Insurance HELP

[andrea]

Hi All,

Are our expandas covered for theft by insurance companies.... I was looking the CIL policy and found this under exclusions.


"theft or attempted theft from your caravan or your
annexe if:
t it does not have hard walls, or
t it is not securely locked, or
t there is no physical evidence of forcible and
violent entry."

I guess technically we don't have hard walls so wouldn't be covered?????

Any help greatly appreciated as I have to insure the van tomorrow for pickup Saturday.

Many thanks
Andrea

 

[stormpatrol]

We are also looking at cil looks to be the best we have found so far

 

[andrea]

Yes but not if we aren't insured for theft due to the canvas bed ends

 

[stormpatrol]

Well you may be right will call them tomoz and find out

 

[Pieter]

I am looking at CIL and Suncorp. Got the quotes yesterday and had to up the content at Suncorp to match CIL to be able to compare apples with apples. Now I have both policies covering the same amounts all round. SUNCORP is more than $100 less than CIL. I just spoke to CIL and yes you are right. All camper trailers and Expanda's with Canvas walls has no theft cover!!!

 

[Bank of Dad]

Well done Pieter.

Questions:

1. Do Suncorp cover contents in Expandas or is their policy the same as CIL?,
2. Does this exclusion apply to the theft of contents from an Expanda when it is stowed, i.e. bed ends closed and locked with the main entrance door also locked, such as it would be for travel or when stored at our house?

Have to admit I didn't really know of this (well done Andrea - Good luck with the delivery BTW), but then we don't keep much of value in our Eagle and when on holiday we put all valuables in the car and lock it!

 

[Klugerclan]

Pieter, this is true they just confirmed same to me. Canvas walls no cover - no good !! Time for a phone around to see if any insurer offers theft cover for your average camper !

If anyone finds an insurer who covers theft from annex with canas walls please let us know.....

 

[Pieter]

The problem will be to prove the bed ends were closed!!

 

[boots33]

The problem will be to prove the bed ends were closed!!

I guess if the bed ends were closed there would be "physical evidence of forcible and
violent entry." to support your claim. We are with CIL also and went with them largely because they offered new replacement if the van was written off in the first two years. Both Suncorp and RACQ offered a much cheaper policy at the time. Needless to say it will be goodbye CIL when our policy is up for renewal, now that we know they will not be covering us in full. Jayco should also be thinking twice about using them as their recommended insurer if they won't offer complete cover.

 

[Bank of Dad]

Good point Boots!

 

[busybusymum]

Well I just had a look at our insurance policy for the Hawk which is due in 2 weeks - with CIL and I remember they originally talked me into additional contents insurance - so we have been paying for $1000 automatic cover of contents plus an extra $1000 of additional cover - mainly we took this out in case of theft . So on one hand they talk you into the extra insurance full well knowing they cannot cover you anyway - well now I am mad!! I'm glad I know this now before paying my renewal - no more CIL!!! - good on you Andrea for picking this up!

 

[Pieter]

For those able to use Suncorp, they also offer an "Old for new" replacement for the first 24months.

 

[andrea]

Thanks for the update. About to call RACQ and QBE to seek clarrification as they say Forcible Entry (nothing about soft walls).
I'm not worried about our contents as these are covered under our housing policy moreso the repair costs since in CIL's view knifing canvas doesn't count as forcible entry and therefore this damage wouldn't be covered either.

Will update after I speak to them.

 

[Pieter]

RACQ, seems to cover content in the van even with the canvas walls but not items in your annexe. Might be worth talking to them!!

 

[andrea]

Pieter, THANK YOU. We don't have an annex so that will work for us

Our car is insured with them so will work better for us overall. The online quote was $540 ish (After our multiple policy discounts)

Upgrading RACQ membership now to ultimate and then on to insurance

 

[ElectricGuru]

Pieter, you are correct that RACQ will cover the contents within the van even if the bed end are out because you cannot get into the bed ends without forcible entry.

I just got off the phone from them. They were very helpful and I pointed them to the Jayco website and got them to look at the Expanda type of caravan.

They said (and confirmed with a supervisor) that as long as the caravan was locked, then there will be no problem. Entry cannot be gained from anywhere except for the (non-locked) door without forcing entry including the bed ends even if they are out.

The PDS says in the exclusions: theft of your contents without signs of forcible entry (So therefore, if they cut the canvas/fly screens in the bed ends to get in, we are covered )

Funny though with so many exclusions, makes me wonder why they call it Comprehensive Insurance.

Thanks Andrea for bringing this one up.

 

[andrea]

Just an update... in case you're not reading the other thread. RACQ don't consider breaking into canvas as forceful. You can put a claim through expected event (providing a police report was lodged) that would be put up for consideration so they may or may not cover you.

We are now insured with Suncorp which is $72.53/mth for $47K coverage and $500 included contents. (Our house insurance covers our contents in and out of the home). I can't believe it's costing nearly as much as our two cars to insure the van but when we invest this much money into something, and after the insurance disaster here in Qld last January, I'm not prepared to take risks with coverage.

 

[andrea]

Pieter, you are correct that RACQ will cover the contents within the van even if the bed end are out because you cannot get into the bed ends without forcible entry.

I just got off the phone from them. They were very helpful and I pointed them to the Jayco website and got them to look at the Expanda type of caravan.

They said (and confirmed with a supervisor) that as long as the caravan was locked, then there will be no problem. Entry cannot be gained from anywhere except for the (non-locked) door without forcing entry including the bed ends even if they are out.

The PDS says in the exclusions: theft of your contents without signs of forcible entry (So therefore, if they cut the canvas/fly screens in the bed ends to get in, we are covered )

Funny though with so many exclusions, makes me wonder why they call it Comprehensive Insurance.

Thanks Andrea for bringing this one up.

how bizarre, my RACQ consultant went through to the underwriting division for their interpretation which is when they came back to me about the possibility of putting a claim through for consideration as an unexpected event.

 

[ElectricGuru]

how bizarre, my RACQ consultant went through to the underwriting division for their interpretation which is when they came back to me about the possibility of putting a claim through for consideration as an unexpected event.

Andrea

That is very strange because I went to the trouble of making sure they were checking the policy against an Expanda caravan as per the Jayco website, not a camper van (which incidently is not covered) and they considered the bed ends as part of the caravan itself.

Quoted form the consultant: "As long as it was forcible entry and not leaving the door unlocked to go and say, have a shower then it is covered under policy. If the door is locked, then they must force entry to get inside the caravan then you will be covered. The annex is not covered regardless."

Not covered as per their PDS:
- theft or burglary of your contents from an annexe that is not constructed from metal or fibreglass and securely locked;
- theft of your contents without signs of forcible entry;

If they are saying RACQ will not cover things within the caravan that has been accessed via forcible entry (doing this with a knife or similar not forceful?), then they are going against their own PDS. Maybe a case for Fair Trading if this was to be contested. It would be a good idea to get a police report regardless due to some home and contents policies covering items away from home.

Thanks again for the info.

 

[andrea]

Electricguru, I know..... I was talking to RACQ for almost an hour wanting to dot every i and cross every T. She intially said we'd be covered too until she went to the underwriting department. To me cutting through canvas would be no different than smashing a window and that would be covered. After the mess some of our friends were left in after the floods with their insurance companies, we are probably a little more careful now (Saying that we have one of the best and most complete housing policies already and should anything have happened to us we would have been fully covered thankfully).

Just so you know MIHA will cover you too. They were comparable to Suncorp but might be helpful to those in other states. I googled Camper trailer insurance and found them