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Thanks very much for the information on cross hire insurance Apache, I am in the same situation, a new 2010 Dethleffs 6 berth which I bought to hire out, I am really struggling to find a decent insurance provider. Maybe you could forward details of who you use? If they are as good as you say, they will be just the ticket.
When I have a moment to spare I will elaborate a bit on our experiences from the first six months in this business.
I use a broker called Alan Boswells Insurance, who use Highway Insurance, now changed to LV. There is another company who I recommend my customers to use If they get a hire for their own motorhomes not through myself - dayinsure. I have 5 of my own motorhomes and am a booking agent for nearly 100 motorhomes so there have been occasions that I have had to call on the insurers.
I hope this helps you.
this is what we are thinking of doing! best check my normal policy ,insurance through a company looks like its going to cost us £25-£27 per day out of what we are going to charge this is a pay as you go to see how busy we get
jamie
Re: Motorhome Hire Insurance - my experience with SDP cover.
Hi Could you please advise who you use for insurance on your private hire. as we have recently purchased a motor home and we are looking for a insurance company we can use when we hire it out.
Thanks
I purchased a motorhome in 2006, a brand spanking new Auto-Trail Apache 700, and to make some extra money from it, decided to hire it out occasionally.
I looked around the companies who offer owners the chance to make some extra cash and picked one of them. I received a few hires from this company and they supplied me with the insurance for hirers. I had no problems with any of this and actually found it to be well worth it, if you are prepared for the hassle of not having your van all the time, and others using it etc.
A couple of weeks ago, I had reason to contact my SDP insurance broker, Motor Caravan Insurance Agency (MCIA) and as soon as I informed them that I occasionally hired out my vehicle, they immediately cancelled my policy with them. I was told at this time that it was due to Dual Insurance on the vehicle.
I contacted them again the next day, after simmering for a bit and thinking things over, and asked to speak to one of their managers. I spoke at length to Mr Ben Williams and fully explained the situation to him that I hire out via other companies etc, along the lines of the previous posts. He listened carefully and I supplied him with the name of the main company who I contracted hires from. He promised to investigate and call me back.
He called back three days later and told me that he was fully aware of the circumstances of owners hiring out via other companies. He had tried to contact the owner of the company that I use to discuss with him the provisions of the hire insurance, but did not receive any calls back from him. Funny, as this owner had the time to telephone me and ask why insurance companies were telephoning him. I asked him to simply explain the facts so that I could sort out my personal insurance on the vehicle, but to date he has not done so.
Mr Williams informed me that he had made his own enquiries, contacted other companies in the field and spoken to various underwriters, but could not offer me SDP cover for my van if I hired it out. The reasons he explained were two-fold; dual-insurance where there was a conflict between insurance companies where two companies have a policy that covers one vehicle (even after a long discussion that if it was out on hire, I could not possibly drive nor claim on the other policy), and secondly, the problem of all SDP policies having a standard paragraph excluding the owner from hire or reward – the exact wording will vary from policy to policy, but all roughly mean the same thing.
I was therefore left with no personal insurance on my van, although I could hire it out to others and they would be fully covered.
In order to obtain insurance cover for me to drive my van, I then contacted about 20 other motorhome insurers – all of the main ones and then others who I was referred to. I explained the full facts to the operators when I was providing information, and on every occasion I was declined insurance cover. On one occasion, I heard the insurance clerk discussing the circumstances with an underwriter and I asked to speak to the underwriter. Again, a decent chap, who listened to the way that I obtained hires from other “agent” companies, but he went down the “dual insurance” route and told me that I would be extremely lucky to find an insurance company who would provide this particular type of cover. I cannot recall the name of that underwriter’s company, but it was early in my calls and one of the main ones.
I am lucky in all of this, as I had found that I could make some money from hiring out a motorhome so have decided to purchase another one (picking it up in Germany next month). I am now moving from being an owner/occasional hirer to a trader with two vehicles for hire. I have now found a suitable broker who has supplied me with an excellent deal for a motor trader’s policy. This deal would have even been the answer to my problems as an owner/hirer as the rates are excellent. (If you are interested, please PM me for details).
My new broker, lets call him Del, is well aware of the motorhome hire business and operates in it. He is of the opinion that owners may not be properly insured under their SDP policies unless their own SDP policy and their Hire policy is provided by the same provider, therefore ensuring no conflict of interest between insurance companies.
I am not here to cause any problems with the companies who provide hires to owners – as agents – but have merely put down the facts as they happened to me and all within the last 14 days. During all of the phone calls and discussions with hire company owners, insurance companies and brokers, I discovered/uncovered a lot of information that I had not previously been aware of. Maybe I had not asked, maybe I was not provided. That is not the issue here, this is only to do with owners personal comprehensive insurance policies governing their use of their vehicle.
I will continue to accept hires from middleman companies, without the need for their hire insurance cover, as I now have my own.
I had provided both Mr Williams of MCIA and “Del” the link to this discussion and asked them to view it, and if possible contribute to it. I am aware that both are watching the ongoing discussion with “interest” and if they post, then we will all be better informed.
My only purpose in posting this rather lengthy post is to make other owner/hirers aware, as already stated in an earlier post - to check your own insurance policy and make sure it is suitable for your particular needs, especially if you hire out your vehicle. Scaremongering. I think not.
I have a feeling that this is not the end of this post[/quote]
Saw this and thought it might be interesting but started looking at the dates - it's Groundhog Day!
______________________________________________________________ You can´t dig a hole somewhere else by digging it deeper in the same place - Edward De Bono
Hi
Without confusing this thread, I would like to offer a few thoughts.....
Long before Insurance rears it's ugly head some long and hard thinking should take place.
If you are looking at hire as a one van business please be aware you will be dealing with peoples emotions, they have trusted you implicitly, to have available the exact spec of Motorhome on the date and time specified and in a fully legal and servicable condition. This is one of the most important things your customer will book, it is their holiday and if the van does not meet any of the above criteria, there holiday will be ruined. It is a big responsibility. There is a high probability your van will be damaged at some time, this will generally be bodywork damage and I would suggest you contact your agent and ask the lead time for side skirts, wheel arch moldings and molded light assemblies I would think a minimum of 6 weeks, so may I ask what will happen to your bookings for that 6 weeks.
If you are letting an agent hire your Motorhome you MUST agree on " Wear and Tear " It is all very well getting your check for £8000 for hire but you must be aware this is bound to include wear and tear, the sort of things your agent will not be able to charge for eg windows become scratched we use a simple rule of thumb that if the scratch can not be detected with your finger nail, it is wear and tear, but at the end of a busy season all these things ad up.
Letting an agent hire your Motorhome is, in these hard times, is a growth industry but as can be seen, not without it's pitfalls. Your agent may, and I think they should, insist the Motorhome is stored with them, unless you are close enough to deliver at short notice. The reason is that there reputation is at stake whenever a customer hires from them, and they should be in complete control of cleanliness, mechanical condition, pre hire checks, post hire checks, full and detailed handover, and the evaluation as to the suitability of the customer. If the vehicle is not with them, this can be a problem and MHF have many threads explaining this.
As to insurance most hire insurance is ONLY for the hire period and the agreed people. The hire company must insist on you insuring the vehicle as it will not be insured whilst not on hire, using logic it would be difficult to see how this could be seen as duplicate insurance.
Please do not think I am trying to put anyone off hiring out there vehicle or starting there own business, there is certainly enough for everyone, BUT, you must bear in mind the above AND your free time is no longer your own, as your customers will expect to be able to contact you 24/7 and you must be able to react instantly. You may be expected to visit them to carry out simple repairs and/or arrange for same, and half way through a bottle of red this can sometimes grate.
I hope this is of some help.
Regards
Tel
Re: Motorhome Hire Insurance - my experience with SDP cover.
Hi robertobaggio, please can you let me know who "Del" is? I am in a similar position and need to be able to arrange cross hire insurance. I am sure they would like the referal. Many thanks.
robertobaggio wrote:
Hi Could you please advise who you use for insurance on your private hire. as we have recently purchased a motor home and we are looking for a insurance company we can use when we hire it out.
Thanks
I purchased a motorhome in 2006, a brand spanking new Auto-Trail Apache 700, and to make some extra money from it, decided to hire it out occasionally.
I looked around the companies who offer owners the chance to make some extra cash and picked one of them. I received a few hires from this company and they supplied me with the insurance for hirers. I had no problems with any of this and actually found it to be well worth it, if you are prepared for the hassle of not having your van all the time, and others using it etc.
A couple of weeks ago, I had reason to contact my SDP insurance broker, Motor Caravan Insurance Agency (MCIA) and as soon as I informed them that I occasionally hired out my vehicle, they immediately cancelled my policy with them. I was told at this time that it was due to Dual Insurance on the vehicle.
I contacted them again the next day, after simmering for a bit and thinking things over, and asked to speak to one of their managers. I spoke at length to Mr Ben Williams and fully explained the situation to him that I hire out via other companies etc, along the lines of the previous posts. He listened carefully and I supplied him with the name of the main company who I contracted hires from. He promised to investigate and call me back.
He called back three days later and told me that he was fully aware of the circumstances of owners hiring out via other companies. He had tried to contact the owner of the company that I use to discuss with him the provisions of the hire insurance, but did not receive any calls back from him. Funny, as this owner had the time to telephone me and ask why insurance companies were telephoning him. I asked him to simply explain the facts so that I could sort out my personal insurance on the vehicle, but to date he has not done so.
Mr Williams informed me that he had made his own enquiries, contacted other companies in the field and spoken to various underwriters, but could not offer me SDP cover for my van if I hired it out. The reasons he explained were two-fold; dual-insurance where there was a conflict between insurance companies where two companies have a policy that covers one vehicle (even after a long discussion that if it was out on hire, I could not possibly drive nor claim on the other policy), and secondly, the problem of all SDP policies having a standard paragraph excluding the owner from hire or reward – the exact wording will vary from policy to policy, but all roughly mean the same thing.
I was therefore left with no personal insurance on my van, although I could hire it out to others and they would be fully covered.
In order to obtain insurance cover for me to drive my van, I then contacted about 20 other motorhome insurers – all of the main ones and then others who I was referred to. I explained the full facts to the operators when I was providing information, and on every occasion I was declined insurance cover. On one occasion, I heard the insurance clerk discussing the circumstances with an underwriter and I asked to speak to the underwriter. Again, a decent chap, who listened to the way that I obtained hires from other “agent” companies, but he went down the “dual insurance” route and told me that I would be extremely lucky to find an insurance company who would provide this particular type of cover. I cannot recall the name of that underwriter’s company, but it was early in my calls and one of the main ones.
I am lucky in all of this, as I had found that I could make some money from hiring out a motorhome so have decided to purchase another one (picking it up in Germany next month). I am now moving from being an owner/occasional hirer to a trader with two vehicles for hire. I have now found a suitable broker who has supplied me with an excellent deal for a motor trader’s policy. This deal would have even been the answer to my problems as an owner/hirer as the rates are excellent. (If you are interested, please PM me for details).
My new broker, lets call him Del, is well aware of the motorhome hire business and operates in it. He is of the opinion that owners may not be properly insured under their SDP policies unless their own SDP policy and their Hire policy is provided by the same provider, therefore ensuring no conflict of interest between insurance companies.
I am not here to cause any problems with the companies who provide hires to owners – as agents – but have merely put down the facts as they happened to me and all within the last 14 days. During all of the phone calls and discussions with hire company owners, insurance companies and brokers, I discovered/uncovered a lot of information that I had not previously been aware of. Maybe I had not asked, maybe I was not provided. That is not the issue here, this is only to do with owners personal comprehensive insurance policies governing their use of their vehicle.
I will continue to accept hires from middleman companies, without the need for their hire insurance cover, as I now have my own.
I had provided both Mr Williams of MCIA and “Del” the link to this discussion and asked them to view it, and if possible contribute to it. I am aware that both are watching the ongoing discussion with “interest” and if they post, then we will all be better informed.
My only purpose in posting this rather lengthy post is to make other owner/hirers aware, as already stated in an earlier post - to check your own insurance policy and make sure it is suitable for your particular needs, especially if you hire out your vehicle. Scaremongering. I think not.
I have a feeling that this is not the end of this post
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