What if?...

After the oil burning smell and the lights going out on me, I thought I might need breakdown insurance just in case something goes wrong whilst I'm away. I rang the dealer to ask if the van came with a warranty to include breakdown cover and was told definitely not. So, I got on to the Caravan Club and asked for a quote.

It took half an hour and whilst the lady was very polite, all of the measurements I gave for the van during the application process were just outside either the maximum allowed or would 'take me into the higher cost bracket'. Misrepresenting a risk is a bad thing in insurance coverage terms so I was surprised to hear the lady happily lie to the system, especially as she probably thought she was doing me a favour. Despite pretending that my van was a better risk than it really is, the quote I got back was horrific. It was going to cost me a whopping £152 to cover me for breakdown whilst in Europe for just the two weeks I was away. Another seven quid would have also seen me covered for the rest of the year, although given the false statements in the proposal, I would probably have not been covered at all anyway. This quote, remarkably, doesn't cover me whilst in the UK except whilst on route to the port for an overseas journey. I thanked the lady for her time and hung up in yet another state of dissatisfaction with the Caravan Club.

I fired up t'internet, filled out just a couple of forms, told the whole and complete truth and within minutes had much better deals from everyone I asked a quote for. I mentioned this on here and was contacted by some readers who told me that my van should have had a 3 year warranty including European breakdown cover. I checked the paperwork and they were right. I have AA cover for the first three years of the van's life. I can forgive the dealer for making a mistake. However, I'm really impressed with this warranty and therefore very surprised that the dealer didn't make more of a point about it (or any mention in fact) as a selling point.

My normal insurance documents have now come through just in time for the trip, so I now feel fully covered, if not fully prepared...