Last year, after being with the same insurer for 12 years, I was obliged to find an alternative company eventually ending up with 'Ping' at £114.49.

I have no idea if Ping are any good as I've had no further interaction with them all year but they did fail to send me a renewal quote which I would normally expect to have received about four weeks before the expiry date. It was only when Towergate, who had quoted me unsuccesfully last year, contacted me a few days ago that I realised that my policy was about to expire. Towergate's quote however was £271.57 so they didn't get a look in and it was back to the Meerkats for a more realistic quote. Our Triton is now 22 years old and as I prefer to be over rather under-insured, I valued it rather optimistically at £10,000 with £1,000 each for possessions, contents and awning cover. Incidentally, 'Ping' was listed as one of the companies who had not been prepared to quote me. What?

The best quote I received including European travel and legal assistance was from 'Insure My' at £127.30 with a £75 excess. The next came from Adrian Flux at £150.39 but with a £600 excess! Yesterday evening (Sunday) I clicked on the 'go to insurer's web page' button only to be met with a few more questions such as 'have you ever been declared bankrupt?' and one that stopped me in my tracks, 'Have you ever been convicted of a motoring offence other than for parking?'

I've been driving since 1966 and in that time I've had two speeding tickets for exceeding 30mph in a built up area (SP30) one of which was 45 years ago and the other around 25 years ago so how should I answer the question? Well, being an honest sort of chap I decided to click on 'yes' upon which the screen turned red and I was told that I couldn't be insured online and would have to telephone the office to discuss the matter. This morning I went back to the Meerkats to retrieve the quote to obtain the phone number but when I did, the system accepted my details putting me straight through to the payment page. At this I checked that the appropriate 'yes' button was still ticked and promptly paid up. Everything went through perfectly and I am once again fully insured.

In case of any future disputes I have downloaded all the documents and printed out the schedule and declaration of facts showing my truthful answer which I will carry with me in the van.

Why is nothing straightforward any more and why do the quotes differ so widely?

Could that be Alan Blunden Ltd who also trade as Cover 4 Caravans, based in Southen-on-sea?

Colin

The irony is that I was with Cover4Caravans for my first 12 years of Eriba ownership.

Firstly, an insurance policy would not get your caravan to an intended destination or home. You need a recovery policy for this. Some insurance companies do offer this extra service at a cost, so it is worth checking. For use we have always gone with Mayday through the C&MC.

As regards tyres, I believe from your profile you are in the tyre business.
The tyre age is not as clear as owners assume. Most insurance companies advise replace at 5 years and do not exceed 7 years.
In the event of an accident an insurance company cannot discount a claim due to tyre age unless they can prove this was a contributing factor in the accident.
It now gets complicated as two years ago I was told the industry standard definition of a new tyre is one up to 5 years old if stored from new in warehouse conditions, and a very new tyre is defined as up to three years old.
Insurance companies are now having to reconsider their approach, and I recall one owner, who was having trouble getting fresh tyres being told by her insurance company that the 5 and 7 year periods would count from the receipt of purchase/fitting date.

With regards to a service every year, I would advise you read your policy carefully. Some companies specify this, but most do not. They have wording such as "must be kept in a good roadworthy condition". I do up to about 4,000 miles per year. One year I service the van myself and keep a record of it on a service tick sheet I photocopied. I can do all items except gas check and one shot wheel nuts off. The following year I have a caravan engineer service the van.

Colin

When I replaced the tyres on my Triton I used Falken Linam VAN01 - 185/80R14 102/100R, supplied by Protyre. I believe they are made in Japan. With a C for economy and an A for rain performance they were about as good as I could get.

Colin

C&CC, Ouch.

Colin