Scary - Cannot insure motorhome when racing

[haggispeed]

I hope this may be of some use to people. We now use a small motorhome for towing to meetings. Ringing around to get the insurance renewal quote I have found, quite by chance, that NONE of the brokers are prepared to offer insurance on a motor home if it is ever going to be taken to and parked in a motor racing paddock !!!!, apparently an "unacceptable risk". I have been going racing for 20 yrs and the paddocks are full of motorhomes (apparently all uninsured..... ??) They won't even insure me and let me accept that it would be uninsured while at an event !!! I am just astounded by it. In my experience motor racing paddocks are pretty secure places, a few tools can go missing if you leave them out but not vehicles, in my experience anyway. I checked my exisiting policy and there's the usual exclusions for racing, rallies etc but nothing about paddocks, apparently it's the actual insurerers not the brokers that have this as a very specific exclusion.
I'm going to follow this up and if anyone's interested will update the thread when I find out more.

[ss_collins]

try moris - should be in the back of MN - or ask one of the motorsport RV specialists - in Autosport or MN

[MGDavid]

..ta... would be interested in any follow-up as I'm about to go down the same route.

[R59]

Talk to the NFU-Mutual, in the Louth, Lincolnshire, branch (the only one that deals with motorhomes).

You can have the exceptional NFU Mutual cover, wherever you may be.

Quite a lot of companies offer you no accident cover off road, some don't even cover you properly in public car parks! Some policies are so cunningly worded that you are insured until you make a claim, then they find some lame excuse in the small print so they don't pay out! Be very careful when you insure a motorhome, remember, it's not just a vehicle.

Rob.

[Pug620]

Insure it on a motor trader policy the ones were you are covered to drive any vehicle .

Luckly i have my work policy covers me for the camper van as well .

Marty

[Al Weyman]

motor traders policys are getting very hard to get now with restrictions put on the time you can own motors in stock and records required according to a guy in the shop the other day. It sounds to me they are trying to discourage the actually towing of race vehicles with Motorhomes as lets face it some of these rigs with a trailer in tow must be worst than driving an artic unit and trailer for which you would need a top class HGV licence.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by hawkesfire

Insure it on a motor trader policy the ones were you are covered to drive any vehicle .

Luckly i have my work policy covers me for the camper van as well .

Marty

You need to be careful on this. I don't know the wording or small print on motor traders policies but with fully comp insurance where the insured in covered to drive a vehicle not owned by him or her, the vehicle itself being driven must be insured or you will not be covered.
I suppose this would be because it is illegal to put a vehicle on the public highway un-insured.

[Al Weyman]

Yeah maybe alright to show the police if you are stopped but you have a major incident and just watch them (the insurers) wriggle.

[Pug620]

OK point taken our motor trader policy at work is quite a complexed one and it has run for over 30 years and we do have to list all vehicles owned by us but i did check this out when i bought a new camper and i did tell them about the car tariler/ racing ect

But i think they are more concerned over the fire trucks we drive as they are priced at over 500k each .

[Al Weyman]

Individual companies especially if you have been with them a long time like you have I am sure will cut you some slack if you are spending a lot with them and have a good record but I think to try and get a new policy today especially if you are not really in the trade is very difficult. I did try recently and I am very friendly with the insurance agents on the same parade as my shop and I put it to them I needed a traders tyoe policy as I have to manouver vans about while signwriting them and they told me they just could not help me.

[R59]

Had the same grief Al. I work on "blue light" vehicles, and occaisionally I have to road test them. Thankfully, most of the fleet managers I work for, sanction me to drive them, therefore I'm covered under their own insurance. Those that don't... they have to provide a driver to assist me in commissioning a vehicle, or get a driving instructor to accompany me (where I teach them how to drive!!! snigger!)

A trader policy won't give you much cover if your motorhome goes up in smoke while you're frying the bacon on the cooker in an attempt to distract your fellow competitors parked around you....

Rob.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

............lets face it some of these rigs with a trailer in tow must be worst than driving an artic unit and trailer for which you would need a top class HGV licence.

As lot of them are just van equivalent motorhomes (small Transit, Fiat, Peugeot derived etc) they will be overweight either on the rear axle or gross train weight. This would be another get out for insurers plus the BiB and VOSA are getting hot on this.

[StephenRae]

Slightly off thread...but I wonder when a van stops being a van and starts being a 'motorhome'. I have plans to fit a cooker sink etc. in a Fiat Ducato box van which will be used to carry my car. What kind of a can of worms will I be opening if I tell the insurers or worse what may be the consequences if I don't?

[b1ackcr0w]

And does anybody know if the same sort of problem would occur with a Caravan?

[haggispeed]

Don't have an update yet but will be speaking to the underwriters this morning for clarification. I spent last night reading the whole policy book and there's nothing in there about paddock parking so we'll see what they say.
As for Motorhome insurance I have always taken out a specialist Motorhome policy which covers all your camping, outdoor gear etc, high value on personal effects, awnings, cover for gas explosion etc, (so we're safe cooking the bacon butties Racing59 )
So I'd rather stay with a specialist cover than just a general insurance.
Updates to come