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Just had my renewal come through from cc ,thought i would give them a ring to see if i could get the premium lower (caravan another year older).They asked to confirm the make and model and she then looked in a book and told me the value of my caravan,i was quite shocked at what i was told £6,100 ,i do keep a check on prices looking at different sites and was thinking the value was more like £8,500.

I"ve never had this before and in some ways its good as i shan"t be paying for a value that the caravan just isn"t worth but on the other hand i"m now a bit worried as i have thoughts of "oh god what if she didn"t look at the exact model of my van and has the value wrong".

Has anyone else been told the value of there van for insurance purposes?

Quote: Originally posted by perry1 on 21/4/2010

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Just had my renewal come through from cc ,thought i would give them a ring to see if i could get the premium lower (caravan another year older).They asked to confirm the make and model and she then looked in a book and told me the value of my caravan,i was quite shocked at what i was told £6,100 ,i do keep a check on prices looking at different sites and was thinking the value was more like £8,500.

I"ve never had this before and in some ways its good as i shan"t be paying for a value that the caravan just isn"t worth but on the other hand i"m now a bit worried as i have thoughts of "oh god what if she didn"t look at the exact model of my van and has the value wrong".

Has anyone else been told the value of there van for insurance purposes?

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There always seems to be a grey area in what insurers pay out, where differences between dealership and retail values are concerned.  A private purchaser is not a trader; he may haggle a deal, but he still isn't getting a trade price.  Also, when you insure your van, the insurer will ask what you paid for it to set the premium.  At that point, the premium and the van's value are pretty well the same as far as the insurer is concerned.

Then, a couple of years or so down the line, if the insurer switches his payout to dealer value, he is on the fiddle.  If you went to a dealer and got a price for your van, and found an identical van in similar condition and same year of make on the forecourt, it would be more highly priced than his offer for yours.

As I say, you are not a dealer, so if the insurer offered you dealer's buying-in price, you are being robbed.

Bertie. 

There is one thing for sure.  Whatever the insurance company, overall, they are not going to lose money - they are in it to make a profit.

If it is a new for old policy and you have your van stolen, then the insurance company/loss adjusters will normally purchase a new van for you after negotiating with you the particular van you want.  This, of course means they get the discount etc.

We are insured by the Caravan Club.  This time last year we had a Pageant 6 Vendee which was stolen in May 2009.  At the previous insurance renewal (July 2008) our van was insured for the full replacement value.  Between July 2008 and May 2009, the Pageant Series 6 was replaced by the Series 7 (with the usual increase in prices) and the layout of the Vendee was discontinued.  The Vendee was at the top end price for a Bailey single axle.  After looking at various caravans we asked for a Pageant 7 Sancerre (similarly, top end single axle).  This was agree upon without question.  If there is a price increase in your van after your date of renewal this increase is honoured by the insurers, in a new for old policy.  In theory this means that the insurers lose out, but in practice they would not lose so much because of the discounts they manage to get.  They do not get replacement vans at cost, but they do get more of a discount then you or I - but not considerably more.  (it worked out at about £400)  Our van was purchased from a dealer of our choice, and I have all the receipts.

Throughout the whole process, I cannot speak highly enough of the way the Caravan Club Insurance and the loss adjusters dealt with our claim.  We picked up our new van about 8-9 weeks later and that was with a hold up - the van we wanted was not readily available and we had to wait for the van to be built - we were even give a build date!  Really good service all the way around!

We are also insured with the C.C. David, and have been for many years, so it is nice to hear you speak so highly of them.  Most people only discover how well they have chosen an insurer when in a situation where additional hassle is the last thing they want.

bertie.

When you fill the form out for the cc they ask the value of the van,then contents which includes awning ,gas bottles,thetford cassette ect...so if you have non standard fittings (extras)you would add these into the value.Quite a difficult process really because i hadn"t got a clue about the price of toilets.

lorna

Quote: Originally posted by perry1 on 22/4/2010

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When you fill the form out for the cc they ask the value of the van,then contents which includes awning ,gas bottles,thetford cassette ect...so if you have non standard fittings (extras)you would add these into the value.Quite a difficult process really because i hadn"t got a clue about the price of toilets.

lorna

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Hi Lorna. 

To do it all properly, whichever company you use for insurance, it is a difficult process, because they all ask the same sort of questions.  If it's any help, (which it's probable not,) I keep a spreadsheet with every single item I have in the caravan listed, the date of purchase and the name of the retailer I bought it from.  It includes everything - down to the last teaspoon and box of matches!  I also say where I keep it, and if I remove an item from the van there is a place to note it down, so that I don't forget to put it back in the van ready for a holiday.  I know there is at least one other person on here that does something similar, and one person who adds the weight of individual items to make sure the van is not overloaded. 

Sometimes, if you have had an item for a while, it is largely a question of guesswork.  As you buy/ replace item, keep as many receipts as you are able (within reason - at least for the larger or more expensive items).  Use the internet to get prices on existing items, as a guide, and remember, the odd photograph or two is helpful if ever you have to make a claim.  It is always better to be generous with the cost of items.  If your policy is new for old then you need to be insured for how much it would cost to replace the van/items at todays prices - that will change every year.  If you are not going for the new for old policy, then your estimation value should be what you think the item is worth, taking into consideration wear and tear!

One final thing.  Now I can't remember the exact details without searching this out, but you will need to check to see what comes in which category.  There are some insurance companies who include van and equipment under the same heading and have a different heading for personal contents.  e.g. the van, awning, gas bottles, toilet, hitch lock, motor mover etc are all included under the total the caravan is insured for; the personal contents include things like chairs, table, BBQ, clothes, cuttlery, crockery etc., because they can be used seperately from the van if you wanted to.  I think the Caravan Club Caravan Insurance organises it like this.  There are other insurance companies that treat just the van as one item, and everything else (incl. awning, motor mover etc) as contents.  It doesn't really matter about the system, but it does matter that you know which system your insurance company uses when you work out the cover you need.

Sorry, if it all sounds complicated.  Many people will just take a blind guess at it, which is fine until you want to make a claim - then you find out how close you are and how much you can claim back.  I'm probably a lot more fussy than most, but at least I live in the knowledge, that if our van went missing again, I would (a) be covered; and (b) would have all the information available to be able to make a claim very quickly.

Quote: Originally posted by Rune Caster on 22/4/2010

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Very good post David

If I might add, some insurers will list your contents separately as you say but then they will say that your contents are insured under your house policy so that is worth checking out as well i.e who is insuring what

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I would be worried about the fact that would I be able to actually buy the same spec, year and model caravan for the price they quoted. I would have imagined not and then if God Forbid something did happen you end up having to prove you can't buy the same caravan for the Settlement value they offer you.

Well if it's anything like cars that's what happened to us!!