[00:00:00] Keith Gooden: In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt podcast.
[00:00:02] Matt Sims: I try to find out if a motorhome warranty is worthwhile.
[00:00:05] Keith Gooden: Matt’s top product of the moment.
[00:00:08] Matt Sims: And we answer your questions on Adria versus other brands, non-refundable motorhome deposits and replacing your leisure battery.
[00:00:20] Keith Gooden: Welcome to the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
[00:00:22] Matt Sims: And I’m Motorhome Matt.
[00:00:24] Keith Gooden: Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans. And it’s all brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe.
[00:00:34] Matt Sims: Remember. Please do follow on your favourite podcast app and if you’re watching on YouTube, click subscribe. And the little bell.
[00:00:41] Keith Gooden: Bub bub bub bub bub fly. What’s the last thing to go through a fly’s mind when he hits your windscreen?
[00:00:49] Matt Sims: His backside?
[00:00:49] Keith Gooden: Yes.
[00:00:50] Matt Sims: That’s a joke from my school days.
[00:00:52] Keith Gooden: I’m sorry. Bug and fly remover. What have you got?
[00:00:55] Matt Sims: Citrus bug remover. So at this time of year, our fronts of our cars, vans, motorhomes, motorbikes get covered in bugs and trying to get them off can be hard work. This is a product that we launched at That Leisure Shop. It’s our own branded product and it’s called Citrus Bug Remover, and it is actually a mix of a very, very soft soap and lemon and the lemon zest you spray it on, leave it, and it naturally eats the bug off the front of the bumper, and then you wipe it off. And it is incredible. We have sold loads of this. People were coming back at recent shows saying, have you got any more of that Citrus Bug Remover? It’s brilliant. So I’ve been using it as well and it is highly, highly effective. Doesn’t damage your paint and it’s completely natural.
[00:01:38] Keith Gooden: Look at your teeth.
[00:01:39] Matt Sims: I’m not spraying it on my teeth. I wear a full face helmet, but it’s fantastic. You get it at www.thatleisureshop.com. In fact, we’ve got a whole range of cleaning products designed specifically for looking after your motorhome and campervan designed by the team. So you’ll find this and all the other products there. Go and check them out.
[00:01:59] Keith Gooden: The Norfolk Motorhome and Campervan Show is this weekend at the Norfolk Showground. If you want to know more info. Tell us about it then.
[00:02:10] Matt Sims: Yeah. As always with all the shows, hundreds of motorhomes for sale, new and used, some fantastic offers I’m sure will be running again as dealers look to clear the decks of 2024 and 2025 brand new models and used models on great offers too. I’ve seen some huge discounts at the shows recently, and hundreds of traders as well. Selling everything you need and you didn’t know you needed for your motorhome and campervan That Leisure Shop will be there. The team are going. We’re away celebrating Mrs Motorhome Matt’s birthday.
[00:02:43] Keith Gooden: Happy birthday to Jude!
[00:02:45] Matt Sims: But the Advice Centre is still running, with a range of speakers that you won’t have seen at previous shows. So we’ve invited some new speakers to take the stage and lots of talks on painting and getting arty and crafty as well. So do check out the Advice centre. They’re fantastic. It’s going to be a great weekend. As Keith said. Find out more and a discount code on your day ticket at.
[00:03:09] Keith Gooden: It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast with me, Keith Gooden.
[00:03:11] Matt Sims: And me Motorhome Matt.
[00:03:12] Keith Gooden: Brought to you www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe. What are we talking about this week then, Matt?
[00:03:18] Matt Sims: Well, this week it’s a question I regularly hear that I look to get an answer to. Is my warranty worth the paper it’s written on? The Warners shows this year are sponsored by the warranty company Auto Guard and their product for end users called Best For, which is a warranty that you can buy after you’ve bought your used motorhome. And I asked the organiser, Warners, if they would let me interview them live on stage and asked this key question and more. And after much discussion, as you can imagine, and a long Teams call we did the presentation live in Newark, where I wanted to unpack what a warranty does and doesn’t cover, and what you as the consumer need to know when choosing one. And crucially, is it worth having.
[00:04:05] Keith Gooden: You spoke to Foxy and Callum from Auto Guard.
[00:04:09] Matt Sims: So the big thing we want to ask today is, is a warranty really worth it? You’re going to say yes because you sell them. I think we know that, don’t we? They’re not here to be punished and beaten up, and we are going to question them quite heavily. So on a motorhome, then we’ve got the engine, the chassis, the gearbox, all the running gear. And then in the back, we’ve got an entire house, we’ve got a kitchen, we’ve got an oven, a fridge, we’ve got maybe an aircon unit, all that good stuff, a water pump does a warranty cover all of that.
[00:04:39] Allan Fox: With a warranty? It’s not just the habitation area. So I will look at an engine. Kind of claims the bit at the front goes wrong. You need a head gasket or sensors or, you know, alternator, starter motors. That’s all going to be looked at as well habitation wise. The bit that we just spoke about, we cover things like PCBs. We cover the control panel PCB.
[00:04:57] Matt Sims: Tell us what that is.
[00:04:58] Allan Fox: Yeah, the basically the control board for the the the habitation area.
[00:05:02] Matt Sims: So this is the circuit board in the back of the fridge or in the control panel, you know.
[00:05:06] Allan Fox: And I mean, the claims range from, as you know, from £180 up to three, £400 for those kind of things. Yeah. The fridges as well. We cover those, we cover parts of the fridges that they’re doing. Even things like the cookers, things like Igniters and then the every day to day running of the motorhome from the habitation area we cover as well. So, you know, if you’ve got a problem with things, you know, like I say fridges, cookers the electrical side of things, all that is generally covered on on what we do. We look after that.
[00:05:32] Matt Sims: It would seem sensible then. I’ve just forked out £50,000 on a five year old motorhome. Second hand. Yep. And it’s out of manufacturer warranty because they’re often only three years long. Let’s say it’s a Ford or a Fiat. Those warranties are 2 or 3 years long, depending on where the vehicle came from. So basically, I’m out of warranty. I’ve got a bit of warranty to cover water ingress from the manufacturer, but that’s subject to me getting it serviced every year. This is how warranties work. Just to give you a clue. But what catches people out when they’re buying a second hand van? What should they be looking for to ensure that the warranty you’re going to put on that vehicle is going to be valid in the event they make a claim?
[00:06:12] Callum: So typically, what actually catches people out when it comes to a claim being rejected is three three main things. The first one is missed or no servicing, and that tends to be the one that catches people out.
[00:06:24] Matt Sims: So when you say servicing, do you mean the engine or habitation?
[00:06:27] Callum: Yeah.
[00:06:27] Matt Sims: Both?
[00:06:28] Allan Fox: Yeah.
[00:06:28] Matt Sims: Right.
[00:06:29] Callum: Yeah. Yeah. So and and it’s about working with you about we ask that as a standard as part of our demands and needs because it also helps prevent issues arising in the vehicle.
[00:06:38] Matt Sims: So if I’m buying a five year old vehicle then just clarify this for me. It’s never been serviced. Okay okay. It was neglected. It’s hardly been used. It’s only got 2000 miles on it. I’m thinking it’s a bargain. Yeah, but it’s never been serviced. And. And the private seller that’s selling it. Oh, yeah. But, you know, we’ve kept an eye on it. We’ve only done 2000 miles. You have to change the oil every 24. Now you’re supposed to change it every two years. I know that, but where I’m starting at that point, would you put a warranty on it? Can I buy a warranty from you for it, even though it’s never been serviced?
[00:07:10] Callum: Yes.
[00:07:11] Matt Sims: And you wouldn’t wriggle out of a claim because of that? No.
[00:07:13] Allan Fox: So what we have in place is that you could buy the vehicle. You’d bring up Callum and his team, and they’ll put the warranty on. One of the things we say is that if you buy a vehicle with manufacturers servicing or regularly serviced, you carry on in line with what the manufacturer says. If you buy a vehicle, like you said, with no service history or it’s out of date, we say, okay, that’s fine, we’ll take you on cover. But within six months and 6000 miles, please get a service done. Please get habitation service done. And then you’re back in line and we carry on with that.
[00:07:43] Matt Sims: So you’re suggesting we actually have a conversation with you? Yeah. About it.
[00:07:47] Allan Fox: We’ve got it all set out in the T’s and C’s, and it’s nice and clear in the book, but we’re saying to people, yeah, come on with us. We will cover you. But please, within six months, 6000 miles. Get it serviced and we carry on back in line with the manufacturer says.
[00:08:00] Callum: I would even go a step further and basically say when we. Because Best For warranty we are actually regulated. So we’re held to a certain standards. We must make sure that we’re signpost certain like demands and needs just to have a have to have a warranty. So what we do at the start is we always say, like, by the way, it’s really important that you keep up with the service in line with manufacturing. We also play on the recording as well. When you set up your warranty, we send it out in big letters saying your obligation to keep your warranty valid. Okay. And then we also give you the benefit that if you haven’t got one because life gets in the way, right. Or if you’re travelling you have six months or 6000 miles to get it done. So we really are. If that is the number of reason why claims are rejected, we are going and doing everything we can to be making sure that we are not at that end where we can’t pay out on a claim.
[00:08:46] Matt Sims: Okay. So and then you’re really interested in us continuing to have it serviced diligently every year. That’s really important, isn’t it? Both the engine, as per the manufacturer’s guidelines and the habitation check every year. Yes, please, says Foxy. Right. Okay. So is that a way then, that you might not pay out then? If I’ve missed a check in March 2020, I was sent home by Boris Johnson with that big C word and nobody could get a habitation check done. Okay? Because everywhere was shut and there are lots of motorhomes out there for sale now that missed all their servicing in 2020 and 21 because there was no there was no opportunity to get them done. Everyone was then fully booked. Where do I stand with you as the warranty provider?
[00:09:30] Allan Fox: I think you’d have to take that as a human approach. We take into account that what’s happened. I mean, that’s a time that hopefully we never have to go through again, but we would have to make a human decision, and my decision would be for Habitation check that we would allow that. I wouldn’t now it would I’d be honest with you, terms and conditions now is if you haven’t, you need to have a habitation check. But that’s just a scenario. You have to have a human approach.
[00:09:51] Matt Sims: So you’d be prepared to make an exception. Yeah, absolutely. Common sense.
[00:09:54] Allan Fox: You would have a common sense approach to the majority of things. And I think that’s really important.
[00:09:58] Matt Sims: So the other big thing I think a lot of us would probably be afraid of is that you would decline a claim because of that awful phrase, wear and tear. Okay. Right. I say it cynically, but it’s true, isn’t it? We just have the view. I think most consumers have the view, which is probably why you’re here, is if you could wriggle out of a claim for any little reason at all, you’re going to. Okay, just let’s start with wear and tear. Can you define that for us?
[00:10:22] Allan Fox: Yeah. So we put it in our documentation. It is gradual deterioration. Wear and tear is basically something that deteriorates slowly over time, gradually deteriorates in line with age and mileage of the vehicle. The only bit of reassurance I can give you about that is habitational things. You can’t really apply that to much within the motorhome. I don’t think that I would ever be able to apply wear and tear to a PCB, an electronic item. I don’t think that’s fair Wear and tear to me would be things like, if you’ve got a drive shaft and it’s 80,000 miles and it’s clicking, then it’s worn out, it’s clicking, the vehicle still running, there’s a clicking noise that is wear and tear. To me that’s defined wear and tear. It’s the bearings are worn within the drive shaft. If that was to go. I also have to look at what I think is premature failure. Would I cover a drive shaft at 25,000 miles that was clicking? Yeah, because it shouldn’t click at 25,000 miles.
[00:11:13] Matt Sims: So it should last 80,000 miles.
[00:11:15] Allan Fox: Well, you have to take into account lots of things. So for example, you know, we generally ask for pictures of things. A lot of what we do is we ask the guys on the ground, the mechanics, the people you take the vehicles to. We ask them to supply images. You know, it’s 20, 25, right? How long does it take to get an image across? Again, quick claim 30s is across. We take a look at it. We’ll come back to you in a couple of hours and we’ve made a decision. We base it on fact, we base it on a case by case basis.
[00:11:41] Matt Sims: So you use the kind of leveller of mileage with a motorhome. Some of us don’t do more than 4000 miles a year. But I live in my motorhome, and my water pumps failed. Now, this gentleman over here uses his motorhome four times a year for two weeks and a few weekends. My water pumps working a lot harder. Is that wear and tear?
[00:12:06] Allan Fox: I don’t think it is.
[00:12:07] Matt Sims: I think it is the fact I live in a van. A criteria for you?
[00:12:11] Allan Fox: Well, I don’t think that we I mean, we do list about, you know, wear and tear is in a lot of things that, you know, you use it a lot like you say. But again, everything is a case by case basis. That’s a difficult one to answer. But yes, I think I would very rarely decline a habitation, a water pump, a water pump on the front of the engine. Yeah. I would look at, you know, 80, 90,000 miles then potentially that’s a worn out water pump.
[00:12:35] Matt Sims: Yeah. So I’m talking about the water pump. Pump in the back.
[00:12:37] Allan Fox: Yeah. No, I know I’d say we would look after you for that.
[00:12:40] Matt Sims: And as you say, it’s gradual deterioration associated with the normal use, age and mileage of the vehicle and its components. So again, common sense. And how often are claims rejected in your experience? And what are the top reasons why.
[00:12:56] Allan Fox: The top reasons are generally always be mis servicing.
[00:12:59] Matt Sims: Mis.
[00:13:00] Allan Fox: Servicing. So if you miss it.
[00:13:02] Matt Sims: So missed servicing right?
[00:13:03] Allan Fox: Okay. So we have had a conversation recently about water ingress. And I’m a firm believer in habitation check. You get it done yearly because it’s prevention rather than cure, right? Yeah. If you don’t have a habitation check and you have a water ingress, it’s something that you could have picked up on earlier if you’d had the habitation check. So to me that is kind of important. And the same with servicing of the engine, you know, if you’re going to end up having problems that are oil related and you’ve not serviced it for 4 or 5 years, and you’ve got that issue again, that’s preventative maintenance. That’s mainly what we reject things on.
[00:13:35] Matt Sims: So under warranty though, it’s really important to get that checked done isn’t it. And who can do that. Check in your eyes okay.
[00:13:42] Allan Fox: So with habitation check checks and servicing because we’re regulated. We do want it to be done at a VAT registered garage. That’s that’s important.
[00:13:52] Matt Sims: A VAT registered garage. Okay.
[00:13:54] Allan Fox: When it comes to repairs and things that might need to be done you know, we’re getting in the book. We say you must be VAT registered. It’s very specialist field this. And if you’re like we’ve discussed in the middle of nowhere and you break down and there is nobody else about that apart from this one guy who’s not VAT registered. Yeah. Then a common sense approach is I’m not going to I’m not going to decline the claim on that. It’s not because you’ve gone to a VAT registered repairer. What I am going to do is I’m going to have to say to you, unfortunately, I can’t pay the VAT element of the claim, but I will pay the labour and the parts. So again, you know, we’re going to we’re going to shake hands. We’re going to try to help you with customer first. I’m not going to penalise you because you broke down in the middle of nowhere and there’s nobody else around. That’s that’s no good for anybody.
[00:14:40] Matt Sims: No. So I’m in the middle of nowhere. Let’s say the Cairngorms. Cairngorms. And there’s one mechanic within a hundred miles. He’s not VAT registered. And further to that is Sunday.
[00:14:50] Allan Fox: Right.
[00:14:51] Matt Sims: And you’re shut, aren’t you?
[00:14:52] Allan Fox: Question.
[00:14:53] Matt Sims: Good question. So. And I need it fixed today. Yeah. And he said, yeah, I’ll do it this afternoon because next week’s really busy. I’ll do it this afternoon because he’s a good chap. And where does that leave me with you? You’re my warranty provider. Yep. Where am I?
[00:15:07] Allan Fox: Okay, so again, I, my team, we have a different approach to this. Like you said, it’s Sunday. Everywhere is closed. That’s not anybody’s fault. Nobody’s to blame for that. You know, it’s work. It’s a Sunday. So what we would do is you’d have to get the vehicle fixed. So you make the decision as a customer. I’m going to get the vehicle fixed on Monday morning when the office is open, you would call me or send me an email and you would explain to me what’s happened, and I would say, okay, fair enough. It’s the same again. We are going to basically process the claim as if you’ve broken down Monday morning and the garage have called me. I am not going to penalise you because the office is shut. That’s not fair.
[00:15:42] Matt Sims: So you would pass a claim, provided it wasn’t, you know, I had had my check done and it qualified to be paid out. Correct. You the guy’s not VAT registered and I’ve already done it because this is the big thing as well with a claim in it. You really don’t want people going off and just getting the repair done. You want to speak to them first?
[00:15:59] Allan Fox: Yeah. This is the thing. You know, as a claims team, it’s about trying to advise people. So, you know, warranty companies do have a bit of a bad rep, I accept that. But there are also garages, manufacturers or repairers that also do things that are incorrect. So, you know, let’s just say again that you have I’ll just go with an alternator example. Ford say it’s 2.5 hours to fix it, but you go to Pete’s Autos and he turns around and says, oh, I’ve got a claim for Mr. Fred’s motorhome. The alternator is 2.7 hours to fix it. This is when we’re going to come into play and say, well, no, you know, it’s not seven hours. I can prove to you that this is the scope repair, and this is what a reasonable cost for the claim would be. It’s not about saying no. It’s also about paying what is the correct time and price for that repair?
[00:16:43] Matt Sims: And you know how long it takes to do most things, don’t you? Because these are documented.
[00:16:47] Allan Fox: Yeah. We’ve got we’ve got systems. We’ve got one of the systems for mechanical repairs is auto data. And it’s basically updated 3 or 4 times by the manufacturer. So we base it on that with motorhomes. Again we know things like water ingress. That’s a lot of labour in times like that. And we take into account that we’ve been going for so many years. You know, we we keep the information on file. We look back at other claims again, sensible approach to things.
[00:17:08] Matt Sims: Okay. I want to come on to water ingress in a minute because that’s the big enemy of motorhome. But let’s go with this remote scenario. If I’m in France and I break down and I ring you, do you cover me there? Because the garage there is not VAT registered. Because that is nothing to do with France. Where do I stand then?
[00:17:28] Allan Fox: So, I mean, the ideal situation is you go to say to France and the repairer at the other end of the phone speaks English. No problem at all. We’re straightforward, like a normal everyday claim. If not, then I would say to you on my team would say to you, okay, again, you need to get it fixed. You’ve got to get home, right. Get the vehicle fixed. You send us the the invoice, we assess the invoice. When you come in. We assess it as a Monday morning claim back in the UK. And the only thing we would do again is I would make compromise say we’re going to pay if it’s a valid claim, it’s scope for the repair. But I can’t pay their local tax element.
[00:17:59] Matt Sims: So the local French tax. Correct. And that’s been my experience. I broke down in France and the warranty company said, yeah, we’ll pay out, but we won’t pay that tourism tax. I had to pay that. Yeah. And I thought that was fair enough. Yeah. So you would cover it.
[00:18:12] Allan Fox: Yeah. Because, you know, if the repair is a valid repair, the fact that you’re in France and you’re on holiday and you’re using the vehicle for what it’s for, shouldn’t really be penalised for that.
[00:18:20] Matt Sims: No. Okay. I’m a retired mechanic, a 40 years a main dealer mechanic. So I know what I’m doing. And I’ve just bought this motorhome. I don’t want to go to a dealership and pay 4 or £500 for an oil change. I’ll do it myself. And also, I’ve had 20 motorhomes. I’ve been coming to these shows for 30 years. And I’ve had 22 motorhomes. I know what I’m doing with a hab-jacques, so I want to do it myself.
[00:18:45] Allan Fox: Can I I have to say no with that? If you know it has to be a VAT registered repair, I totally get it. You know, I’ve been in the motor trade now for, for a long, long time. And I get why you work on your own vehicles. I mean, I love working on my own vehicles. I know what I’ve done. I’ve done it. It’s my standard. I know I’ve done it right. It’s not about questioning whether or not you can’t do it. It’s just for a proper audit trail.
[00:19:05] Matt Sims: Yeah, well, probably that personality I just created, something fells. They probably fix it themselves. Okay, cool. So let’s talk about time scale. I ring you up, I tell you, something’s broken. Yeah. Can you just talk us through the process as it should unfold so we know so we can get it right? And what time scale are we talking about?
[00:19:25] Allan Fox: Yeah. Okay. So the, you know, the customer would ring up and say, I’ve got a fault with the vehicle. We would guide you to say, please find a VAT registered repair if possible. So then turns up the garage and we say you know, it Best For. Please have the vehicle diagnosed under your own authority, first of all. So you give them permission to look into what’s wrong with the vehicle. Okay. Okay. Then on an approved claim, we will give you up to £65 towards diagnostics. That’s the cap. That includes VAT. So on a valid claim, we will give you £65 towards diagnostics. Right. Once the mechanic diagnoses the vehicle, then they call us or they email us and they list basically parts labour, labour rate, mileage. We assess the claim. We call them back or we email them back with the approval. And then once that’s done and at the moment we’re working on roughly, you know, claims are between 2 and 3 hours. Majority of the time maximum will be 24 hours on the wheel back. So we’re not leaving you stranded. It’s about quick turnaround again with not just with our motorhomes with everybody. Vehicle is important. Yeah. You want to. You’ve got it for a reason. You want to use it I need it I need it now.
[00:20:31] Matt Sims: I’ve just gone on holiday and we’ve been planning this trip for a year.
[00:20:34] Allan Fox: That’s it. And you know, emotion comes into it as well. Yeah. I’m very aware that no one wants to break down. It’s a motion. They need it fixed once the claim has been approved. Some garages will bid us direct, so they’ll say, thanks very much. Here’s your keys. And off you go. Whereas other garages say, right, Mr. customer, please pay me. Here’s the approval form from Best For this proves they’ve said yes. All you’ve got to do is sign and date there and put your bank details in there. And you send it in with the invoice to us, email it in and we reimburse you. Our terms and conditions say we reimburse within seven days. Once again, we have that as a worst case scenario. We normally turn around within about 24 to 48 hours on average.
[00:21:10] Matt Sims: So pretty quick.
[00:21:11] Allan Fox: Yeah. Best to be as quick as we can.
[00:21:13] Callum: Yeah. Best for recently. Just had a one star review because it was under 24 hours.
[00:21:17] Matt Sims: But went under 12 hours you said.
[00:21:19] Callum: Yeah because it wasn’t quick enough.
[00:21:22] Matt Sims: Right okay. Well I think 12 hours is probably quite quick. I mean, 24 hours is pretty good. I think that’s unreasonable. But anyway. But you’ve got an app launching this summer as well.
[00:21:31] Allan Fox: So again.
[00:21:32] Matt Sims: When when you’re at 90 or 12 on a Saturday I note and closed on a Sunday. But the app that means claims can be submitted whilst you’re closed. Yeah.
[00:21:43] Allan Fox: Yeah. So they’ll be on there and there’s going to be all sorts of things where you can upload your invoice or your diagnostics or your estimate. You know, and that’s the best thing about it is that if the garage do you an itemised estimate your smartphone out, take a picture, it’s done. And then you wait for us to contact you. It’s quick easy, fast.
[00:22:01] Matt Sims: So can you sell to the dealers the warranty they provide when they sell a used motorhome? Is that the same product underneath? The Best For brand? Yes, because normally I buy a motorhome in a dealership. I just get given a warranty. I mean, I give our customers a warranty. I don’t ask them. I just set it up. Is it? It’s all the same detail.
[00:22:23] Callum: It’s all the same. It’s all the same. The bit where Best For stands out and different is that we have chosen to go and become regulated, which not many warranties actually do.
[00:22:33] Matt Sims: Regulated by Who?
[00:22:34] Callum: The FCA.
[00:22:35] Matt Sims: The FCA Financial Conduct Authority.
[00:22:38] Callum: Exactly. And what that means is it’s a completely different way of approaching and actually giving people the opportunity. So Best For warranty is held to a certain standard by the FCA. So that means that we must treat all customers fairly like every company should. All of our calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes. Okay. We have regulations in place to make sure that demands and needs. Call recordings, documentation, signposting everything else. And we’re non advisory. So we have certain standards in place to be making sure that that the the day of just throwing a booklet saying everything’s covered. There you go. Like the, like the Wild West is over. We live in, we live in a day and age where you have all the information at your fingertips and what’s really actually like as taken Best For off is we’ve given people the opportunity to be like, look, by the way, here’s the information. This is what’s covered. This is not what’s covered. This is the benefits. You make the decision. None of this. Oh, if you don’t like it, you can cancel it. Or we sell on the old. Like, all of that is a thing of the past. And we’re realising by just being honest and upfront and being like, look, by the way, not everything’s covered. These are the benefits. People are actually thinking, do you know what? I’ve just spent £80,000 on a motorhome. I want that reassurance. I want to know that if I’m on the side of the road broken down, that management lights come on, it’s going to be taken care of.
[00:24:02] Matt Sims: So that means then it’s quite hard for you. Impossible for you to wriggle out of a claim. If it’s in your T’s and C’s that you should cover it, you’re covering it.
[00:24:11] Allan Fox: The area that I would give an example and you know, this may create a few grounds is that we a tap.
[00:24:18] Matt Sims: A kitchen tap.
[00:24:19] Allan Fox: A kitchen tap in the habitation area. If it’s leaking, we don’t cover leaks. That tap isn’t covered.
[00:24:24] Matt Sims: You don’t cover leaks in taps. Know that most warranty covers don’t.
[00:24:27] Allan Fox: Right. But do you forgive me? Do you have motorhomes yet that have, like, a sensor on it and then the tap will stop working. Probably I would cover it if the sensor didn’t work right. You see what I’m saying? It’s the nature of the failure is important.
[00:24:41] Matt Sims: Okay.
[00:24:42] Allan Fox: Nice to give a clear example. Okay. I’m not covering. It’s leaking. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t mean it taps excluded, but.
[00:24:46] Matt Sims: It will cover something we don’t have.
[00:24:49] Allan Fox: There you go.
[00:24:50] Matt Sims: So the big enemy of a motor I mentioned it earlier is water ingress. So in a coachbuilt motorhome. So one of the big plastic body on the back, let’s call it that. If those seals go, it can be very damaging. And and particularly in an older motorhome, if it’s got wood in it, newer motorhomes don’t have any wood in them. So the water gets in and it just doesn’t cause any issue. But if it soaks into that wood, it can get very expensive very quickly. A lot of the wall boards in motorhomes are all wood. The floors are often still wood. And of course, the floor is the first thing to go down. And once that gets wet, how do you fix the floor? Because the walls were put on top of it. All the units were put in on top of it, so you have to go in underneath. It’s costly and labour rates are really where the cost comes in the number of hours. You know, I’ve seen damp repairs that have been 15, £20,000 and it’s just not viable to fix the motorhome. It’s pretty much written the motorhome off. Where do you stand with damp repairs as a warranty provider?
[00:25:49] Allan Fox: So we cover water ingress on vehicles up to seven years from the manufacturer’s date.
[00:25:54] Matt Sims: So seven years from new, right? So this is important. If I’ve got a 12 year old motorhome, it is not covered under your policy. Under our policy, is there a warranty provider that does cover a motorhome that old. Do you know.
[00:26:05] Allan Fox: Do you know hand on heart I don’t I’m not going to.
[00:26:07] Matt Sims: Know I don’t know.
[00:26:08] Allan Fox: I don’t think there is, but I can’t confirm that.
[00:26:12] Matt Sims: And I don’t I don’t blame you. I mean, it’s, you know, a motorhome that old is probably going to be damp. Yeah. I mean, lots of them are sadly. So how do you contribute toward the repair costs?
[00:26:23] Allan Fox: Contribution is a good word. Really. So what is it? Is it seven, seven years is.
[00:26:27] Callum: So if it’s under three years, it’s £750 £50 over five years. It’s 500.
[00:26:33] Matt Sims: Right? So only £500. Yeah, it’s a contribution.
[00:26:37] Allan Fox: Contribution.
[00:26:37] Matt Sims: Yeah. But I suppose if you were to say. Well, yeah, if it’s over five years old and you’ve got five grand’s worth of damp, the premium is going to be astronomical, isn’t it, if you were going to do that. So there are restrictions on cover. Yes. Okay. So it’s important we know that. Can you just tell me and explain to me what is the difference between a dealer provided warranty and a third party warranty like yours? So when I say dealer, I mean a manufacturer warranty.
[00:27:03] Callum: So it’s a great question. So when you get a manufacturer’s warranty, okay, it means that you have to take them back to the manufacturer. All right. And it’s not really ideal. Let’s say you’re travelling around in France, or if you’re travelling in Scotland or wherever you find people love to go, okay. But what will happen is you’ll have to go back to a main dealer and it can be quite hard to find them, especially when you’re travelling. One of the benefits of having a best warranty is actually you can go to any VAT registered garage And that’s where it starts to really kick in, because then you’re not limited. I find that a lot of people in this day and age, you want options, and it’s when you have no options. That’s when people start to get ticked off and lose trust and actually get that back.
[00:27:42] Matt Sims: Yeah. So let’s take the brand Chausson. This is factual. Of course there are lots of motorhome brands show. Some require you to take it to a Chausson dealer. They are a very, very popular choice of motorhome and I’ve got several on our motorhome hire business that you can rent and we have to take them to a Chausson main dealer and it’s very hard to get a date in their diary. They’re booking 3 or 6 months in advance, and this year has been harder than ever. And I think that’s because that pandemic realigned everyone up to be released in April, and everybody put their motorhome back on the road in April. And so the dealers, April, May, June are really busy. I think that’s why that’s my logic to why it’s so hard to get a service centre. So could I put a Best For warranty on my motorhome that is still under the manufacturer’s warranty, meaning I could take it to a range of garages.
[00:28:34] Callum: You can’t have two warranties at the same time.
[00:28:37] Matt Sims: Right? Okay, you can’t.
[00:28:37] Callum: Have two warranties.
[00:28:38] Matt Sims: I didn’t know it’s insured. So it’s so it’s co-insurance. It’s the same as having two insurance policies. Right. Well I didn’t know that. So this is an interesting question. I’m buying a motorhome that’s five years old. There is still a manufacturer’s warranty on it, but only for damp because that’s ten years long. But I can still put a Best For warranty on that because I’m covering different stuff.
[00:28:58] Callum: Yes. Yeah, we’ll be covering the mechanical side of it.
[00:29:02] Matt Sims: So you wouldn’t cover the water ingress bit?
[00:29:04] Allan Fox: No, but I would still look at things like the fridge. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That kind of thing.
[00:29:09] Matt Sims: Because that’s not.
[00:29:09] Allan Fox: Covered. Correct.
[00:29:10] Matt Sims: Right. Okay. So this is about what’s covered. Yeah. See I didn’t know that. That’s really interesting. But if I got a manufacturer cover on damp, they are going to cover all of it. So I’m actually better off taking it to them because they’ve had it serviced every year. And their word is we’ll repair it. So they’re in the chair for the five grand damp bill versus your 500.
[00:29:27] Allan Fox: I presume they would still ask for a habitation check as well.
[00:29:30] Matt Sims: Absolutely. That is a key term of a manufacturer’s warranty. Is there has to be a habitation check done every year. One other quick question as well, which the cynics in the room will say, when I sell the motorhome, the warranty is dead. I can’t sell it. I can’t transfer it, can I?
[00:29:46] Callum: Yeah, of course you can. You can literally pass it over with a £35 admin fee.
[00:29:50] Matt Sims: So £35 I can transfer to a private buyer. I think that’s quite cool. I didn’t know that either. It’s interesting. There’s another elephant in the room I want to pick on here, which is hourly rates. So you said earlier you’ll pay £65 inc VAT. Dealers will deal ex VAT. So they’re £52.50. Whatever the VAT. I can’t do the maths in my head. But we know what we mean. Yeah. You would pay £65 for an inspection, but dealers charge. I mean main dealers. What are they now? £150 an hour? Some of them.
[00:30:23] Callum: With the labour rate. We offer £65 to to 200.
[00:30:27] Matt Sims: Up to 200, £200 an hour.
[00:30:30] Callum: Yeah. So we give you the option of whether you want to go to a VAT registered garage or the main dealer if they’re going to be charging you for the labour rate, we make sure that there’s enough money there.
[00:30:37] Matt Sims: Wow. Okay. I’m impressed. Okay. And that’s in the Best For policy.
[00:30:43] Allan Fox: That’s Best For policy.
[00:30:44] Matt Sims: Does that carry a higher premium to have access to that hourly rate? Yeah. Okay well fair enough.
[00:30:48] Callum: The the way that when we set up any policy, what we’ll do is we’ll call you and we’ll go through the information, we’ll go through what’s covered, what’s not covered. And what we’ll really do is we’ll really tailor what you need. So we’ll start off with the levels of cover. Was it bronze, silver or gold? How much you need in regards to claim limit, what you need for labour rate. And then what we do is we then just go through the rest of the, the, the documentation together. And then what we do is we then go through our demands and needs cooling off, period. All the signposting that we said that we need to be getting done. But what we really do is we tailor every single quote to what you need, and it’s all about giving you that information.
[00:31:22] Matt Sims: So the big lesson here is it’s really important that we understand the terms and conditions of what you’re offering and what is covered and what isn’t, because that is defined very clearly, isn’t it, in your policy? It has to be.
[00:31:33] Callum: Oh, we got a huge big letters. What’s covered? What’s not covered. And that way it really stops that that myth of.
[00:31:41] Allan Fox: As a company, about four years ago, we took all of our booklets and we basically sat down and we have a inside page that is very clear. It’s not small print. It’s literally this is what we can and help we will help you with.
[00:31:56] Matt Sims: Yeah. Because because hiding secrets in the small print is not allowed.
[00:32:00] Allan Fox: Isn’t that just that just irritates people from the word go?
[00:32:02] Matt Sims: Yeah, yeah. It’s not allowed anymore. The FCA put an end to that, didn’t they?
[00:32:06] Allan Fox: Yeah, quite rightly so. You know, it’s just it’s not needed.
[00:32:08] Matt Sims: So, guys, I’d ask you to take a step out of your auto guard employment for a minute. I’ve got the question. What should we check and what do we need to know before buying a warranty from any provider? What would your advice be to everyone in the room?
[00:32:22] Callum: That’s a really good question. And I would say don’t even don’t even just think about Best For or I’d say whenever you look at any warranty provider, first thing you should do is read the terms and conditions. It’s tedious, but I promise you you’ll be surprised the amount of benefits or what is not not covered in the booklet. Read the T’s and C’s. I think we’re all guilty of not reading it. I only found out the other day with my bank that I’ve actually got breakdown cover and my phone is insured. I didn’t even know I had that with my bank.
[00:32:51] Matt Sims: We’re all guilty of that. How many of us have just scrolled down the phone, tick the box and press agree? I’m not reading all that, but it’s really important that we do.
[00:32:59] Allan Fox: Yeah, I think we’ve tried to address it as a company. Like I said, we try to give you that information as clear as we can on that front page. Yeah, and it is boring. But yeah, we all just need to take a little bit of responsibility and go. Right. I do need to read this because I see it as then you’re actually you’re, you’re informed, you’ve got you’ve got the knowledge, you’ve got the power. I’ve read it. It’s here in front of me.
[00:33:19] Matt Sims: Yes.
[00:33:20] Allan Fox: Yeah. I think that’s the important part.
[00:33:21] Matt Sims: So reading the T’s and C’s, that’s great. What about reviews? Is it worth doing some googling of reviews?
[00:33:26] Callum: Yeah, we live in a day and age where you can literally check the customer service. If they’re FCA regulated, you can you can do your own. You have Google at your fingertips. Everyone has got a phone in their pocket. And if you are unsure, look them up. You will start to see very quickly there’s a tent like a trend that will happen. And that’s why I’m very proud. And I am going to shoehorn Best For here. That Best For warranty has a Trustpilot review of 4.9.
[00:33:51] Matt Sims: It’s very good. Yeah, it’s very good. Very good indeed. So the other thing that we should do though as well, is if you’ve got warranty cover, this is really sensible advice is make sure you’ve got the number saved. If something goes wrong, you know who you’re calling that scenario being in the Cairngorms where there’s probably no phone service, there’s not going to help but some or even in France you’re on holiday. You think, well, I know I’ve got a warranty on this van. I don’t know what to do. And so you would ring the dealer. It’s Sunday, they’re shut. They’re not going to be any help. So it’s really important isn’t it, that.
[00:34:21] Allan Fox: I mean this is another good thing about the app. You know, if the phone is working, of course, then if you know of the app when it launches, that will all be on there as well. But like you say, I think it’s always good if you’ve got that in your phone saved as a number. It’s one less stress at a very stressful time to just hit that button.
[00:34:37] Matt Sims: And the other big lesson is servicing. It’s really important to get the servicing done 100%. That’s been really insightful. Thank you both ever so much for doing that. Are you happy to that people ask you some questions if you’ve got a question for these guys. I think they’ve been pretty open and honest with us, haven’t they? I guess I’ve got a question for you all. Would you say a warranty is worth the paper it’s written on? After hearing all of that, we got a few people shrugging. So take their product. They are here as Best For I think their product probably is worth having. Would you say it feels authentic? I know they sponsor this, but you’ve got one of their warranties. Have you ever made a claim? Have you ever made a claim? No. Made a claim. Right. And that’s the proof of the pudding, isn’t it? Is when you make a claim. How it goes. You know, we have this warranty in the background, and it’s peace of mind on that big, expensive asset on the drive. But it’s when you make a claim is really what it’s worth. Now, hopefully we never need to make a claim, but this is where reading reviews comes in, doesn’t it? Correct. And we see what people’s experience was of making a claim with you. And have you got reviews of people that have made a claim?
[00:35:51] Allan Fox: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:35:52] Matt Sims: Yeah. And are they good?
[00:35:53] Allan Fox: Oh, yes.
[00:35:55] Matt Sims: That’s the key. So do your research. I think it’s been fascinating. Does anyone have a question that they’d like to ask? Yes. There’s a gentleman at the front. Do we have a microphone we can pass around? Can I borrow one of yours? Are you guys happy to share? Yeah.
[00:36:09] Audience member: So you said about the insurance cover that you can’t have two insurances, so manufacturer and you. But my Motorhome Matt will come up to having two years on the drivetrain, three years on the interior and ten years on the damp. So whereabouts can I jump in to get additional insurance? Because obviously I’ve got three different end dates. Yeah.
[00:36:33] Matt Sims: Which is very common. So yours is a European motorhome. So the chassis only has two years.
[00:36:38] Audience member: It’s an English motorhome.
[00:36:39] Matt Sims: Is it okay?
[00:36:40] Audience member: I told the chassis only. I’ve been told two things. Some one, some. The salesman said three years and the garage.
[00:36:46] Matt Sims: What make is the habitation fit?
[00:36:48] Audience member: It’s a fit.
[00:36:50] Matt Sims: And what make is the motorhome?
[00:36:52] Audience member: Swift.
[00:36:52] Matt Sims: Okay. It’s three years on the chassis A3. Three years on the Habitation check. So if it’s a European motorhome, European chassis. They only have two years of cover, even though they’re right hand drive. It’s just a caveat. I don’t know why. They just do.
[00:37:05] Audience member: I’ve learned something.
[00:37:06] Matt Sims: Thank you. So British motorhome. So you’ve only got two dates to worry about? Yes. So when can the gentleman. Presumably, if it was two years after year two, you could buy one of your warranties and it just wouldn’t cover the stuff that’s still running. Is that right?
[00:37:18] Callum: Yeah, that’s exactly it.
[00:37:19] Audience member: So would the premium be cheaper because I. Like, say I only want the drivetrain.
[00:37:23] Callum: I would say all of our pricing is FCA regulated. So when we do pricing it is fixed. If we start changing pricing like taking a week, it’s a fixed product. So we include breakdown assistance. We’re not able to take it off. It’s fixed across the board. And then that kind of plays into us that we’re not giving people different different prices for different products. It’s all based on the underwriting and treating everyone fairly. So your price, your make, your model is based on the underwriting of your vehicle. But if someone has a newer model, it would be cheaper because it’s lower risk. So it works more more on underwriting than opposed to what the perks are included because it’s set as a package.
[00:37:58] Audience member: Okay, so for people who have got a motorhome that’s built up Europe and they’ve got the two years only on the drivetrain would they still have problems if they took the insurance out with you for the habitation area, because then they’d have two warranty covers because you’ve said it’s fixed.
[00:38:16] Callum: I’m going to try and simplify it a little bit. So for example you can have two running side by side. What you can’t do is you can’t claim on both of them for the same part. That’s where that’s where we’re like, you can’t have two at the same time. Like you can’t have like a third party warranty with another competitor and take up Best For and try and claim on both. That’s where we’ll.
[00:38:33] Audience member: Yeah. Okay. So just carry. Sorry I’m going to carry on. I’ve got the microphone.
[00:38:39] Matt Sims: Possession is 9/10.
[00:38:41] Audience member: Yeah, exactly. So if you do make a claim, is it like a car policy where the next year your policy will go up because you’ve made a claim the year before? Or does it stay level.
[00:38:52] Callum: Stays exactly the same. The only thing that will go up is we base all of our policies based on age and mileage.
[00:38:57] Audience member: Right.
[00:38:58] Callum: That is it. So you can have as many claims as you want. That does not affect your price.
[00:39:02] Audience member: Oh, brilliant. That’s good news.
[00:39:04] Matt Sims: And is that the case for all warranty providers that are FCA regulated? Just Best For. Right. Okay. Well, I didn’t know that either. That sounds good. Right. The young lady at the front. Thank you.
[00:39:16] Audience member: Yeah, there are some dealerships that are offering sort of maybe 2 or 3 year warranties with their second hand motorhomes as part of the package. And I’m just a bit suspicious that they’re not actually that good. How do you how do you balance those out? Do the dealerships tend to buy cheaper cheaper warranties so that you’re not getting the main cover in order to put it on the sales package, or is it worth the, you know, is it likely to be worth what? It’s.
[00:39:44] Matt Sims: So I guess the question really is, is, is the warranty from the dealer underwritten by the dealer? So if there’s a claim, do you have to take it back to the dealer?
[00:39:52] Audience member: I suspect I don’t know is the honest answer. It’s a dealership not far from here. Doing three years warranty at the moment. And and I’m not sure whether it’s worth the money that it’s, you know, or it’s worth what it is, so.
[00:40:06] Matt Sims: Okay, so let’s assume it’s dealer underwritten. Is that a regulated product?
[00:40:11] Allan Fox: No, it won’t be regulated.
[00:40:13] Matt Sims: So it’s not regulated. So you’ve not got any of the guarantees that these guys are forced to offer? That’s fair, isn’t it? Yeah. And in terms of pricing, the dealer can charge what they like.
[00:40:25] Allan Fox: Yeah. Because it’s not not regulated. Absolutely.
[00:40:28] Matt Sims: So actually, might be worth considering declining their offer and buying something. Third party perhaps. I mean, this is about research, and it’s a case by case, isn’t it?
[00:40:39] Allan Fox: Yeah. And this is the thing is again, is you need to read what what it covers. I mean, as alter guard we do with vehicles, we do a select cover, and we do a premium cover. The select cover is named component only. And if you’ve not read that and you ring me up and I reject something isn’t covered, then you’re quite right. You’re going to be annoyed. But it was. If you’d read it, you would see you open the book. It’s two pages and it clearly says what’s covered. But on the premium, all that is covered and more.
[00:41:10] Matt Sims: So if there’s another question, put your hand up, we’ll come to you. And whilst we’re waiting for that to happen. Which is better then a dealer? A dealer offered warranty, which I don’t have to pay for because they’re included in the price, or a third party warranty that I might have to pay for.
[00:41:25] Allan Fox: I would say third party warranty.
[00:41:26] Matt Sims: Yeah, of course you would. Your Best For.
[00:41:28] Allan Fox: But yeah, that’s that’s regulated.
[00:41:31] Matt Sims: So a regulated.
[00:41:32] Allan Fox: Regulated gives the customer the.
[00:41:33] Matt Sims: And can can do dealers have regulated warranties.
[00:41:36] Callum: Not that I know of.
[00:41:38] Matt Sims: Right okay. Interesting because I know a lot of dealers and you’ve probably experienced this haven’t you, where the dealer says, oh the warranty is with us. If it goes wrong, just bring it back. And I would do that, but I do. As a dealer, we do buy a third party warranty. And we do say to people, look, if there’s a problem, if it’s not covered, bring it back and we’ll sort it out. But that’s not regulated. That’s at the mercy of me, isn’t it?
[00:41:59] Allan Fox: Yeah. That’s the thing is, like you said, there’s there’s dealers out there that will obviously sell a warranty that is regulated as a third party warranty.
[00:42:06] Matt Sims: And I suppose the risk, the risk for you, the consumer is if I tripped over the cat, got told off by the missus, I’ve gone to work in a bad mood and you ring up with a problem, I’m probably going to say no. And that’s the risk, isn’t it? I wouldn’t, but anyway, Michael, we’ve got another question about that. Yeah. Young lady. Thank you.
[00:42:22] Audience member: Young lady!
[00:42:23] Matt Sims: Yeah. Go on, take it.
[00:42:24] Audience member: Do you cover all age of motorhomes or is there a limit? I know you’ve said with water ingress, it’s seven years. Ours is coming up 13 years.
[00:42:32] Callum: So the limits that we have on Best For warranty is any motorhome that’s over 110,000 miles. We won’t be able to warranty and anything over 12 years.
[00:42:42] Audience member: Right. Well, it’s only done 20,000, but it is coming up 13.
[00:42:47] Matt Sims: It’s coming up to 13 years old. So there is a cap. And I think that’s fair and reasonable, isn’t it? Because the older the motorhome gets, the more risk there is that these guys are going to be paying something out. Are there warranty providers that will cover older than 13 years?
[00:43:00] Allan Fox: No, I think that generally tends to be probably the cut off point.
[00:43:03] Matt Sims: Yeah. I mean, my experience is ten a lot of warranty companies want to cut off at ten.
[00:43:07] Audience member: So you’ve come up to the end of your warranty period, whether it’s 2 or 3 years, whatever. Some major problem occurs, then does that warranty. Then on that item start again on the two for 2 or 3 years? Or is it.
[00:43:19] Matt Sims: After it’s repaired?
[00:43:21] Audience member: Yeah.
[00:43:22] Callum: For for example, let’s say you have a warranty for about two years okay. And towards the end you get a component that’s covered. We pay out for it. You get it repaired. That component itself is going to have its own warranty. So we won’t cover that again because it’s got its own warranty and therefore we can’t claim on two warranty, two warranty providers.
[00:43:39] Allan Fox: So yeah. So for example, if you replaced a whale pump a whale pump. Yeah. And it you it it broke. The manufacturer will give you a parts warranty on that. So we would say you would address that with them. Some of those parts manufacturer warranties will include you to get labour done again. Some won’t. Again if you were say you had it over a year and you won second or third year of cover and you could prove you purchased the part, All. Then after 12 months, I believe Best For an auto guard would probably help you with the labour towards it because the manufacturers on their part, they’ve given you the part back under 12 months old, they’ve given you that. They’ve honoured that. We have a common approach. I would probably look to help with the labour or assist with something towards that. Again, common sense approach, case by case.
[00:44:31] Matt Sims: It’s the man at the front. He’s back again. Don’t cover his mouth will you.
[00:44:36] Audience member: So my motorhomes got water central heating. If that leaks and I get water damage in the motorhome and it’s over three years old, is that covered or does it come under the fact it’s a water leak and you don’t cover it because it’s habit.
[00:44:52] Matt Sims: So you’ve got you’ve got heating.
[00:44:53] Audience member: Yeah, I’ve got heating.
[00:44:54] Matt Sims: So it’s not water.
[00:44:55] Audience member: Well that’s the best. It’s fluid.
[00:44:57] Matt Sims: Yeah it’s fluid. Yeah.
[00:44:58] Audience member: Yeah I should say fluid antifreeze.
[00:45:00] Matt Sims: Yeah. So if the older heating leaks are you covering the leak on the elder system. And are you going to cover the damage that leaks called.
[00:45:07] Allan Fox: Yes. So the the the consequential damage. I’m going to put my hand up. I would say no, that wouldn’t. We wouldn’t look to help with that. We would. But we would again look at how old the motorhome is because we we exclude fluid leaks. But again, if the vehicle is four years or under, I’m looking at premature Rimor or six years and under I’ve got taken into account. Do I think it’s premature? And again, I would say yes. Based on that scenario I would I would look to help.
[00:45:34] Matt Sims: Interesting. So it’s always worth having a conversation with the warranty provider as well. Before you give up and throw your toys out the pram and decide it’s not worth the paper, it’s written on our heads held high. You survived. Nobody died. And you kept your clothes on, which was a bonus. So. Well done. Can I have a please? A massive thank you to these two. They’ve been super brave.
[00:45:57] Allan Fox: Thank you guys. Thank you.
[00:45:58] Matt Sims: Thank you Auto Guard. And Best For to Foxy and Callum. You were brave souls. I know you were both out of your comfort zone. They were both really nervous before we went on stage despite my assurances they weren’t going to go under the bus, as it were. But they did let me kind of probe around in the back end of a warranty and what the truth of cover is all about. And to be fair, they did a super job. And I actually learned something myself, as you heard. So there are facts about warranties that I didn’t know so are really, really useful. Presentation. Thank you again to Auto Guard for doing it.
[00:46:31] Keith Gooden: A lot of people are very cynical about warranties. Are they? You know, you ask around the room whether somebody thinks a warranty is worth the money. Then the first response is generally pretty negative, isn’t it?
[00:46:42] Matt Sims: Well, the beginning, most of the room was shaking their heads, going, nah, it’s not worth it. By the end, most of the room were either shrugging, going well, maybe, or nodding. So yeah, it was a great insight for the audience and hopefully for you listening and watching.
[00:46:54] Keith Gooden: Today it’s the Motorhome Matt podcast with me, Keith Gooden.
[00:46:58] Matt Sims: And me Motorhome Matt.
[00:46:59] Keith Gooden: It’s brought to you www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe.
[00:47:03] Matt Sims: Remember, get 15% off your insurance premium by using the code Motorhome Matt over the telephone, or simply click the link in the description.
[00:47:12] Keith Gooden: It’s the Q&A. The questions and answers where you ask the questions. And Matt, he’s the expert. He’ll give you the answer. If he doesn’t know the answer, he’ll ask somebody who does. First of all, Robert Johnson is in Valencia in Spain.
[00:47:27] Robert Johnson: Me and my wife, Yvonne. We’re both in our early 60s and are really new to this game and looking forward to getting our very first campervan. We’ve decided on something like an Adria twin, because I think that’s the size that’ll probably suit us. And you seem pretty keen on Adria. Is that a brand that you would plump for over others? And perhaps you could say why, if that’s the case. We’ve looked at one down in Valencia recently. I like the man, but it’s at least 20 grand too much for us. And so we’re looking at the Citroen with a long wheelbase. Just wondered what your thoughts were. Thanks, Matt. Thanks for all you do. Take care.
[00:48:14] Keith Gooden: Thanks. Robert Johnson in Valencia. So Adria versus other brands. What do you reckon then?
[00:48:19] Matt Sims: Yeah. Would I plump for one? Well, yeah, I’ve plumped for loads of them.
[00:48:22] Keith Gooden: Plump you plump right away. Keep plumping.
[00:48:25] Matt Sims: We’ve got an Adria twin. It’s our weapon of choice now, as a motorhome goes. And I’ve owned lots. I used to, of course, be an Adria dealer, so sold lots to.
[00:48:33] Keith Gooden: Did you plump then?
[00:48:34] Matt Sims: I did plump a lot. And I’ve got more plump as I got older. It has gone off the charts these days. So yeah, I do rate Adria. There are lots of great brands out there that might fit your, your kind of profile in terms of size of van and so on. But the Adria twin is is the longest. I think it’s the longest, most established fixed bed campervan. And you mentioned the man that’s a new product from Adria. And you’re right, it’s a costly van. We saw it a couple of years ago in Caravan Salon, and we featured it in a podcast there. There’s lots of content online about it. It’s lovely, but it is expensive. And then you mentioned Citroen. So I said to Rob, I said, right, you’re in Valencia. Where near you is your Citroen service centre? Because this is an issue for base vehicle owners, because the Adria twin was built briefly on the on the Citroen chassis, Citroen van dealerships are few and far between. In fact, I don’t even know where one is in the UK. I’ve never been to one. And I think it’s the reason Adria moved away from Citroen. They moved toward it because Stellantis Group and Fiat were very, very difficult to get hold of. So they started building on the Citroen chassis. So I pointed this out to Rob and he came back with this comment.
[00:49:50] Robert Johnson: Wow. You may well have saved our bacon. We were within a hair’s breadth of ordering that thing a couple of weeks ago. We hadn’t got hold of the cash at the time, and we didn’t want to go to finance. It’s the only thing that stopped us. Now, this is something that we’re only almost certainly ever going to do once in our early 60s now. And so it’s got to be right. So thank you so much for that. I think we’ll we’ll still probably we’ll deal with the people in Valencia because we’re probably going to be travelling around the continent more than the UK, that we will use it in the UK for visiting family and that. So we’ll probably be at the show in October. The NEC is that the one and might get to see you there if you’re there. Again, thank you so much for your advice. It’s really appreciated. I love the podcast. They’re great. I spend a lot of time on them too much. I think the wife thinks, take care mate.
[00:50:47] Matt Sims: You’re very welcome Rob. I’m glad I helped you dodge a bullet. Maybe because you could have been stuck up a gum tree there. Consider the Adria twin for sure. And maybe the dealer in Valencia, I don’t know, can service Fiat chassis as well. And of course, Fiat service centres are prolific across Europe and there are lots of them in the UK, so I can’t wait to see you in October. Come and say hi! We will have a stand there at the show at the NEC NEC show as it’s known mcshows.co.uk and we will be there with the Motorhome Matt podcast, so see you there.
[00:51:17] Keith Gooden: George Birtles in Leicester he says can a motorhome dealer keep the non-refundable deposit if they fail to provide the vehicle which they advised was in stock? Isn’t the clue in the name there, Matt? Non-refundable?
[00:51:31] Matt Sims: It is. This is all about the T’s and C’s that you’ve signed.
[00:51:35] Keith Gooden: Terms and conditions.
[00:51:36] Matt Sims: Yeah. And we did do a podcast on this. Can you get your motorhome deposit refunded? Just Google that with the term Motorhome Matt and you’ll find it. And I actually speak to a number of dealers about their policy on refunding a deposit. And it did vary from dealership to dealership. And indeed my own attitude to it was different to some of them too. So the answer to your question is it’s in the terms and conditions, and it may be you would need to seek legal advice if they fail to honour their side of the bargain. You may have grounds to get it back, but it depends what the dealer is planning to do. It may not be their fault that they couldn’t supply what you ordered, but they are indeed going to supply something. But there might be a delay, so it’s too complicated for me to answer. You need to go and read the terms and conditions, and go and chat to the dealership about the reality of their response to it.
[00:52:29] Keith Gooden: Yeah, when it comes to non-refundable deposits, you do imagine, don’t you, that the reason that dealerships are charging them is because they’ve been mucked about in the past, and somebody come in and said they wanted to buy something and then not gone through with it, and the dealer has been stuck with something, has cost them money. But there is the other side, isn’t there, which you could get a bit of sharp practice here, couldn’t you?
[00:52:49] Matt Sims: Yeah, there’s scope for that for sure. The attitude seems to be that a deposit is a commitment from you, that the dealer is going to order that piece of stock or allocate it to you when it arrives.
[00:53:01] Keith Gooden: Yeah, but you’re going to ultimately get it.
[00:53:03] Matt Sims: Yeah. Of course, of course.
[00:53:04] Keith Gooden: And what George is saying here is if they fail to provide the vehicle, which they advised was in stock.
[00:53:09] Matt Sims: Yeah. In stock, where though there’s not enough detail for me to give an answer. And it wouldn’t be right for me to guide you in the correct answer. This is a conversation between you and the dealer that needs to happen. And those terms and conditions.
[00:53:23] Keith Gooden: Don’t sign it if you are in any doubt. Heather Weston’s in Whitby. We have a 2014 Auto-Sleeper Nuevo Lancashire which needs a new leisure battery. The current battery is an Alpha Line 105 amp hour. There is a ridiculous amount of choice online, but I can’t find the same battery. It appears it doesn’t matter as batteries are interchangeable up to a point. Can you recommend something that’s suitable? We don’t wild camp often a few days here and there. We don’t run anything other than the basics in the van. Not much in the way of technology or battery draining plug ins. We don’t park up for more than four days at a time where potters. I don’t know what type of battery ours is, but I think a similar replacement may be easier if possible. We’re not very mechanically adept. Thanks for your advice, says Heather.
[00:54:18] Matt Sims: This is a can of worms, isn’t it? If you don’t know, you don’t know. You have Heather, what’s called a lead acid battery, and I’d recommend considering the same type of battery technology, a lead acid or a wet battery. And look at an AGM type of battery which will give you the best lasting battery life will easily last 3 or 4 days without being plugged in or the engine starting. I would consider an NCC verified one. Look for the blue tick. You can find out who the NCC are in a recent podcast episode. So if you are still stuck, then give the team at That Leisure Shop a ring or drop them an email. You’ll find the number on the website and they’ll be able to talk you through the type and brand and model of batteries that we sell, and we give you some advice there.
[00:55:03] Keith Gooden: That’s That Leisure Shop, by the way. Okay, Matt, if somebody wants to get in touch, what do they do?
[00:55:08] Matt Sims: Yeah. Please head to. askmattsims.com. You can record your question by hitting the orange button. Please tell us where in the world you are, or fill in the form and we’ll read it for you.
[00:55:19] Keith Gooden: And it’s only fair if you share, isn’t it, Matt?
[00:55:22] Matt Sims: We’d love it if you shared this with a friend. If you found it entertaining, informative, or useful, then why not tell a friend about it and help us spread the word of the podcast?
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[00:55:40] Keith Gooden: Thanks for listening to the Motorhome Matt podcast. Remember to check back here for more episodes full of hints and tips and helpful advice. We’ll see you soon for another Motorhome Matt podcast brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com.
