Has anybody here had to make a claim regarding their caravan holiday on Nationwide Flexplus Worldwide family travel insurance? Not breakdown cover.
But, delay or cancellation.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Depends what your cancellation is for- illness with a medical certicate, car breakdown, family problem, bad weather, or just changed your mind. It will all be defined in the policy booklet.
Hi Netherton
I was booked on the ferry to Dieppe on the Monday. Dropped my caravan in for service on the previous Monday. On the Thursday afternoon I got a call from the dealer telling me that I had a big problem. The axle on the caravan had dropped and the wheel was rubbing on the wheel box liner, I wasn't aware but this is a common fault on some Bailey caravans built in the 2015 -2018 period. I was told that the axle needed to be removed, couriered to Inverness where a company called Fraser Brown would refurbish the axle. It would take about 4 weeks as the dealer hadn't got a bay empty in the workshop. We were planning on going to southern Spain for 5 weeks, so that had to be cancelled. We hadn't booked any sites and so I rang Nationwide Worldwide travel to see if I was covered for the ferry crossing cancellation, it was only £267.20. After explaining the situation to the agent and reiterating that it was a caravan that was stopping us going' he confirmed that we would be covered for the full fare minus £50 for each passenger, and he would get back to us in a few days. When you listen to Martin Lewis he always tells you that when you book a holiday to get travel insurance straight away to cover you for emergencies and cancellations.
Two days later I got a call from UK insurance, who are the agents for Nationwide and he told me that the caravan wasn't covered because it wasn't a "vehicle". According to him a vehicle is classed as something that has an engine! I googled it, and he was right, although in the Nationwide vehicle breakdown section a caravan is included as a vehicle. I argued that without the caravan I couldn't go on a caravan holiday and also the wording in their policy was very ambiguous. He asked if I wanted to complain as the first agent had told me that I was covered and I agreed yes. A couple of days later he came back to me and said that they would pay out on the ferry crossing fare for everything minus the £100 excess. not because the caravan was covered but because the first agent mistakenly told me it was. Two days later the money was in my account.
I always thought that a holiday was a holiday and that one of the reasons you took out insurance was to cover this kind of emergency. It was a good job that I hadn't booked any sites.
I did look at a few holiday insurances and none of them seem to cover this situation, including Red Pennant.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We have the Nationwide Flexplus account for the insurance BUT I asked specifically a bout the caravan causing trouble and got a very dubious 'we may be able to help' .... we use the insurance for other trips without the caravan. With the van we have never left home for the continent without RED PENNANT from the Caravan Club - I am sure they would have tried to make sure your holiday went ahead albeit not in your caravan. (PS no doubt somebody will know better.)
Hi Jaiash,
In my opinion the Nationwide FlexPlus European Breakdown which is run by the AA is comparable to Red Pennant & in some cases slightly better. Caravans are covered see section C in the European breakdown cover terms & conditions Nationwide policy.
I was interested to know if anybody had a policy with a company which actually put in print that should anybody have circumstances similar to mine they would be covered. In the summer we only pay a deposit for the campsite we use in Spain but I know that people have to pay the full amount when they book, which can be a lot of money that they might not get back. With most policies you are covered if you have a legitimate reason for cancelling but non seem to cover you for this scenario.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Hi Netherton, thank you, and yes it will be expensive.
For anybody with a Bailey single axle caravan built around 2015-2018 there is an interesting site on Facebook it's called "Bailey Axle Problems family"! I recommend joining it. I was unaware of what is quite a common problem on Bailey and other makes of caravans with ALKO chassis.
I had to use the Nationwide Travel insurance when we had a holiday to Cyprus booked just after COVID to celebrate our 26th Anniversary.
Shortly before we were due to go while on her regular weekly walk with her walking group, an unrestrained farm dog bounded through the open farm gate onto the public footpath and collided with my wife. The resultant injuries included a chipped femur at the knee end and resulted in 8 weeks in plaster and a further 6 weeks in a motion restricting cage affair. This meant we could not fly as the Doctor strongly advised against it.
The credit card company didn't want to know and neither did the travel insurer we'd used for the trip.
A phone call, lasting less than 15 minutes and supporting email with evidence as to the injury, to Nationwides insurance customer service resulted in a full refund less the passenger duty which we had to reclaim from somewhere else but they gave us the contact details. We subsequently got the passenger duty refunded too.
I can only praise Nationwide Insurance. I also used their included breakdown cover when my car battery died on a caravan site. AA were out within the hour and he obtained and fitted a new battery.