I hope you had a good bank holiday weekend – not sure about the cold weather we experienced, seems like winter is going to arrive very early.

The schools return this week so the commute to work will increase by 50% – utter madness.

Today sees me off into hospital as a day care case for a Knee Op. I have previously been to the Nuffield in Brentwood but today sees a break in my routine and a trip to the Spire Hosptial – new name for BUPA apparently – I must have missed that rebranding.

So I have a few hours to kill before leaving here around 10.45am and having had to stop eating and drinking at 7.30am I am craving badly for my early morning cups of tea!

I find my PA off this week as well so my life line to the office has also been cut, thats bad news for all the others as it just means I will have to communicate with everyone directly instead!

Happy I can take my ipad in though – whilst playing with You Tube found a great Avril Lavigne (bit of a soft spot for her) song called Innocence and the live version is rather cool. The song has great words and means diffferent things to different peole no doubt but I liked the way I think about it!

I will have no excuses for not blogging this week while I have been forced into having to sit down – not someting I do well.

September commences tomorrow and we are going to have an amazing month for Caravan Insurance – August was quiet and that always means that September will be busy and I know Mike will motivate his  team to achieve great things.

I am not sure I have publiclly congratulated our very own Sophie Morris for being promoted to the role of Assistant Manager- she was such the right person for the job and she will go far. Well done Sophie.

Have a great day.

Rich

Few people may have missed the fact that the last few years have been, well, let’s say a bit difficult all round!

Of course, it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good and the recession has been good news for some sectors such as UK caravanning sites.

Yet there are some signs that things are changing.

Economy is moving

Nobody doubts that the next few years are likely to be tough for just about everyone but there are some signs that the economy is now moving again (albeit painfully slowly) having gone through crises and recession since late 2007.

During that period, continental holidays were in the doldrums as people worried and were forced to watch the pennies – yet there are signs that things are now changing.

European bookings

Some institutions such as the Caravan Club are saying that their continental bookings are finally getting back to 2007 levels after two slow years*.

That shouldn’t be too surprising.

Not only is there finally at least some movement in the economy but also sterling has recently risen against the Euro following concerns over Eurozone sovereign debt and the economic crisis in Greece and, to a lesser extent, Spain.

That means that prices are falling and a pound sterling in Europe is now going a bit further than it would have done 6-9 months ago.

Taking your caravan into Europe

So, if lower prices and at least a slight return in confidence are tempting you back overseas with your caravan – you’re unlikely to be alone.

Don’t forget though, prepare well and in advance – including making sure that your continental cover is suitable for the type of Euro-trip you’re contemplating.

Pessimism / confidence

Of course, it’s too soon to talk about things getting back to normal and it may be unlikely that we’ll see any boom years for some time – if indeed ever.

Yet if we can’t yet talk about optimism replacing the pessimism that has been around since 2007, it may be possible to interpret some current signs as indication that a degree of confidence about day-to-day life is returning.

That’s got to be good for caravanners and the caravanning industry.

*Source
http://www.caravanningnews.net/?p=1168

Dear All

Well as you can see from Richard’s note we are very pleased to launch our Park Home product, this has been through lots of testing and we believe we will offer competitive cover at competitive premiums. Any feedback that you have will be greatly appreciated by contacting us freephone 0800 9707172 or michaels@alanblunden.co.uk if you prefer email.

Well August has startedn briskley and this is great news as the season is set to end very soon. Obviously we will be planning ahead for next season, as that is sooner than you (or we) think!

Well Jacob had a good nights sleep and we will be getting his birthday card and cake on Saturday, this is maybe more for our benefit than his as he is only 1 but he’ll know his birthday next year! Mum and Dad may even have a glass of wine when he is in bed to celebrate the momentous occasion. I have booked the day off so we can have a nice family day together as that is what family is all about.

Oh well, back to the grindstone!

Mike

We are very pleased to announce that our new Mobile / Park Home Insurance online Scheme went live yesterday after a period of testing.

The new product is aimed at owner occupiers of these types of Homes that use them as their main place of residence, further enhancements of the product are due soon which will go onto include Holiday Homes as well.

Simply go onto the website, www.cover4caravans.co.uk and obtain your quotation online or you can call us free, on 0800 970 7172.

Our Policy Cover includes many benefits such as Accidental Damage, Personal Possesions, Liability, Money & Credit Cards etc.

At this moment we have one Insurer on the panel but a second Insurer will be added very shortly.

We hope you enjoy insuring your Mobile / Park Home with us.

Richard

Our Hobby Caravan Insurance Scheme is now live.

Following some hard work by our I.T. Dep’t the new scheme is finally live.

You should note that you will bot able to obtain a quotation online but you should still input your details, the quotation will then refer to our team and we will contact you directly to offer you terms.

We are not able to offer quotations on every Hobby Touring Caravan ever made but we have a wide acceptance criteria and some very good rates – we will insist upon some kind of tracking device  – all of this will be discussed with you at the time of your quotation.

Please contact us for your Hobby Caravan Insurance quotation – 0800 970 7172.

Richard