IPID – Benefits for Motorhome and Campervan Insurance

If you’ve taken out insurance of late there’s every chance you’ll have encountered the new Europe-wide Insurance Product Information Document, or IPID (as I’m sure we’ll all get used to calling it).

But what is IPID, and is it a good thing?

We have all found ourselves in the position of needing to make an insurance claim – yet finding ourselves worrying that the insurance we have bought might not actually cover what we need.

It’s a horrible thought. You start trying to convince yourself that you didn’t miss something when sorting your motorhome or campervan insurance policy – but there will also be that little voice in your head that says something like:

‘…did I really understand all of the finer details of the policy I signed? I hope I didn’t miss something…’

In many ways it’s a perfectly human reaction, you worry that you might have been seduced by an attractively low premium and forgot to tick an important box.

 

Life is full of uncertainties

There are always uncertainties in life and it’s perfectly logical for us to try and insure ourselves against bad luck – in fact it is the very reason why the insurance industry exists in the first place.

But insurers need to make a profit to survive in an incredibly competitive environment. Consequently, they are strict about what they have and haven’t covered in an insurance policy.

But the only problem is that it can sometimes be a little difficult to decipher ‘insurance-speak’. I mean, what is the difference between ‘main risks not covered’ and ‘main restrictions and exclusions’?

 

Replacing ‘Key Facts’ – IPID offers real clarity

Enter the IPID, which effectively replaces the ‘Key Facts’ sections that insurance companies used to share with policies. Problem was, that not all Key Facts were the same, so it was difficult to compare policies to see if they were really like-for-like.

But IPID means that all insurers now present insurance information in a straightforward and easy way to understand, so that everyone will be able to see precisely what they have and haven’t bought.

The new IPID uses a series of recognisable icons and plain English to make life easy. It also covers vital questions such as:

• What is insured
• What isn’t insured
• What restrictions are there
• Where are you covered
• What are your obligations
• When and how do you pay
• When does the cover start and finish?
• How would you cancel the contract?

As Gabriel Bernardino, chairman of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA, the body behind this initiative) pointed out earlier this year:

“Consumers who typically might not read lengthy pre-contractual information will now be empowered to compare different insurance policies and make informed decisions…”

So IPIDs are good news for motorhome and campervan owners. And confusing small print is now a thing of the past.