Best Insurer for a Camper

[MrGreen]

I certainly find people's attitude to vehicle insurance amusing. In the 'what have you bought...' thread, some celebrate renewing their tracker subscription or purchasing a security device, but no-one ever celebrates renewing the cover that will ensure their van is repaired in the event of an accident or that will compensate them in the event of a total-loss or that will ensure they're not bankrupted in the event they cause someone personal injury whilst driving.

No one is celebrating because insurance is now a cartel.
We have no choice, we have to purchase insurance and insurance companies are ripping people off.

It used to be fair, the higher the risk the more you paid. Now they’re just sending out ridiculous made up numbers because a lot of people just used to renew without challenging the price rise.

Having just obtained 12 quotes they ranged from £520 to £3,450.
My existing insurance was £540 and it was no surprise when the insurer said the renewal was £1,150.

Insurance companies have jumped on the back of the COVID and inflation bandwagon just to hike prices. Cars hardly moved for two years during lockdowns and they made massive profits because there were minimal claims.

This aggressive price hiking now means there’s over 1 million uninsured drivers on the road. If that’s the official figure, in reality it’s probably more like 2 million. This is an issue caused by insurance companies but guess who’s paying for all those uninsured drivers?

Insurance companies are also de-insuring people. This is also happening with buildings insurance. The problem is so bad it’s now being taken to the government. However, they won’t do anything because their share portfolio’s will be heavily invested in insurance companies.

No one minds paying a fair price for a fair service but this whole industry stinks of corruption.

 

[Bav]

No one is celebrating because insurance is now a cartel.
We have no choice, we have to purchase insurance and insurance companies are ripping people off.

It used to be fair, the higher the risk the more you paid. Now they’re just sending out ridiculous made up numbers because a lot of people just used to renew without challenging the price rise.

Having just obtained 12 quotes they ranged from £520 to £3,450.
My existing insurance was £540 and it was no surprise when the insurer said the renewal was £1,150.

Insurance companies have jumped on the back of the COVID and inflation bandwagon just to hike prices. Cars hardly moved for two years during lockdowns and they made massive profits because there were minimal claims.

This aggressive price hiking now means there’s over 1 million uninsured drivers on the road. If that’s the official figure, in reality it’s probably more like 2 million. This is an issue caused by insurance companies but guess who’s paying for all those uninsured drivers?

Insurance companies are also de-insuring people. This is also happening with buildings insurance. The problem is so bad it’s now being taken to the government. However, they won’t do anything because their share portfolio’s will be heavily invested in insurance companies.

No one minds paying a fair price for a fair service but this whole industry stinks of corruption.

There are very compelling reasons why vehicle insurance is mandatory - you (and I) would be the first to complain if someone caused us/ours damage or personal injury and they weren't insured.

If you had a better understanding of how costs have rocketed throughout every aspect of the industry, you'd realise the covid bandwagon isn't the reason for premiums increasing massively. BTW, the 1M+ uninsured drivers you refer to are a significant contributory factor in premium hikes - they are part of the problem, not victims. Perhaps if uninsured driving were viewed as being as morally reprehensible as drink driving, there be a lot less of them? They don't deserve your sympathy and they certainly don't get mine!

Re your vastly-differing quotations - such wide discrepancies have been ever-present as long as I've been in insurance (since the mid 80s). Each insurer targets a different market niche, so the consumer's job is to find the insurer whose niche they fall into - dead simple for cars and std PVs (via comparison websites), but it requires a lot more legwork for campers and heavily modded vans.

None of the above is to deny that they are a few bad apples - insurance, like any industry, simply reflects society.

 

[DXX]

The car industry is developing rolling out ‘advancements’ in technology which costs a fortune to repair. Vote with your wallet and buy a basic vehicle, they might just get the message that you just want to get from A to B reliably and safely and not compete with Red Bulls F1 team.

 

[Bav]

The car industry is developing rolling out ‘advancements’ in technology which costs a fortune to repair. Vote with your wallet and buy a basic vehicle, they might just get the message that you just want to get from A to B reliably and safely and not compete with Red Bulls F1 team.

The only problem with that approach, though, is that the safety tech (and the emissions tech) is being pushed by politicians and unelected bureaucats, not by manufacturers.

 

[MrGreen]

There are very compelling reasons why vehicle insurance is mandatory - you (and I) would be the first to complain if someone caused us/ours damage or personal injury and they weren't insured.

If you had a better understanding of how costs have rocketed throughout every aspect of the industry, you'd realise the covid bandwagon isn't the reason for premiums increasing massively. BTW, the 1M+ uninsured drivers you refer to are a significant contributory factor in premium hikes - they are part of the problem, not victims. Perhaps if uninsured driving were viewed as being as morally reprehensible as drink driving, there be a lot less of them? They don't deserve your sympathy and they certainly don't get mine!

Re your vastly-differing quotations - such wide discrepancies have been ever-present as long as I've been in insurance (since the mid 80s). Each insurer targets a different market niche, so the consumer's job is to find the insurer whose niche they fall into - dead simple for cars and std PVs (via comparison websites), but it requires a lot more legwork for campers and heavily modded vans.

None of the above is to deny that they are a few bad apples - insurance, like any industry, simply reflects society.

You’ve misinterpreted what I was referring to. I have zero sympathy for uninsured drivers.
They should be banned from driving for life.
That’s the issue. No one wants to fix any problems they just pass the cost on to the people who are paying.

 

[Bav]

You’ve misinterpreted what I was referring to. I have zero sympathy for uninsured drivers.
They should be banned from driving for life.
That’s the issue. No one wants to fix any problems they just pass the cost on to the people who are paying.

I agree with that, but that's a societal/ legislative issue. Currently, insurers are legally required to contribute to a national fund that compensates drivers involved in an accident caused by an uninsured driver, hence why the number of uninsured drivers (and the number of accidents those drivers have) has a direct impact on everyone's premiums!

 

[Deandubya]

Just adding my 10p worth... Work with a guy who's got a relative that works for a large Insurance company, basically said a massive policy increase is because of electric vehicle repairs or more like write offs... something to do with the batteries being unsafe/moved in the event or a prang!! Cannot legislate or guarantee the safety of the battery so a lot of the time they're written off!!!
How the truth is into that matter, i don't know yet i can see where they would get that...

 

[Sasquatch]

Here js my experience, with my new camper on order.

My daily is a Mini Cooper S Electric, 2.5 years old, market value about 18k. I have an MG ZS EV family car and mk1 C70 T5 sunny day show toy, but we'll stuck with the Mini for this example.

I'm retired Dibble, class 1 driver with the certs to prove it, cracking on for 40 years claim free motoring.

I do 3000 miles a year in the Mini. The T6.1 will replace it and I'll probably do 6000 as in addition to my two short regular journeys a week I'll be touring all over on it.

The Mini coats £850 a year to insure. That's social and domestic only, no commuting as I've retired.

The freshly built 6 month old £54k camper, three times as much as the Mini, is going to cost me £350 Ailing Fux for double the mileage. It bonkers, not that I'm complaining. That £500 saving will go some way towards havin to start paying for diesel again.

 

[Bav]

Here js my experience, with my new camper on order.

My daily is a Mini Cooper S Electric, 2.5 years old, market value about 18k. I have an MG ZS EV family car and mk1 C70 T5 sunny day show toy, but we'll stuck with the Mini for this example.

I'm retired Dibble, class 1 driver with the certs to prove it, cracking on for 40 years claim free motoring.

I do 3000 miles a year in the Mini. The T6.1 will replace it and I'll probably do 6000 as in addition to my two short regular journeys a week I'll be touring all over on it.

The Mini coats £850 a year to insure. That's social and domestic only, no commuting as I've retired.

The freshly built 6 month old £54k camper, three times as much as the Mini, is going to cost me £350 Ailing Fux for double the mileage. It bonkers, not that I'm complaining. That £500 saving will go some way towards havin to start paying for diesel again.

One of my biggest bugbears with motor insurance is the lack of discounts offered to advanced drivers. Rewarding drivers that develop their driving skills beyond that of mere 'base competence' would seem to me to be an effective way to improve road safety (that and punishing dangerous drivers much more severely).

 

[MrGreen]

One of my biggest bugbears with motor insurance is the lack of discounts offered to advanced drivers. Rewarding drivers that develop their driving skills beyond that of mere 'base competence' would seem to me to be an effective way to improve road safety (that and punishing dangerous drivers much more severely).

This is what baffles me. Companies used give discounts for loyalty and for length of time driving claim free.

The constant raising of policy prices for second year quotes and then the customer moves to another company doesn’t make any business sense. However, it must work in their favour. Statistically more people must accept the price increase otherwise they’d change it.

 

[Sasquatch]

One of my biggest bugbears with motor insurance is the lack of discounts offered to advanced drivers. Rewarding drivers that develop their driving skills beyond that of mere 'base competence' would seem to me to be an effective way to improve road safety (that and punishing dangerous drivers much more severely).

As a police advanced driver most insurers give me no discount. They generally only give discounts to IAM or RoSPA jocks, which is bizarre. I could join either and if I paid the fee would be entitled to the ticket without doing the course, but if I'm honest I can't be arrissed!

 

[Bav]

As a police advanced driver most insurers give me no discount. They generally only give discounts to IAM or RoSPA jocks, which is bizarre. I could join either and if I paid the fee would be entitled to the ticket without doing the course, but if I'm honest I can't be arrissed!

Yeah, the discounts on offer barely cover the fees.