Can anyone explain to me why it is that if you have sold your home in order to travel more but you retain a small 'pied a terre' (grandparent annexe) at a house owned by one of your children. the insurance company makes a distinction that you are "full-timing" & charge you a wopping great additional premium of 460pounds on top of the existing fully comprehensive premium of 350pounds simply because they define the address as c/o? And is it correct that there are only a small number of insurers who offer full-timing policies but their names & details are not widely advertised.
Not an expert on this by any means but surely if you drop the c/o from the address they wouldn't know any different? You don't have to own the house for it to be your address. (obviously would only work when contacting a new insurer)
If they are basing the premium on the length of your trips, however, and you do spend the majority of your time away in your motorhome then I suppose it makes sense that you are considered a higher risk then someone that only drives it occasionally?
Mind you I use mine as my main form of transport and as such drive it every day and that wasn't an issue with my insurers (Safeguard).
If you do need a full-timing policy, check out the search facility at the bottom of this website: http://www.motorhomefacts.com/insurance.html it allows you to specify 'allow fulltiming' on the search faciltiy at the bottom of the page, there appear to be plenty of them.
If you retain a pied a terre then technically you are not full timing, even if you only sleep there once a year, you have a UK home. You would only put c/o in the address if you didn't live there at all and were just using it for mail.
------------- Caz
If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, just keep going till you go round the bend.
Some friends of ours' packed in work,sold up and went "full timing" and they just used one of their relatives address(her mum's) as a point of contact/part time address and to my knowledge it wasn't much more,if any,than when they owned a home?!..
(However they've since bought a narrow boat as well...am I jealous or what!?!.. )
From what I have read you did well at only £800, I know i would have fell over if they had quoted me the same but I'm not full timing. But honestly from the various posts I have read on this subject your £800 for telling them the truth doesn't sound to bad I have heard of prices well over £1000 and some just haven't been able to get cover.
I must admit I would tell them the truth as i wouldn't take a chance, if there were any problems your insurance could be void and that could cost a lot more than the extra £450.
Hope you enjoy yourselves full timing be interested to here how you are getting on from time to time.
Comfort Insurance were around £80 more than a similar quote from SAGA a few days ago, but that's normal for insurance companies/brokers you always need to ring around.
I'm not a full-timer, the main problem seems to be with anyone who mentions that they are full timing, as soon as those words are mentioned the price appears to go into orbit, and as i said above i wouldn't take a chance in not telling them as while the extra money is substantial its nothing if they refuse your claim because you haven't told them everything.