Insurance for Motorhome hire business

[ajh349]

Hi I am starting up a Motorhome Hire business and have begun seeking quotes for insurance for 3 new vehicles.

The cheapest quote I have has so far is £5k from Alan Boswell.com

For those who know, is this a reasonable annual fee for 3 vehicles?

Appreciate any advice from those who have similar experience in this venture.

Alan

[insurance_jon]

without knowing your personal details that doesn't seem bad for a new startup. that price should improve year on year if you dont claim

[ajh349]

My only concern is that the policy is annual and during my start up year the vehicles won't be fully utilised, therefore the cost of insurance per day will be relatively high.

The advise received by the insurance companies is the daily hire option would be 5 time more in comparison to the yearly charge.

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[spikeyhead]

That sounds cheap to me, it's only 30 pounds per motor per week.

[sussexjob]

or £60 a week for 6 months, how much are the vans worth and are they restricted to over 25/UK ? The problem is they are big and of course cooking as well.

[spikeyhead]

sussexjob said:

or £60 a week for 6 months, how much are the vans worth and are they restricted to over 25/UK ? The problem is they are big and of course cooking as well.

With someone that's not usually driving anything bigger than a focus. Then being parked up full of goodies for people to break into.

[whythem]

OP google "daily hire insurance" and Tradex, I believe their are some companies that offer insurance using a type of voucher system where you insure the client not the vehicle. Could be an answer to your first year.

Also Im not sure whether the package tour regs would apply to motorhome holidays, worth checking them out.

As its a van full of personal objects, I would think you would also have to take some kind of contents insurance as well (Goods in Transit GIT?)

[ajh349]

Each of the vehicles are valued just below £40k each (Inc Vat).

Have tried different companies and still the £5k premium is best yet. Maybe just luck trying the best company first.

[whythem]

Is it not worth approaching the company with the best quote and seeing if they could do better?

If you only require the insurance for 6 months of the year, but are paying for twelve months, can you not cancel after 6 months and get a refund of the remaining premium, or even a credit towards the next years.

I hate insurers, they are as bad as banks. (Sorry Jon

[Chocmonster]

These are the people we use to insure the horseboxes that go out on hire.

http://www.insurecarhire.co.uk/

They can arrange normal insurance to cover the vehicles and then daily to cover the drivers when they are rented out.

Tell them Emma from Northern Horseboxes sent you.

[Cheeky Jim]

One of my good pals is a Regional Director at an Independent Broker.

Happy to pass on your details if that helps?

PM me and I can get him to call you Monday morning. Or I can get him to pm you.

[indexicon]

If you look at this page motorhome owners you will see that you can get a free pdf on how to start up your own motorhome business. It works on the basis that the company bulk buys insurance (which includes insurance for rentals) so they get it cheaper. This means they can resell it cheaper to someone running a motorhome hire business. You can also buy insurance on a 'pay as you go' system, so that you aren't paying fees when the motorhome is idle.
The guy to speak to about this is Stephen Moss, on 0800 612 8719.

Edited by indexicon on Sunday 15th March 00:14

[Superstu]

Be wary of any type of 'daily hire insurance'. It normally covers the vehicle for road risks- ie whilst being driven on the public highway.

Make sure there is an extension for cover whilst the vehicle is parked up -'off hire'. What happens in the event of a malicious damage/fire/theft claim??

[Pot Bellied Fool]

Chocmonster said:

These are the people we use to insure the horseboxes that go out on hire.

If you need another quote then I can recommend these people for horsebox insurance they do my non-equestrian stuff & are very switched on.

[dazco]

In my head, if I started a motorhome company and I received a quote for £5 grand for all three I think I would be quite happy at that.

[johnwhite24]

Anyone know a good insurer of touring caravans to hir out. Ours sits outside for a big part of the year and we'd like to hire it out. John W

[indexicon]

indexicon said:

The guy to speak to about this is Stephen Moss, on 0800 612 8719.

FYI Stephen has left the company, but you can speak to Neville instead (same number). There's also a very interesting new scheme they have got called Motorhome Options where, you don't actually own the vehicle, at least during the investment period. This seems to be a very easy way to see if you really like motorhomes.

Edited by indexicon on Tuesday 24th May 15:04

[MrH]

I started a self drive sports car hire business last March, so was in a similar situation.

I started with 1 car (although i wanted more!) just to see how it all went. I'm now about to add my 5th car, knowing that there is a demand and allbeit slowly, are customer base will grow.

Could you not insure the 1st one, see how it goes, then the others if required and if it takes off? Thats what i did.

I used Alan Boswell for the first year and thought they were very reasonable

As some have mentioned, daily insurance seems appealing but it costs loads more and often doesnt include off hire cover. Proper and full self drive does.

HTH

Mark

[Tobytoad]

Its a problem one of my chums came up against recently. Dont think too many people do it, but we managed to get cover for the business (i'm listed as a named driver for my efforts. Free hire for meeeee! :-)

There seems to be two solutions for those wishing to hire out motorhomes: a full premium for each vehicle for the year which can be bloody expensive, or a deposit premium (he took this one up, where each hire is dudcuted on the day, can be topped up, and also if not utilised as much as we think then oh well - only the deposit amount paid. That said, did need a Motor Trade policy to register licence plates for insurance etc.

Quite complicated but insurer was Tradex, but through Clegg Gifford who were the broker.
Hope that helps.

[insurance_jon]

Ironically clegg Gifford are owned by tradex