The day of all days had arrived…the annual insurance renewal. We could delay no more!
A couple of weeks ago when I had to fly home, one of the letters awaiting me was the dreaded insurance renewal reminder along with a quote. With all the things going on at the time it was left until I returned back to Norway, so Craig and I could look at it together. The premium quoted to us had doubled in price compared to last year. In all fairness, we did expect an increase but double, it didn’t feel right.
In the last 12 months, we’d made one claim for an attempted break in which was hardly our fault and the other was a rear bump we had but didn’t make a claim. We telephoned our insurers and after checking everything they confirmed the price was correct. In addition, their policy now imposing a single trip limit of 9 months within the EU. If we exceeded the 9 months then we’d need to consider a full timing policy, which was significantly higher premium.
We went back to the drawing board and noted down everything that was important to us.
- Fair and reasonable price
- Fully comprehensive, so whether travelling or resting we will be protected
- Craig as the main drive and me as a named driver
- 12 months cover within EU
- Unrestricted travel within EU, so no single trip limit or restrictions on the duration of trips
- Vehicle breakdown cover for Europe and UK
- Unlimited mileage
- Windscreen cover
- An insurer who is easy to deal with
Armed with our list and all the key facts, we kicked off the process with a morning of internet surfing and phone calls (here’s our full list of insurers). We entered our details on a number of comparison websites. Some provided instant quotes but the majority returned a ‘we will contact you in due course’.
That afternoon, a number of brokers phoned us and not one of them could offer a policy that met our list of requirements. Getting no where fast we decided to phone a few insurance providers. Our rollercoaster of emotions began! One by one they they either quoted stupidly high prices or reasonable prices but with inadequate sales staff. Inadequate in that, one guy made us feel like we were too much trouble and a major inconvenience to his day. Whilst the other person was so disinterested we ended the call having little faith in the quote he’d provided and even some insurers also won’t insure us because of our motorhomes value. Everyone knows dealing with annual insurance can be a real chore and today was no different.
A cup of coffee, a chill pill and a sense of humour was definitely required!
It was time to get back on the internet, again. This time, we checked with fellow motorhomers and the online forums to see if anyone could recommend an insurer. Sure enough on the forums insurance companies and policies were a hot and common topic with lots of mixed comments and feedback. One of the biggest issues imposed was the maximum duration of a planned trip, or rather the lack of it, as 90 days seemed to be a common limitation. Clearly, these insurers would not be suitable for us. The list of potential insurers got shorter and after a little more research we came up with Safeguard as a possible option, as it seemed to tick all our boxes.
We checked out Safeguard website which was pretty simple and informative and got their contact number 0800 011 3064 (freephones are always a good thing) and gave them a call.
We got through to a chap called Josef and he took our key details before providing the quote. Given all the issues we’d had trying to arrange the right cover we had loads of questions to ask. By this time, we were probably the nightmare customer (fed up and distrusting) but it was important to us to make sure we purchased the right cover. Josef was brilliant and he could not of been more helpful and informative. He certainly knew his stuff and it made a real positive change to speak to someone who was knowledgeable about their products. Then to our surprise, Josef went that extra mile. By asking a few extra questions like where we purchased our vehicle (Edgehill Motorhomes) he was able to offer an additional discount.
He really did offer what we felt was the best price with a policy that ticked all our boxes and on top of that we’d found an insurance company that we trusted.
We were happy bunnies but we had one small point to check out with our old insurance company before we could proceed. At this point, you normally get the hard sell and pushy sales pitch but nope, Josef just respected our decision and we ended the call.
We made a quick call to our old insurers, had a cup of coffee and a chat as we decided Safeguard was the right insurer for us. Mood in camp lifted! We telephoned Josef back and guess what, he remembered us! We were a customer with a name and not just a quote number on a form, it made our day. Josef reconfirmed all the details and checked everything was right for us before we confirmed the policy. It was simple, we wish all insurance companies were this easy to do business with. Josef confirmed our email address and as we were talking an email came through containing a link to our policy. Another plus point, electronic documents for people on the move and no waiting game!
Safeguard Insurance
I was so impressed with Safeguard and the way in which Josef dealt with our phone call, I asked if we could place a link and a mention them on our website. Josef said he would check out the details with his manager and sure enough, an hour later they got back in touch. Their marketing department provided us with a link for a Safeguard advert on our website for a few months and we even got a contribution to our premium.
Thank you so much! This is are ally useful article and Safeguard will be among the first insurers we will phone!
This is a really useful list. We are currently going through this pain, which unfortunately coincides with trying to also get quotes for travel and home insurance at the same time. The amount of time taken over this task is ridiculous and the Spanish Inquisitional questioning is painful. If you’re looking for insurance to enable a trip longer than 30 days, I’m starting to think we might as well go full time! (There might just be a teeny bit of me that is hankering to do this too) Comfort are getting rave reviews and have beaten our existing provider Caravan Guard this time. It’s certainly a chore but worth a ring round at every renewal if you don’t want to be ripped off.
Sadly loyalty is a thing of the past, so shopping around certainly pays off. We used to be with Comfort until they changed the limit on overseas travel (which I think they have now changed again). We like Safeguard because it gives us that unlimited days away cover, green card and vehicle recovery.
I’ll check their price. Thanks for the tip off.
I’ve been with Safeguard since buying my van and was quite happy when my premium was reduced this year. Unfortunately, before I had chance to renew, someone drove into the back of me while I was stationary at traffic lights. Although Safeguard (who are in fact Allianz) paid for repairs my premium has now increased by over £500, even though I was in no way to blame for the accident. When I contested this I was met with “It’s unfortunate, but this is what usually happens in these cases.” It’s unlikely that I will be renewing with them next year.
Found this really helpful as we are renewing without the benefit of Fiat warranty for the first time so are now having to consider breakdown cover as well. Think we will end up with Safeguard too as it fits our needs well. But I’m finding it really difficult to find annual travel insurance that will cover us for trips of over 90 days. Do you guys take out travel insurance or rely on EHIC? Have you found any good long term travel insurance?
Hi Jill, glad the article came in useful. In the first year we took our health insurance with Alpha Travel. It was akin to a backpackers insurance which covered you for a full year. I remember thinking The policy was reasonably priced but I don’t remember the exact cost. However, as we’ve travelled around Europe we’ve found that our EHIC covers all the medical treatment that we’ve needed. Thankfully, nothing too serious. Since our first year we haven’t taken out insurance. Hope that helps.
you are lucky having insurance choices – we had the choice of ONE company being such high risk Kiwis – 9 mths cover for 1800 pounds. Only one company would insure us as we don’t have UK licences and we are v dodgy.
We had an incident involving a low flying crane but it is all too hard to get fixed/claimed under insurance – we gathered up the bits, applied lashings of silicone sealer glue, silver duct tape and white concealer duct tape and will sort out the repair in NZ from our own pockets.
Keep up the good words
Wow, that is expensive. I remember another NZ campermentioning it was cheaper to register in UK andthen get UK insurance.
Good job for old duct tape!
So happy for you! And oh, yes, insurance companies, the same all over the world! Here in Belgium there’s little choice, so yes, expensive! Well, let’s just hope you won’t need them!
Glad you got sorted in the end. I tried Safeguard at renewal time but, as we have different criteria to you guys, I found them too expensive. I used to be bombarded with offers of cover from Saga and, each time I went through the lengthy process of getting a quote, I would hear the fatal words at the end of the process “Sorry, we don’t insure American motorhomes”. This infuriated me as it was another 15 minutes of life that I won’t get back! We’re with Comfort Insurance.
On the positive side..at least its only once a year x
Glad you got your Motorhome insurance sorted out ,it’s a nightmare dealing with insurance more so being out of the country woof woof Mac nTosh loads of luv DADxxx
Hi Both! I had a similar day yesterday trying to get 365 day EU cover on our 2005 Burstner – we’re heading off to Europe for 12 months ( or possibly more!) in October. Safeguard were top of my list – unfortunately, they won’t quote for any vehicle registered to a Northern Ireland address. Fortunately – and I never thought I’d say this (!) – we’re both the “right” side of 50 and Saga were amazingly helpful and gave us awesome cover for everything we required at an affordable price. All’s well that ends well! Loving your Bumble blog – absolute mine of useful info and fab photos! Keep up the good work!
Glad you got sorted Karen and not long before you set off, bet youncant wait. Thanks for the lovely comments too x
Karen, great to hear this information as living in Northern Ireland can be a real PIA for insurance purposes :-). I will keep Saga in mind for our next renewal.
Hi guys, you website is looking fab!