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We had a post on MHF recently made by one of our members who allegedly runs a motorhome hire business.
They posted on MHF with some fairly serious allegations concerning how the whole Self hire industry works, i.e. whereby you offer up your own motorhome to a company that rent it out on your behalf.
I have spent considerable time this morning and afternoon, speaking to various members of the self hire industry and also insurance brokers trying to ascertain the facts. (A few remain to get back to me and go on record so any queries could be directed to them in future)
I personally think this is how the system operates.
you have a standard SDP policy on a van, you then offer your van to a company for self hire, THEY (Not you) enter into a contract to hire out the van under their own business traders insurance policy (Which does allow Hire for gain) during the period of hire, your own policy is not being used on the vehicle so there are no dual insurance issues.
A business insurance policy has named drivers so you can hire out the motorhome and also drive it yourself without needed dual insurance policies for the same mh.
If anyone can provide compelling hard facts to prove otherwise please let me know as MHF will not condone members posting information that is scaremongering nor inconclusive.
With the best will in the world Dave I would not trust a verbal statement from anyone on this subject, including a broker, or indeed an Insurance company, the financial risks are far too great, written statements of fact are always preferred, I think any Insurance company would give them if you fully explain your intensions, and just because one company says yes ,this would not apply to all,the proof as they say is in the pudding
Geo
Last edited by Geo on Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:14 pm; edited 1 time in total ______________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Dark Side where the Sun shines brightest
Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn´t.
Fair comment, Geo, but I trust Nuke to have done the homework in a professional manner, and I'm sure he could provide names and company details if anyone was having difficulty in this matter.
But, like you, I would normally not rely on anything verbal, especially a post on a forum about a verbal communication.
I am trying to sell my C Class RV and have considered rental as an option to selling.
My insurance policy is for a limited mileage each year 3,500, when I asked about the issue regarding rental on someone elses policy with a possibility of exceeding the agreed mileage, and if I could prove the mileage covered elsewhere would they honor the existing policy - the answer was ...
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NO - that dual insurance sir...
______________________________________________________________ My much loved VW Rialta is for sale, if you need an automatic van with the best layout possible in its size take a look at the classifieds..
Well i have spoken to a couple of firms today, and they are going to get back to me.
I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has hired their van out via a third party business and especially if any claims were forthcoming whilst the vehicle was being hired.
After seeing the thread this morning and the spat between the two alleged motorhome hire companies I personally wouldn't trust any of them.
If that is how they behave in the murky world of motorhome hire then my advice would be to keep well clear.
I was approached at the Newark show last weekend by one of these companies and asked if I would like to earn £8k a year by hiring out my motorhome.
If they can afford to rent a stand at a show and then use quite aggressive sales techniques there must be some serious money to be made,most of it by the hire companies.
Has anyone ever used these motorhome hire companies and if so were they satisfied with the service they received?It would be helpful if someone could give us a company report.
Steve
______________________________________________________________ cheers Steve
If they can afford to rent a stand at a show and then use quite aggressive sales techniques there must be some serious money to be made,most of it by the hire companies.
well tbh as the Newark show was a new event, the organisers were offering extremely cheap stall prices, i think they were as low as £150ish so by them having a stand at a show doesn't mean they are making too much money lol MHF is having a stand at the Peterborough show so lol does that mean I am making too much money as well.
MHF is having a stand at the Peterborough show so lol does that mean I am making too much money as well.
Not at all nuke,I am not against free enterprise and profit in a fair and honest way,if it wasn't for MHF we wouldn't be able to discuss these issues openly and bring them to everyones attention,and long may it continue.
I dislike companies that are prepared to rip people off and I haven't heard a good word said about the motorhome hire business yet.Can someone who has allowed their vehicle to be used by these companies please come in here and tell us your experiences good or bad.I am sure a lot of forum members would be very interested in their comments.
Steve
______________________________________________________________ cheers Steve
Motorhome Hire Insurance - my experience with SDP cover.
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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France
Waving in memory of Peter and Fiona
Fighting with Mavis´s MESO WARRIORS 
lol MHF is having a stand at the Peterborough show so lol does that mean I am making too much money as well.
