VV Insurance

[peteandtrish]

We have been looking into insuring our Sunliner. We contacted Shannons, but unfortunately they will not touch VV’s.
Another company (CIL) said we would need an independent evaluation and photos for them to cover us on an agreed value policy.
I have taken our van to the local dealer, but unfortunately they do not appreciate VV’s, in fact the evaluation was insulting.
I am asking for assistance in locating a valuer (SEQLD), someone that can identify the true worth of our much loved restored pieces of history.
Any information or guidance in assisting us to insure or VV would be appreciated.

Regards

P&T

[Geoff & Jude]

hi p&t

we're insured with aami, $98 for $4100 cover (includes $500 contents cover) with $250 excess , no questions asked about van valuation - they accepted our ask value.

not real cheap, but better than loosing the lot in an accident.

hope this helps

geoff 'n jude

edit note: i think shannons will only insure your vintage van if you already have a car insured with them

[firefighter]

HI peteandtrish
I have 2 vintage vans insured with shannons, I have just sold 1 of them to Tinnie so will be cancelling 1 policy
also try RYND insurance cooper plains qld 1300650670
a new player in old vehicle insurance or ring Peter on 0413433438 VIC rep
( my brother )
the more policys you have with shannons the cheaper it is

Geoff ;D ;D ;D ;D

[peteandtrish]

jubbard said:

hi p&t

we're insured with aami, $98 for $4100 cover (includes $500 contents cover) with $250 excess , no questions asked about van valuation - they accepted our ask value.

not real cheap, but better than loosing the lot in an accident.

hope this helps

geoff 'n jude

edit note: i think shannons will only insure your vintage van if you already have a car insured with them

[peteandtrish]

Thanks Geoff and Jude

We were under the same impression that Shannons would insure us give we have our car with them. Perhaps they have a change in policy!!!!!

Geoff
Thanks to you also, we will follow up on the lead you have provided.

Regards to all
P&T

[cobber]

This vintage caravan insurance seems to be a bit of a lottery..depends who answers the phone at the other end.

I have espoused the virtues of CIL because I have had "Driftwood" insured with them...but when it came to insuring ol' 36 they wouldn't have a bar of it.

So I went to Shannon's and no problem, and that was only last month, February.
I don't even have a car with them, although I did get a quote from them for the FJ and will take it to them when it falls due.

Cobber.

[peteandtrish]

Thanks Cobber

I think you are right on the money when you say it depends on who you talk to. Several VV owners have told me they have VV's with shannons. Other insurers I have talked with this afternoon have indicated they don't care what work you have done to restore the van the value is against the age of the van and consequently the coverage is minimal.

I talked with Geoff's brother, he is preparing a quote.

Thanks

P&T

[casper]

Hi P&T
We are insured with GIO, we also have a Sunliner, they asked no questions and did not ask for pictures, we are insured for $4,500, can't remember off hand how much it was, but we did it over the phone, give them a try.
Paul.

[peteandtrish]

Well there you go, I just this minute got off the phone after talking to Shannons and again I have been told they do not do caravans.

Perhaps someone else may like to try!!!!!!


Thanks to all

P&T

[peteandtrish]

I received a phone call from Shannons sales in WA informing me that the information I had been given was not correct and Shannon do infact insure VV. The Person I talked with was Jessica and for future reference if anyone is looking at insurance her email address is: [e-mail].

Thanks to you, all we will be shopping around and talking to the insurers you have suggested.

Regards

P&T

[humpty2]

I have my Sunliner insured with GIO........no phorequired ..........no valuations........I just told them I wanted it insured .......for $4000
No problems

Humpty

[belinda]

What is it with Shannons and vintage van insurance?

When we insured our van with them almost three years ago I was advised at that time it was a new product, but yes they certainly did offer the service.

After that various people on this site have had mixed responses from Shannons depending on who they spoke to, but one would imagine the information should have filtered through to their offices by now.

Yes, Shannons definitely do insure vintage vans
Yes, they have been doing it for ages.
Yes, they already have lots of customers on this site whose vans are insured with them.

[jrod]

I just called Shannons this morning to insure our Van before its first trip at Easter and was told that even though i have a car insure with them, the Van will need to be insured through an AAMI or the like!!

Anyway, i have tried the email address Pete & Trish have supplied and i will see if i have any luck.

Considering the insurance for my HT has gone up signifficantly over the 5 years i have been with Shannons (without a claim), to be honest i think RACV could be a better option.

J-Rod

[fcdriver]

Hi All
Have to say,
We unfortunatly had a claim with Shannons for the EL Falcon.
They were excellant.......easy to deal with.
We have the FC & EH Holdens with them as well as the EL Falcon.
However the Caravan and the BA Falcon are elsewhere.
Bruce

[peteandtrish]

Hi J-Rod

I hope you have success with the email contact as we have. We received our Shannons Policy covering our Sunliner this afternoon.
Despite the problems early with our attempts to obtain coverage. After talking with Jessica in the WA sales office all has gone well..

Good luck

Regards

Pete

[Don Ricardo]

Hi everyone,

I've just been chasing insurance for our Don and for what it's worth I thought I'd add my tale to this thread.

The Don (as well as the family's vehicles bar the 1962 Mini) have been quite satisfactorily insured with Ansvar Insurance for yonks. Up until a couple of years ago the van was insured for agreed value, but the Ansvar caravan policy was then changed to market value. In addition an annexe was only partly insured once it reached more than 5 years old.

I was a bit concerned about how 'market value' might be established if the Don was in a bingle, so last year (2006) when the policy came due I chased around a few insurance companies without any real success. Some (can't remember which) wouldn't even talk about insuring a caravan more than 25 years old . Obviously don't recognise class when it's in front of them! In the end I renewed the Ansvar policy.

This year - armed with info from this and other threads on the forum - I tried again, with the following results (wonder if I can get sued for putting the following comments on the web ):

Shannons: Rang the 13 number and was told that Shannons don't insure caravans, even though I told them I knew of people who had their vans with Shannons. Wasn't entirely surprised given the experience of other V V'ers. Sent an email to Jessica at WA Sales (as recommended by Pete & Trish) but got no answer after 3 weeks. Maybe Jessica's moved (or got fired for insuring vans ;D)?

NRMA/IAG Classic Vehicle: IAG would have been happy to insure the Don for agreed value, but I had to provide a written valuation from somebody suitably qualified/experienced. I wasn't sure where I would even go for that. I doubt whether your average neighbourhood caravan salesman would know much about V V values (maybe they're more clued in than I think?). And I wasn't sure that they'd accept Cobber's or Mark T's word for it

CGU: Got no response to a web-based request asking for a quote.

GIO: Happy to insure the van at agreed value without a written valuation, and to provide cover on the annexe and contents at agreed value. I was able to arrange cover over the phone at half the cost of the Ansvar premium. That's the one I've gone for.

...so what's the moral of the story. Not sure, except that getting V V insurance takes a bit of work, and that I have confirmed Humpty's experience with GIO. I must say I was disappointed with Shannons. We have had really good service from them with our two 1962 Minis - one was totaled and they still accepted its replacement. You would think that Shannons would be a natural fit - classic cars, classic caravans? For crying out loud, they even insure motorbikes!! (Sorry Reddo, just teasing ;D)

What we really need is for some of our club officials to put a case to Shannons... Oh that's right, we don't have a club and we don't have officials... ;D ;D I'm not really complaining about that - I like the V V forum the way it is. But if anyone from Shannons reads this, there's a commercial opportunity going begging...

Don Ricardo
Thanks for listening - I feel better now...

[firefighter]

Hi Don & anybody else who reads this rubbish

living about 2 km from shannons melb office & having 2 vehicles
& 1 vintage van insured with them , I decided to call in and have a talk to them...fronted up to the reception a young female & male sitting there with head phones on (if no one at reception they
can take phone calls ) told them about the problem of vintage vanners ringing up about insurance for pre 70s "vintage"vans

first up .........if you ring the 13 number any shannons phone
operator in any office around aust thats free will answer your call

both staff at reception told me different storys one said, only insure teardrops behind hot rods & restored vehicles.....the other said we dont insure old vans at all
after I told them it was bull s!!t and I have 1 on my policy a team leader / manager? came past & he was aked the question ........
his answer... " shannons dont have a caravan policy " BUT if you have a motor vehicle insured with them.....they will include your
vintage or classic VAN in that policy, BUT your contents & annex
are NOT covered ......the team leader / manager ?? suggested if
you are getting no where with an operator ask for a team leader
or manger to sort your problem out .....will this fix your problem
" BUGGERED IF I KNOW "
Don ... Jessica from W A"has not moved on or got fired for insuring vans , melb office are going to ask her why she has not answered your e.mail
".Don I Am listening to you & hope you feel better now "
F/F ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[casper]

Hi Don & F/F
We are also insured with GIO for the Sunliner & Venter trailer, they were the only ones we could get any sense out of at the time of ringing and trying to get insurance on the van.

It is very frustrating when you get the situation where the people you are talking to don't even know the policies of the companies they are working for.

I sympathise with your frustrations, but all it does is drive the business in the direction of the companies that are willing to support your requests and give good service.

Training of staff to deal with companies every day business, is a thing of the past in most cases, less time worying about overheads & more time looking after customers with good honest customer service, will win my vote every time, even if I do have to pay a little more for some products.
Regards
Casper.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Firefighter and Casper,

Interested to hear about your visit to the Shannons' office Firefighter. I had contemplated calling in at the office rather than ringing (we're up the other end of Warrigal Road), but sounds as if I wouldn't have got any further!

As you say Casper, you end up taking your custom (and your money ) to the company which provides the service, and the lass at GIO was very helpful and pleasant. When I had to race outside to get some info about the caravan, she was very patient and told me to take my time, she was happy to wait. We had a bit of a chuckle when I was trying to give her the length and width of the van - she didn't have a clue what a foot was and my in-brain imperial to metric converter is a bit haphazard at the best of times.

I had remembered that both you and Humpty were with GIO, Casper. That's why I decided to give them a try, so thanks for your post back in March.

Just goes to show the value of the forum.

Regards,

Don Ricardo

[Suzann and Matt (Schultzy)]

Hate to say this but I got insurance for our red van on 5th June 2007. I started a hole new policy then the ones I already have with them. I had no trouble getting a agreed value of $5,000. Cost, just $139.47 p/y. (1951 Outher Vintage Caravan) I no longer have the policy as we sold the van. I do think it depends on just who you chat to.

Suzann and Matt

[Geoff & Jude]

hi dennis and others

i wonder why everyone is obsessing over insurance with shannons?

i've had classics insured with them for over 25 years and i reckon that they're a good company and have competitive prices for "old" vehicles, but not so with caravans!!!!!

i tried them when insuring the van and was told they don't insure vans (as has been the case for so many in our group).

i rang a few other companies and ended up with AAMI, who covered the van for $5000 + $500 contents with a $250 excess for ONLY (shouted) $102 per year. ;D ;D ;D ;D

THAT'S $37.47 CHEAPER than shultzy paid at shannons - more than 27% less.

there were no arguments from AAMI re the value and the contents is basically a free add-on to the comprehensive policy.

my suggestions - forget shannons and ring around for a BETTER deal.

ps. AMMI won't give you back the wreck - but if you total a van, the bits and pieces left over probably aren't worth keeping.

geoff 'n jude

[Nascohunter]

Hi all,
After reading this post and was surprised what was said about Shannons. Have spoken to Shannons and they told me they do insure vintage caravans and are happy in doing so. My vintage Sandrover 1961 caravan, my brothers 1950 teardrop and 1960 Trail caravan are all insured with Shannons.
Regards,
Tony Galea.

[Deleted]

Hi all
What worries me about all this "tooing and froing" with shannons is that thier front line "indians" are giving us punters a different speil to what "The chiefs" in the office are saying. I would be a bit concerned if i had a policy with them because it appears that not everyone at shannons have a proper handle on what their company policy is when it comes to insuring vintage caravans'
To me it sounds like those that have insurance with them could very well have "A Claytons Policy"

I mean .. sure they will take your money and hand you a policy but you dont know wether its worth the paper it is written on until you test them out after a pile up, fire, theft, claim with them.

It would be a real bastard to find that after your van has come off the hitch and speared into an oncoming car that you arent insured at all, either due to a counter pleb not knowing company policy or .. they drag out clause 28b that states that "Joe bloggs insurance doesnt cover caravans more thab 5 years old"

To me the red light is already flashing and telling me to take a detour.
I reckon the way to go is Check out whats on offer at the insurance co i have my cars and house insured with and see if they will wear vintage caravan insursance".
That way i might even be able to score a bonus discount like they offer for holding more than 1, 2, or 3 policies with them.
If that dont work i would load up with a few photos of the old vans and take the time to knock on a few insurance co doors and show thier CEO what i want insured and drill them on what their policy is in regards to Vint van cover.
Might take me a day or so of foot work but that would be a small price to pay if "The unmentionable" did happen to a van being towed or cooked in by me.
Having said all that here is a revelation...............

At the moment Matilda and the replica TD are not insured.. ....i need my arse kicking .
Reddo

[rtcruiser]

Now you're getting me thinking about Shannons in general.

I know they keep hassling me about the cheap premium I can get for the PT Cruiser because I have the Regal insured with them but every time I get a quote it's $300 - $400 hundred dollars more expensive then I'm paying now.

Might be time to shop around come renewal time.

[exocet]

Just out of interest, our car insurance covers anything being towed is covered up to $1000 plus of course any damage it causes, it may not be much, but it's better than nothing, especially as our van Dorothea only owes us $650, excluding yearly rego costs, also has anybody talked to an insurance broker? Could save a lot of leg work!