We had insurance on our previous van with CIL and decided to swap it over to NRMA because it was cheaper, first claim that we made it was knocked back becasue they said that they didnt cover damage caused by a mechanical, electrical or structural failure. - cost us over $8K to fix it ourselves. I immediately cancelled 5 other NRMA policies we held and went somewhere else. When we got our new van in August regardless of the higher premium we decided to go back to an RV specialist (CIL). All I can say from our experience is whoever you decide to go with read their PDS very carefully then be careful how you word any claim.
BB
-- Edited by The Belmont Bear on Wednesday 16th of November 2022 09:10:41 PM
As BB wrote above...read the PDS and be careful how you word your claim. An actual claimable event may be declined if the reason for the loss or how the loss occurred is blurred or described badly...that can make all the difference as to whether your claim is accepted or declined...
Most policies will cover for any loss or damage caused by the failure of a component...eg...a tyre failure causes damage to surrounding panels through the tyre shreds flying...the tyre won't be replaced but the resulting damage would be.
If there were an electrical short of some sort and the van or RV burnt to the ground, or it is damaged, that is an insurable event...obviously the wires that shorted aren't replaced but resulting damage will be.
Similarly if an axle moved and caused the unit to roll over, likely be a write off. But...if the insurer discovered a lack of maintenance and obvious structural defects led to the loss they may refuse the claim or reduce the payout...
Does CIL cover you for "damage caused by a mechanical, electrical or structural failure"?
Whether they do or not is irrelevent and not the really the reason why we moved our policies from the NRMA. It was more the 2 months it took them to go through the claims process and then for them to tell us out of the blue that they were not going to accept our claim. The way they treated me when I spoke to them on the phone while trying to explain the sequence of events was completely uncaring which was a slap in the face for loyal customers who had held insurance policies with them for over 40 years. My point is that whichever insurance company you choose read their PDS and then word any claim carefully - regardless of what their advertising says caring for people is not what insurance companies are in buisness for.
For the record the reason it was knocked back was because their contract assessor wrote that the damage had been caused by one of the U bolts holding an axle had failed. I told him I was not sure of the root cause of the failure maybe I had run over something on the road, I know I definately had an inner wall blowout on the van doing 95kph. About 50mtrs farther down the road while trying to bring the van to a stop a Ubolt snapped on the trailing axle causing it to move to a 45deg.angle to the direction of travel.....He told me he would write that it was a Ubolt failure as they would not cover the failed part only the damage it caused and a Ubolt would cost me less than a tyre.
Re (.He told me he would write that it was a Ubolt failure as they would not cover the failed part only the damage it caused and a Ubolt would cost me less than a tyre.)
I wonder, if the phone conversation with the assessor was on loud speaker, and your wife who was listening in, could then confirm with you to the NRMA that it was actually a tyre problem and the claim should be approved. ( or would this conversation need to be recorded)
Re (.He told me he would write that it was a Ubolt failure as they would not cover the failed part only the damage it caused and a Ubolt would cost me less than a tyre.)
I wonder, if the phone conversation with the assessor was on loud speaker, and your wife who was listening in, could then confirm with you to the NRMA that it was actually a tyre problem and the claim should be approved. ( or would this conversation need to be recorded)
Peter the conversation I had with the Assesor was in person when they finally sent someone out to look at the damage 2 months after the event. The phone conversation was after they got his report and they rang to tell me that the claim was being rejected. The assessor told me when he was there looking at the damage that I should go ahead and tell the repairer to order the parts as it would only be the matter of a rubber stamp. The caravan repairer who already had the van in his yard and had done insurance work for NRMA before had told me previously that in his experience they wouldnt even bother to send anyone to look at it but he would need to wait for an order to start. NRMA said I could lodge an appeal against their decision but as I was leaving the next week to do some project work in South Africa I didnt want to go through the hassle and I paid the $8K to get the damage repaired myself..
At the time there were a lot of claims being made due to the Queensland floods and I still believe that the insurance companies were looking for ways to save money and we were unlucky enough to be one of those savings..
BB
-- Edited by The Belmont Bear on Thursday 17th of November 2022 01:49:51 PM
