Motorhome Mythbusting: The Biggest Insurance Myths Debunked!

Gabi: Think your motorhome insurance covers everything in your motorhome, or that anyone with a licence can jump behind the wheel, or that a cheaper policy automatically equals a better deal. These are just some of the insurance myths that are costing motorhome owners thousands a year. After more than 30 years in the industry, we’ve heard them all. My name is Gabi, and once again I’m joined by our director of operations, Ben Cue.
Ben: Hi Gabi.
Gabi: Hiya. Thank you for joining us again. So, are you ready to bust some myths today?
Ben: Let’s go for it.
Gabi: Perfect. Let’s go.
[Intro]
Gabi: Okay, so this one we hear quite a lot and it’s that [MYTH 1] “It’s okay to bend the truth to get a cheaper premium”.
Ben: Insurance is a contract; it’s done on utmost good faith. So ultimately, it depends on the broker asking the correct questions and the customer answering those questions and that forms that promise between the insurer and the customer, that if something happens, that they’re going to deal with the claim for the customer.
But if, for example, they’ve said that the vehicle’s on their driveway at their home address and it’s parked on the road because they don’t have a driveway, but they’ve done that to keep their premium down, then that ultimately is going to invalidate the contract.
We’re insuring people’s second most valuable asset. So, we’re very passionate to make sure that we are checking, validating, making sure there isn’t a miscommunication or misunderstanding of what private property is, for example, and what driveway is, what approved storage is, what meets the storage requirements, all of these things could be honest misrepresentations of the case but could have ultimately detrimental effects in the event of, worst case, a theft claim.
Gabi: So, the next myth that we have is that [MYTH 2] “The cheapest policy will equal the best price”.
Ben: We work hard with our underwriters. We work with Aviva, we’ve got a Defaqto 5 rated policy, we’ve always been the first to bring things to the market over the years when my parents started specializing in the motorhome scheme. So, we were the first to bring personal effects, gas and explosion cover, generator cover.
We now have the Defaqto 5 rating so that we give our customers the reassurance that is all-encompassing. We work with Aviva. They’re one of the best insurers in the UK as far as I’m concerned, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be the cheapest. We don’t sell our products on price.
Gabi: Yeah, and obviously if you are looking for the cheapest premium as well, that will come with certain limits on the policy as well. And you know, sometimes it’s better to look for that policy that will give you that extra protection.
So, this myth we hear quite a lot with new motorhome owners and it’s that [MYTH 3] “A standard van policy will cover a motorhome or campervan”.
Ben: I would say definitely not. The whole reason my parents started the motorhome scheme is to stop people getting that type of cover. Whether it’s with us or with one of our competitors, there are specialist providers out there that will offer the right level of cover for someone.
Admittedly, different levels of cover suit other people’s circumstances to what they may or may not need. But I would encourage anyone whether they’re getting into it new or they’re trying to save money because things are tight, don’t go just for a standard van policy, because it won’t cover things like gas and explosion cover, generator cover, the annual green card on the policy as well, all of these factors, personal effects, and ultimately the policies written for a motor caravan.
So, if you get a policy wording from an underwriter where you’ve bought a policy and it just says van all the way through and is specific to the leisure vehicle that you own, then I would recommend that you find an alternative.
Gabi: Exactly. You wouldn’t, like you said, you wouldn’t be covered for anything that makes your motorhome or campervan a motorhome or campervan.
Ben: Indeed.
Gabi: So, with the rising cost of living, we’re hearing this one quite a lot, and it’s that [MYTH 4] “Now that I have a motorhome or campervan, I can live in it full-time”.
Ben: That’s a yes-and-no answer. There are some insurers in the market that will ensure people to live in their motor caravan on a full-time basis, but they’re quite prescribed underwriting criteria set to actually meet that.
So unfortunately, just because someone’s living in their motor caravan doesn’t mean an underwriter will accept that as their set circumstances of what they’re planning to do. Value of vehicle, time, duration, where they’re going, what they’re using, and all various myriad of different underwriting criteria could impact that, but there are very few policies in the marketplace that do actually cover full timing.
So, if your circumstances change, whether it is that you give up your home address or you’ve been using a care of address, again, insurance is a contract of utmost good faith. So, for the contract to remain valid if circumstances change you must make the insurers aware. So even though if you’re 6 months into a policy and then you’ve decided to do a lifestyle change, you must make the insurers aware of that change in circumstance.
Gabi: Yeah, exactly. I think like you said it’s always best to be honest with your insurer. So if you are planning on doing full timing or living in that vehicle then you have to make them aware.
Ben: 100%.
Gabi: So our next motorhome myth is that the [MYTH 5] “Motorhome insurance will cover everything in the motorhome”.
Ben: Motorhome policies come with personal effects cover, ours offers £5,000 personal effects, some of our competitors only offer £2,000-3,000 personal effects, but all of those personal effects, whether it’s with ourselves or with one of our competitors, they’re designed to cover the items that are left in the vehicle on a permanent basis. Pots, pans, cooking equipment, bed linen, the paraphernalia that you would use on a day-to-day basis to use the motorhome as it is.
Then there’s all the other items that you may take with you but use at home. Things like phones, laptops, video cameras, iPads, all of these types of very expensive items should be covered under your home contents policy as an all-risk item, because they’re not only being used in conjunction when you’re away in the motorhome, they’re being used in a myriad of other scenarios and different environments. Same with pedal cycles as well.
All of these types of things should have either their own individual policy or an all-risk item under your home policy. The insurers would look at it. If you’re happy to cover it 98% of the time when you’re using it away from the motorhome, then you’re happy to carry the risk when it’s in the motorhome and you’re away using it as well. So that that’s the unfortunate.
Yes, there is personal effects, but it doesn’t cover everything because those items should have cover elsewhere.
Gabi: Exactly, I think it’s a sort of items that are fixed within your motorhome or things that are specific to your motorhome.
Ben: I would say with home insurance and motorhome insurance, if you sat down and actually wrote down exactly what’s left in the vehicle on a day-to-day basis, it’s quite horrifying exactly the extent of the content that’s in there. And anyone when the home insurances are coming due, if you haven’t done it, I would definitely recommend doing a list of each room.
You’ll be quite surprised at replacement value, especially if you had an item for 10 years and it’s on a new for old, with inflation and where things have gone at the moment, something that you may pay that couple of thousand pounds for now. Might be £3,5000-4,000, just with the way that cost of living has gone.
Gabi: So, this one might be familiar to those that are only using their motorhome or campervan occasionally, but that [MYTH 6] “I don’t need motorhome or campervan insurance when I’m not using my motorhome”.
Ben: Technically, you don’t. If you’ve declared sorn on the vehicle and you’re not using the vehicle, then you don’t have to insure it, but I would say there are a couple of caveats to that. If you have finance on the vehicle, there may be a condition within the finance agreement, that you need to keep the vehicle continuously insured because if anything happens to the asset, the finance company wants to ensure that they get their money back that’s been borrowed against that asset.
Also, if the vehicle’s in storage, a lot of storage companies now insist on the vehicle being insured in case of fire or anything else that happens. And ultimately, if you break it down on the percent value against what you’re paying in premium and the daily rate against the value of the vehicle, it’s negligible the daily amount.
Most people’s policies probably break down to less than £1.50 a day, to ensure the vehicle against the £75,000-80,000 asset in some instances. So when you look at that, the transfer of risk for the cost/the risk versus reward is far far outweighed, but everyone has their own personal choice on that.
Gabi: Yeah, definitely. Like you said, it’s a personal sort of option, but you know, you know that you’re covered for those things like fire and theft.
Ben: I would also say look at the mechanisms when the policy is due for renewal. If you know you’re not going to use it for extended periods, look at the mileage that you’ve got on your policy.
We offer various different mileage bands from anything from 1,500 miles a year up to unlimited mileage. It caters for everyone’s use and what they’re doing within that specific year. And just because someone did 10,000 miles this insurable year, doesn’t mean they’ll only be doing 1,500 miles the following year. So obviously look at that, take that into consideration.
We do try and ring around and have conversations with our customers when they’re coming due, to ensure we have that to understand what their lifestyles expects in the next 12 months, to see what impact that can have on the premium.
Gabi: Yeah, I think it’s so tempting to sort of put that higher mileage onto the vehicle and then you realize when it comes to your MOT, “Oh I’ve only done 1,500” but then again, you know, you have the risk of doing it too low, so just always looking at the realistic sort of mileage that you’re doing per year.
Ben: And again, being completely honest, some people again, risk versus reward will see 1,500 miles and the 6,000 miles. There’s hardly negligible difference in the premium, so not to have the stress and worry about whether they’re going to go over, they opt for the 6,000 miles. I completely understand that, but it’s always worth looking at those things.
Gabi: So, the final myth that we have, is that [MYTH 7] “Anyone with a licence can drive my motorhome”. Is that true?
Ben: It depends when you passed your test. So all of this is very grey depending on how old you are, when you passed your test, what the permissions are on your driving licence and also what the weight of the vehicle is, so there’s lots of areas where I can see people getting caught out.
Manufacturers are working hard to keep vehicles under 3.5 ton because of the driving licence changes and restrictions. So that could be that it’s a vehicle that’s capable of doing more than 3.5 ton, but the manufacturers have downplated the weight, which is fine, but I would say you need to look at the permissions on your driving licence and then also look at what the plated weight of the vehicle is.
I would also say if you are considering loaning the vehicle to somebody, you don’t always have to add them to your own policy. There are temporary policies out there which do work out more expensive, but that does protect the principal insured driving history in case, God forbid, someone does have an accident in their vehicle.
The offside to that, is that if they’re buying a temporary policy, they may be buying a policy that’s not enriched as the Comfort policy. So if they do have an accident, then they’re dealing with that insurer, that level of cover. So, you know, there are trade-offs in both ways of approaching how to add drivers to the policy. But always look at the class of what the weight of the vehicle is and, when someone passed their driving licence, what permissions they have on their licence.
And don’t forget when you get to a certain age, there are requirements to renew your licence and renew the per
missions or you can automatically just lose those.
Gabi: Exactly, I think on the topic of, you know, motorhomes and campervans being under those 3.5 tonnes, it’s important that drivers who do have a licence, that doesn’t cover vehicles anything above that, that they are staying below that payload. So making sure that all of the items are accounted for, like water, for example, carrying a full tank may add to your payload. So just making sure that you’re staying under that, because that could come with its own penalties.
Ben: That works with fuel efficiency and everything else, it’s the trade-off of not filling up when you get to the campsite. You know, checking your tire pressures. All of these things have impacts on the running of the vehicle, as well as, potentially having an impact if you’ve got a certain number of adults in the vehicle with all their luggage, etc.
You’re traveling fully loaded for a 6 month tour, then yes, water and various other waste and so forth can have an impact on your payload whilst traveling.
Gabi: And there you have it. The biggest motorhome insurance myths busted.
Ben: I think the key takeaway from today for me is, is a little bit of research is key. You’re ensuring the most valuable asset, what you research now could ensure that you get the right level of cover if, God forbid, anything ever happens in the event of a claim.
Gabi: Thank you so much for watching. We hope that you’ve enjoyed this episode and if you have, make sure that you subscribe to our channel, give this video a like, and leave a comment with any suggestions that you have for further videos. And if you missed our last episode on motorhome thefts, make sure that you check that out in the link in the description. Thank you so much for watching this video. Thank you to Ben for joining us once again and we will see you next time.
Ben: Take care guys.
Gabi: Bye.[