Have your say by emailing or writing to us at:mmm@warnersgroup.co.ukYour Letters, MMM, Warners Group Publications, West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH
More insurance bother
During a holiday in France, the Thule wind-out awning, which we had left out overnight, was badly damaged in a thunderstorm and had to be replaced on our return home. I claimed on our motorhome insurance with the Caravan & Motorhome Club, and the awning was replaced.
I recently renewed my car insurance (with a different insurer) and was informed that, as I had made a claim for the awning, my car insurance was increased by nearly £300.
I argued that the awning damage was not a motoring incident and no damage had been done to the motorhome, to no avail.
I had to pay £250 excess on the awning claim, my motorhome insurance went up £150 because I had made a claim, and finally an extra £300 per year on my car insurance for the next three years. I did shop around for the car insurance, but all the insurers said the same.
So, be warned. Think before you make a claim. It could cost you more than you think in the long run. I will certainly think twice before I decide to make another claim.
Win/win for the insurance companies every time.
Peter Williams
Cracks in the tray
Early last year, I noticed that one of the two drain holes in my four-year-old Carthago shower tray had detached from the rest of the tray and that the shower was unusable. Carthago basically told me it was my fault for using soap in the shower. I believe that the shower tray is just not robust enough. Both my wife and I weigh around 70kg, so we are not the cause of the problem.
A Carthago dealer quoted almost £2,000 to replace the shower because of the need to dismantle so much of the washroom surrounds.
Even then, we were warned of delays in getting a replacement part.
In the end, we opted for a Speedcoat repair at around £500 with a 10-year warranty; the repair was done in days.
It’s a real shame because in every other respect our motorhome is impressive.
It would be interesting to hear from other readers and dealers how widespread the problem is with cracks in shower trays.
So far we are delighted with our Speedcoat repair despite some online negative comments.
Jeff Tipper
Peeling paint
Sorry for the late response with regard to Peter and Sue Greenwood’s letter in the February edition but we have also suffered from having patches of the paint peel off from our 11-year-old Fiat Ducato motorhome.
