Red Pennant - Caravan Servicing

peedee - Thanks. I appreciate your response. It is a very interesting subject. Because I am considering moving away from Mayday/RP I have had a good look at some of the other major breakdown policies. Neither Maday, the RAC, the AA, or Arrival require a caravan (or car for that matter) to be fully serviced, presumably by a third party, as a condition of the breakdown policy. They all stipulate tax, insurance, and MOT. As you have stated, I accept there are some other policies which do have a "fully serviced" stipulation in their terms and conditions. It would be interesting to know which one you found. Personally, I would steer well clear of any such policy. If I breakdown, the absolute last thing I need is a breakdown company asking me to prove the service status of my caravan (or car). I just want to have my vehicle repaired or recovered home. I do not want a breakdown company having a way out of refusing help. But, of course, the choice is yours. If some people prefer their breakdown provider having more stringent requirements then that is their perogative. 

LLM - Thank you. Presumably that is what the MOT is for. I don't think anyone would dispute that. The main point of my post is caravan servicing, and the poor communication from the Club.

EmilysDad - Thank you. That, of course, is a very good point. I know a fair few people who service and maintain their own car and caravans. If the Club do require a caravan to  be serviced then those people need to move to another policy. That is why it is important the Club clarifies exactly what their requirements are. It should be a simple thing to do. But they can't seem to make their mind up. That is the main point of my post. 

Stato, I hope you don't mind but I've reported your original post to draw the club's attention to resolving this issue once and for all. It's appalling the contradictions you have had, I think the club needs to address this ASAP. 

Thank you Tammygirl. That is very helpful. I look forward to their response. I wonder which way it will go lol. 

Some years ago I worked in a pub and one of our neighbours, who was a car salesman, was a customer.  He had had a caravan up his drive for some time and loaned it to a friend of his, who was towing it along the motorway when one of its wheels fell off.  My neighbour was in the pub with his friends and they all thought that it was really hilarious!  I didn't think that it was funny at all, especially as he was a car salesman and should have made sure that the van was roadworthy.  I don't think that I would have wanted to buy any cars from him!

It would be interesting to know which one you found.

The first extract came from the Nationwide's break down offering which is provided by the AA!

The last was from my own motorhome insurance with Comfort.

Personally, know how picky insurance companies are when it comes to paying out claims, I would not want to give them the opportunity not to cover or partially cover any breakdown.

Once out of warranty I used to service my own caravan, it is not too difficult a job. In these circumstances I would seek clarification that that was acceptable to any insurance company who required it to be fully serviced.

peedee

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Thank you peedee. Your post highlights the need to check the fine print of all breakdown policies, no matter who the end service provider is.

As you did with your caravan, I am thinking of going down the route of servicing my own van, now the warranty has finished. I used a mobile servicing engineer last year. To be honest, I felt as if I had wasted my money. It was over 200 quid and he was there just under the hour. I'm certainly not doing that any more. I can do a lot myself, and I have plenty of help at hand from some very helpful (and skilled) members of my rally group. Consequently I will avoid any breakdown policy which mentions servicing in their terms and conditions, irrespective of any clarification they deem to provide. 

 

 

Another David - Thank you. When I signed up for Red Pennant last year they stated, over the phone, that the car had to be serviced according to the manufacturers specs. In all the previous years I have signed up they have never mentioned this before. This makes me think the policy may be new. They have never mentioned the caravan having to be serviced.

Stato, the CAMC confusion passed on to you is appalling, however, the only thing that matters is what is written in the terms, which are quite clear.

The MOT is only a roadworthiness check it does not require the vehicle to have been serviced and only confirms the roadworthiness or otherwise, of the vehicle at the time of the examination.

A caravan is not required to have an MOT, however, if towed on a public highway it must be roadworthy as must the towing vehicle.  The CAMC terms seem to cover both although not entirely clearly.  

EmilysDad, If you are an engineer and capable of doing your own servicing then that should be entirely acceptable to the insurer.  A good friend of mine is also an engineer.  He has serviced his own cars, caravans, and now motorhome for many years.  To cover this point he records his work in the vehicle service logs and at my suggestion signs and dates the log "Owner/Engineer serviced".  

 I downloaded Approved Workshop Scheme check sheet from the internet and a lot or the checks you're paying for are things that you know whether they are working or not from using them in the van such as lights, fridge, toilet, water pump etc.