense and IMHO an inferior cover.
ConsumerMan - You are correct in what you are saying but can I recommend that you save your keyboard trying to enlighten Mike on insurance issues. Unfortunately Mike has the theory that anyone & everyone is out to get him and whilst Mike may be able to obtain a policy for his Caravan, Insurance Companies do not have a policy to cover ignorance & stupidity.
People need to understand who the Insurer is when taking out cover. Example; Lets Go Caravan Insurance is administered by NM Insurance Pty Ltd who operates under a Binding Authority for AIG Insurance Australia which is part of the American International Insurance Group Inc. What is a Binding Authority you say, well I won't bore you with the technicalities.
In summary, Lets Go Caravan Insurance operate under the underwriting guidelines of American International Insurance Group Inc.
Remember, it is the Underwriter that makes the final call if required - not just a fancy brand name.
ConsumerMan - You are correct in what you are saying but can I recommend that you save your keyboard trying to enlighten Mike on insurance issues. Unfortunately Mike has the theory that anyone & everyone is out to get him and whilst Mike may be able to obtain a policy for his Caravan, Insurance Companies do not have a policy to cover ignorance & stupidity.
I wasn't going to but, sod it, I will!
Knightrider; you may not like me or the way I post and espouse my views and opinions but don't abuse me or try and bully me because it doesn't work and I don't like it.
I don't abuse others, disagreement is an acceptable form of argument not abuse, and I don't expect to receive it and it only makes you look childish.
If you have an issue with my comments refute them with argument and logic.
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
You are absolutely correct Mike. An insurance policy is a contract between the parties and just because one of the parties, usually the insurer, has a different view of the meaning of one or more of the terms, does not mean it is the correct view. If an insurer fails to meet a claim and the insured is aggrieved then the issue can be decided in the courts .His or Her Honour will determine how the terms are to be interpreted, not some pen pusher sitting on their blot on the seventh floor of a big building.
It is quite amusing how quickly the insurers reassess their earlier reluctance when this course of action is followed. Trust me....you know the rest.
Interesting views on Insurance Companies but what confuses me is - if they are rip off merchants, don't or won't pay claims, premiums too high, won't cover certain events and you feel you have to go to court to get a claim paid,why do you waste your time & money insuring your assets, e.g Caravan, Motorhome Tow Vehicle etc. You have a choice, it's called "self insurance" & then you don't have to deal with these so called rip off bastards when you have damage, stolen etc. Easy, no claim necessary, you just pay the damage yourself. Not my choice, but it can be yours.
In most circumstances the claim is met Knightrider. It is the times when something a little bit out of the ordinary occurs when they are then prepared to refuse a claim.
Litigation is just another cost to insurers. They usually have either in house legal staff or retainers paid to legal firms to represent them. Once they refuse a claim an assessment is then done if litigation commences and then they make a commercial decision as to whether to defend the litigation or honour the claim.
I have found that most insurers honour most claims. That is why the majority of people seek insurance.
-- Edited by DMaxer on Saturday 29th of February 2020 05:24:45 PM
Interesting views on Insurance Companies but what confuses me is - if they are rip off merchants, don't or won't pay claims, premiums too high, won't cover certain events and you feel you have to go to court to get a claim paid,why do you waste your time & money insuring your assets, e.g Caravan, Motorhome Tow Vehicle etc. You have a choice, it's called "self insurance" & then you don't have to deal with these so called rip off bastards when you have damage, stolen etc. Easy, no claim necessary, you just pay the damage yourself. Not my choice, but it can be yours.
I am the person referred to earlier who wrote about the NRMA rejecting my claim due to it being the result of a mechanical failure. The follow up is that I accepted their decision and paid the $6700 repair bill myself. When they told me that they were rejecting the claim I immediately cancelled the remaining 10 months insurance on the van, the comprehensive policies on our 2 cars, our house contents policy etc. When the registration on our vehicles become due I will also find someone else to buy the greenslips from - maybe that wont hurt them much but it sure makes us feel a lot better. So knightrider after being a loyal NRMA customer & never making a claim in over 30 years being self insured would have put us a long way in front. Its not really my choice to go without insurance so we moved our policies elsewhere - I guess that we arent going to know whether that was a good decision or not unless in the future we make a claim.
Self insured? no way, if you do have an incident involving someone else who is insured, not only your immediate property gone, but imagine the other parties insurance company pursuing you relentlessly for the cost of say a Ferrari ,North of $500,000.00.
Do Not Renew without checking. Just did a small ring around, current insurer wanted almost $900 to renew, GIO wanted $1600.00, AAMI close to $1100, so went with Elders for just under $700. All identical value and appear to offer the same cover.
