Well we are two days into the School Summer Holiday’s and the rain has already arrived here in Essex. This is not the best start to the holiday period!

Then we move onto the subject of Swine Flu – would it not be nice, just once, for the dunces in the Press and Government to get their heads together and start producing some consistent and not scare mungering advice – todays headline is about closing schools for another term and then when you read past the headlines and into the detail this is information taken from the leaked Government contingency plans – this means that it needs to get alot worse before we start doing these things!

I did find some useful information in amongst the stats of “how likely is my whole family likely to die” and those were the facts that 1 in 200 people may die who get swine flu but this is onlyfor those people who get it severley – not just a simple 1 in 200 will die as some useless papers reported.

After the lies about expenses it would appear everyone is happy to carry on not quite telling the truth about everything!

However we do have some good news, we converted the highest number of new Caravan Insurance Policies yesterday in our history – well done the Cover4 Team’s.

Off to London shortly for some hospitality – in the rain!

Richard

I was lucky enough to work for 11 years at Fairweather Insurance Services Ltd who have a number of branches but back then the main office was in Ruislip Manor, Middlesex.

I owe an awful lot of my insurance knowledge to a great man – Robert Sykes.

Today I received some dreadful news that Robert had passed away on Wednesday evening at only 44 years of age.

We had many up’s and down’s and since my departure from the Company about 8 years ago we never really kept in as close a contact as our previous friendship deserved.

Robert was a great boss and a good friend and at this very sad time all I can do is pray that his family and friends can come to terms with the sad loss of Robert.

I can recall many moments but in particular I can remember the company “boy’s trip” to France when I was just 18 and the drinking and memories which we created between us on that trip!

How life can be so cruel is beyond me at times like these.

Thank you Robert for everything you taught me.

Richard

Dear All

These days touring caravans are big business – simple as that! Industry insiders expect the market to increase dramatically over the next few years as people add up the cost of expensive foreign holidays and trips and decide to take a touring caravan holiday in this country!

Many people have a view that most touring caravanners are pensioners with time on their hands, but this is simply not the case. In fact, we have seen a big increase in touring caravanners in the thirties and forties, many with young families. After all, what better way for children to learn about the great heritage and charm of our country than touring around from venue to venue!

Some of the more adventurous touring caravanners are happy to take a holiday abroad which is a scary prospect for me, and all our touring caravan insurance policies cater for European cover with the maximum being 240 days per year (I can’t imagine who could afford to be in a touring caravan for that long but, hey!). 

It’s also good to buy a touring caravan magazine as they have many useful hints and tips as well as some of the best sites to visit, as you can see even myself and my fiancee have got into the spirit!

Mike

Dear All

Regular readers of this column will know of our interest in the current plight of the touring caravan industry in Hull and Humberside with a passion both as a human issue and for our own knowledge. It is a rarely heard of fact that the touring caravan industry began in Hull 60 years ago and has been the bedrock of the local economy since that time, and news of Atlas going into administration and the loss of thousands of jobs has a potentially crippling effect in the region.

News reports say that officials fron the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have arranged to meet in Hull to hear from Union Officials, business officials and MP’s about the current troubles in the touring caravan industry. The meeting was organised by Alan Johnson MP and follows on from a meeting with Business Secretary Peter Mandelson in April to hopefully ensure the livelihoods of those in the touring caravan industry.

Hopefully the situation will be resolved soon and to the satisfaction of everybody involved in the business of touring caravans.

Updates as and when we get them!

Mike

Dear All

I have been perusing several forums lately to as research for this blog, and it seems that most people have the assumption that theft is the biggest risk under your touring caravan insurance, and whilst this is probably true, we at cover4caravans have found that the most common cause is accidental damage. We regularly check our touring caravan claims statistics which is a logical step for any broker/insurer to spot trends in the market, as much for our client’s benefit as ours. We have found that everyday accidents far outweigh any other cause of touring caravan claim, and as one experienced caravanner put it touring caravans are actually getting bigger and more cumbersome. Most people’s drives remain the same and so you are going to get the odd prang! It’s through discussions on forums that we learn more about the touring caravan industry as a whole, and we can “spread the word” so to speak. It’s not that insurers want to avoid paying your touring caravan claim, but it is about helping people understand the problems and perils that exist. As I say, thefts are a minute part of the claims we have recorded on our touring caravan schemes which shows also that our clients are being careful.

I hope this helps

Happy touring

Mike