Do you have a camper? In my experience comparison websites are worse than useless for campers.
Insurance Companies
- Thread starter Pauly
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- insurance quotes
To be clear, the Body Type shown on the V5 has zero relevance to insurance. Anyone with a campervan needs campervan insurance, otherwise they risk only receiving the market value for their base van in the event of a total loss.
Anyone, like yourself, who is currently mid-conversion, should get specialist conversion insurance that's specifically designed to support this process. Whilst it's possible to convert on standard van insurance, it can get very expensive very quickly as each conversion step has to be declared as a modification, each of which will probably be charged for as a mid-term adjustment (including admin fees). There's also the very real possibility that, midway through the policy, the insurer refuses to provide ongoing cover, due either to the number of mods or the nature of a combination of the mods.
I understand this. Insurance is a balance between cost and financial losses. I have plenty of expensive camera gear which is not insured. I take very good care of it knowing that if I break it I will have to replace it. At the moment my van is just that, a van and when it has undergone modification I will reinsure.
When I got my JustKampers quote the van was also insured as a van and not a camper, this is what I am referring to. The fact that both policies were done with the same information.
Fair enough - you're obviously aware of the risks and the pitfalls, but hopefully it might help others.
Just to add about agreed valuations they should be viewed as important to anyone who has any serious modifications worth considerable cost/time in the future should the Van need replaced. Particularly in the case of a Campervan conversion.
Without the agreed valuation it is unlikely the payout is going get even close to a like to like van.
My agreed valuation is £35k more than the base vans market value- not bad for £15 extra on the insurance. Yes I was quoted £75 less using a comparison site but wouldn’t have the van insured for its true value.
One thing to note though it can take some time to agree the valuation with insurance broker in my case 5weeks, so make sure you start the process well before insurance runs out!
I also find with the brokers if you speak honestly and politely they do seem to try harder for you- but maybe that is just my experience.
Without the agreed valuation it is unlikely the payout is going get even close to a like to like van.
My agreed valuation is £35k more than the base vans market value- not bad for £15 extra on the insurance. Yes I was quoted £75 less using a comparison site but wouldn’t have the van insured for its true value.
One thing to note though it can take some time to agree the valuation with insurance broker in my case 5weeks, so make sure you start the process well before insurance runs out!
I also find with the brokers if you speak honestly and politely they do seem to try harder for you- but maybe that is just my experience.
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Keep banging that AV drum mate
- it's surprising how many people don't take notice until they're left ££££ out of pocket.
I have wondered if the insurance companies and brokers can sense this when they speak to people.
As some people seem to get quoted considerably more than online comparison sites when they call them.
Whilst others seem to get better deals..
I got shouted down for this post, but here's what happened today.
The insurance on my Golf GTI expires at the end of the month so I received a renewal quote from my insurer (Privilege)
Last year £287.41, this year £496.04.
I did a gocompare a couple of weeks ago and the cheapest quote was from Churchill at £436.17.
I did another gocompare this morning and noticed a quote from Privilege as a new customer of £468.67, so I rang Privilege and explained to the chap on the phone that I'd been quoted less as a new customer but if he couldn't beat Churchill's quote I would be going with them.
"Hold the line Sir, I'll see if we can do anything for you"
After a short pause, "I've had a look on the system Sir and we can offer you a loyalty discount that will bring your renewal down to £431.55"
So I stand by my previous post, they make it up as they go along, it's a racket.
I've just taken a policy out with brentacre, both me and the Mrs on it, all mods declared £595 a year fully comp
That's melodramatic, mate! You claimed insurers make it up as they go along and, based on decades of experience in insurance, I said they don't.
Insurance relies on the analysis of cold, hard data and the application of, often, complex rules. For anyone not privy to that data or to those rules (which will include all their call-centre staff, btw), outcomes can appear utterly random and inexplicable, but they are anything but random.
To paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke's third law: "Any sufficiently advanced
Still say it's racket, if Privilege can do it for £431.55 why didn't they quote me that in the first place instead of their £496.04 renewal quote, they're clearly trying it on. If I'd have lied and told them that Churchill had quoted me £400 they'd probably have come back and said they could do it for £390.
I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a racket, but you do have to "play the game". As an example, Admiral quoted an extra £400 for my Audi insurance this year and I found a much cheaper quote with Allianz. However, cancelling the autorenew with Admiral was one of the most obfuscated experiences out - and included me turning down a "special" discount of £90 to stay with them. So after what seems an interminable number of "are you really sure?" buttons, did eventually manage to cancel.
Trying it on, maybe, but in a premeditated, pre-defined, utterly calculated way, not at all in a random, make-it-up-as-you-go-along way - that's all I'm saying.
The scores on the doors for this year's renewal...
Just renewed with Comfort (8k annual mileage limit).
| Insurer | £ | Premium Type | Annual Mileage Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comfort Insurance | 522 | Last year's | 6000 |
| Comfort Insurance | 603 | Renewal | 6000 |
| Comfort Insurance | 658 | Renewal | 8000 |
| Just Kampers | 1,120 | New business (inc. forum discount) | 6000 |
| Howdens | 800 | New business (inc. forum discount) | 6000 |
| Adrian Flux | 1,060 | New business | 6000 |
Just renewed with Comfort (8k annual mileage limit).
Lubrown123
New Member
Is that with agreed value, Bav?The scores on the doors for this year's renewal...
Insurer Premium Type Annual Mileage Limit Comfort Insurance Last year's 6000 Comfort Insurance Renewal 6000 Comfort Insurance Renewal 8000 Just Kampers New business (inc. forum discount) 6000 Howdens New business (inc. forum discount) 6000 Adrian Flux New business 6000
Just renewed with Comfort (8k annual mileage limit).
No, not AV. In the event of a total loss, Comfort offer new-for-old replacement for campers up to 3 years old/15k miles. They actually suggested that I increase my estimate of my van's value to better reflect the recent price increases (both for base vans and for conversions).
I'm in the process of ringing around for Insurance. Converted panel van with most things a converter could possibly add.
Got a renewal quote from Howdens of 1594 without AV. They said they don't do Agreed Values which I thought was odd. They insured the van during conversion last year
Adrian Flux came back with a quote of 580. They said they could do agreed value for an extra 15. I'd need to send photos of the van whic I am happy to do.
That's a huge difference - need to check they are like for like!
I completed a form for Brenacre but have heard nothing back yet.
How do people value their vans for insurance purposes? I've been looking around for vans of similar age and conversion spec but not really been able to find anything that matches close enough.
How many of these does everyone think I go through before just picking the cheapest?
Got a renewal quote from Howdens of 1594 without AV. They said they don't do Agreed Values which I thought was odd. They insured the van during conversion last year
Adrian Flux came back with a quote of 580. They said they could do agreed value for an extra 15. I'd need to send photos of the van whic I am happy to do.
That's a huge difference - need to check they are like for like!
I completed a form for Brenacre but have heard nothing back yet.
How do people value their vans for insurance purposes? I've been looking around for vans of similar age and conversion spec but not really been able to find anything that matches close enough.
How many of these does everyone think I go through before just picking the cheapest?
That’s what I would do. If there is nothing identical I’d look at slightly better and worse vans and split the difference.
