Motorhome warranty and guarantee details explained 

An article about the good, the bad and ugly about motorhome warranties if you are going on a long motorhome holiday? Then make sure you have cover if you have a breakdown or component failure. Many people get caught out and find out they do not have the correct motorhome warranty to fall back on.

The good the bad and the ugly about motorhome warranties

Receiving, buying or renewing a caravan or motorhome warranty, here are the products explained, the good the bad and the ugly about motorhome warranties. Buying a “warranty” for your caravan, camper or motorhome is no small thing, no one size fits all and the cover can be confusing. So, motorhomes campervans.net asked our advertisers at Engineer Aftercare warranty to help readers to understand the motorhome warranty covers and also the role that motorhome insurance plays in using insurance as a tool for both warranty and breakdown and explain it in a little more detail.

The emphasis when buying a warranty

Referring to what cover a customer is looking for is on the term ‘should be because many of us will have heard the other term ‘not worth the paper they are written on. Sadly in some cases, that is probably true. Here is some advice from Engineer Aftercare an official warranty advertiser here on the Motorhomes Campervans website they provide ideas to look at what to look for in any warranty, including the different stages of buying cover/ warranty/ guarantee such as;

• Being provided with a dealer/manufacturer warranty guarantee is usually provided with a vehicle you are buying brand new
• Extending the warranty cover to provide longer cover than just 12 months with a mileage cap
• Renewing a warranty after the manufacturer or dealer one has ended
• Buying your own privately purchased caravan, camper or motorhome
• Having an option to take a higher level of cover/guarantee including the breakdown

Cover some basics on a ‘warranty’ there are 2 general types of warranty

1. The insurance policy/motorhome warranty that is provided and underwritten by an insurance company
2. The warranty guarantee, for a customer buying from a dealer or manufacturer by way of guarantee

The difference between the two should make no changes to the cost, service or ability to claim. The important thing is how many stakeholders are in the ‘sales chain’ and the quality of the product a customer is getting. Below, we have set out the good, the bad and the downright ugly aspects of both types of warranty/guarantee.

Warranty and guarantee explained “The good”

The good is what it says on the tin good

If an ‘insurance policy considers choosing a UK-based insurer, then you have the comfort of the FCA protection who monitors how this company works and who is providing the cover. If they act badly and do not provide a customer-facing product and that results in a fallback situation with the FCA you have someone quite powerful to complain to. With any insurance-based cover, anyone dealing with any form of insurance must be a member of the FCA. There is no cost difference with insurance or warranty guarantee, it’s all in the small print and the cost to buy. However, a ‘warranty guarantee’ was what the manufacturer provided originally and there are fewer links in the sale or approval chain. The persons can be checked on the FCA register at any time.

The period of cover can be in line with the age of the vehicle

This can be as little as 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or even 2 years. A manufacturer warranty/guarantee usually starts with 3 years (including water ingress, we will cover that later). Claim value can be important, but only as long as it is what it looks like! Claim value can be as low as £250 but £1,000 is more common and can be as much as £2,000 per claim (But beware as the higher the value, the more strings may be attached.)

Fast claim service is often needed in the case of a breakdown and component failure

This ideally is by way of a simple telephone call. Some companies have a modern, fast and call-based claim service. Fair-minded and a company that is not volume-based. Big is not always better as we know, companies handling smaller numbers of suitably maintained and hab checked vehicles will have fewer claims and will be happier to pay yours! Can they fix your vehicle fast and if you are on holiday in a field on-site? If you have no hot water want it fixed today! Choose carefully who you ask to repair your vehicle it is a good idea only to use Approved Workshop Scheme (AWS) approved workshops for the habitation section and ideally manufacturer-approved ones for the commercial section too. The manufacturer only allowed trained and approved engineers to fix vehicles, so why wouldn’t you?

Compare, compare, compare!

Make a list of what you would like for peace of mind, shop around and compare the price and the cover (Like for like the cover is important to work out a real comparison). Did they come to you from a trusted source? Are they the biggest because they have lots of salespeople on the road those salespeople have to be paid for in the price you will be paying. If you buy one recommended by a trusted source such as a manufacturer/dealer or from an advert on a website, it’s because they should have done the homework for you, helping you to buy more safely has to be the first port of call.

Warranty and guarantee explained “The bad” 

The bad is not quite ugly, but, bad enough to be described as bad

If in any doubt then it may be a good choice to avoid where possible companies based outside of the UK, many insurers, in particular, may be based in Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Jersey or another outside of the UK regulatory Financial Conduct Authority oversight. These companies are not overseen by the UK FCA watchdog, so it may be much harder to get in touch with them, complain to or about them and if they decline to pay what then? This is not to say all foreign underwriters are bad, just that extra caution should be taken perhaps, your vehicle is an expensive investment.

Spurious sales pitches can be misleading

In some cases understanding the cover provided is important for example one company (Now ceased trading!) offered a £2,000 claim limit, which sounds great until you find you can only make one claim to that value or that is the TOTAL claim value for that year. So, if you only make a single claim, what happens if you need to claim for the engine and again for heating? Difficult to claim! If you have to download a form just to claim, then post it, wait for a decision and then if approved, your money, and your holiday will be over before you get anything fixed. Volume companies take almost any vehicle.

Taking great care of your leisure vehicle

Habitation checks are carried out at the same time as an annually plus a service (If it’s a motorhome), but what if the warranty company loves volume business, covering older less well-maintained vehicles? That means more claims, more claims to handle and less profit which must be managed, so how comfortable will they be to pay out claims? Or will the default position be ‘Don’t pay unless you have to?

Short lengths of cover

If the dealer is only providing 3 months’ cover why is that? If it’s an older or cheaper vehicle fine but if it’s a late model and valuable, why isn’t it a full 12 months warranty cover? You are likely paying a lot of money for the vehicle and cover. Paying more than you need to unless getting something extra, some additional value or service. If it’s just more expensive for the same or less coverage, why buy it from them?

Trained technicians are a must use

Do they use fully trained AWS-approved repairers or just anyone busy enough to be VAT registered? Or someone who repairs cars and vans but does a few Caravans too? Ensure they only use MCEA or better still AWS approved workshops (The Approved Workshop Scheme is the recognised body of Manufacturer-approved workshops UK-wide).

“The downright ugly” 

The downright ugly is a combination of issues that make this description downright ugly. Some warranty companies have multiple stakeholders when you buy, in particular sometimes where the product is an ‘Insurance policy’, ideally there should be just three!

• The administrator
• The warranty cover provider
• The workshop repairs or replaces the faulty component

Some warranty retailers have five or even six stakeholders in the sales chain, they all take some of your fees. To give you an idea, below is a list of who could be in your sales chain.

• The call centre handling the initial call
• The administration centre, this stakeholder is real or digital completes your application
• Takes the fee to set up and send out your documentation
• Claim handling is usually a ‘claims assistance’ company handling the claim on another’s behalf, common with Insurance policies
• An ‘Assessor’, is linked to ‘Insurance’, this person attends and or looks at the actual claim, recommends the level of payment
• The Underwriter (where Insurance) considers the claim and decides not to payout
• Mid-term changes and Customer Service during the cover period
• The workshop affecting the repair or replacement of your vehicle

Clearly reducing the number of stakeholders in the “warranty sales chain” works better and helps to ensure a speedier approval and repair when the unthinkable happens.

The products warranty and guarantee explained 

Professional buyers of leisure vehicles, find it important to have them checked over for water ingress. Shane Malpass should know, he is one of the UK’s largest buyers of leisure vehicles. At “we buy any motorcaravan” its a matter of don’t leave home without one! A damp meter that is as it can save thousands of pounds, for the sake of a check that takes a few moments to do. Shane also sees many different types of motorhome warranties and guarantees, as he says some good and some poor ones, especially, where water ingress is not fully covered.

A good guarantee adds value to your leisure vehicle

Shane has found that the Engineer Aftercare Guarantee provides clear guidelines for what is under a guarantee. He recommends to any motorhome, campervan or caravan, the buyer, check the small print and get advice from professionals on repairs and guarantees. If you have a leisure vehicle with damp or water ingress Shane will still be interested in buying your leisure vehicle. Telephone, o1283 240 237 and the “we buy any motorcaravan” team will be glad to help.

Water ingress how to use damp meters

A short video about damp meters and how to look for damp and water ingress in a motorhome or campervan. Whilst cover is available be sure to understand what damage can be done and what that cover is all about.

Leading warranty brands online

For most models, a guarantee is available, however, subject to age excluding home builds as the legislation requires professional registered gas and electrics to be in place.