Thoughts On Insuring Your Motorhome

By Timothy Simons Grimshaw

I read an article in Insurance Times a few weeks ago where the financial ombudsman had said that he would support a policyholder against the insurer, excluding claims for leaving keys in or near a vehicle. I then wondered if the same would apply to a motor home.

The family and I had a late night in our motorhome playing cards and went to sleep very tired. As a result, when we woke up the next morning we were already late for a rendezvous that we had arranged with our close friends and fellow motor homers, the Wilsons. The usual queue for the shower ensued and by the time we were finally ready to go, our friends had decided to explore the country-side without us.

Then I couldn't find the keys. We looked everywhere, and in my usual patient and understanding way I first accused every member of the family of hiding them, progressed to accusing them of not helping me to look for them properly and concluded by accepting my son's version of events that aliens had come from Mars and stolen the keys to my motor home. I went to the cab to get my mobile and call my insurance company for help. I was stranded in the middle of a field with a grumpy family... and it was about to rain.

There, sat in the middle of the cab, next to my mobile phone were the keys! I had left the keys to my pride and joy on display in the cab, and I couldn't help but wonder if the motorhome would be insured if it had been stolen under these circumstances, and so my mind wound its way back to the Insurance Times article.

If my motorhome had been a car the ombudsman would have considered

Location

Was I in a position to deter a thief

Was I recklessly ignoring the risks

Mitigating factors

Whether I knew about the exclusion in the insurance policy

I would like to think that this kind of thinking would have applied to me and my motorhome. If you use an insurance broker there is a much higher chance of finding a comprehensive insurance policy to cover you whatever your situation. - 32196

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