I read in Insurance Times recently that the financial Ombudsman had decreed that it would, in certain circumstances, back a policyholder against an insurer excluding claims for leaving keys in or near a car. I can’t help but wonder if the same would apply for a motor home. As an insurance broker, I almost feel that this story is not one to publicise.

On a recent motorhome holiday my family and I had had a late night playing cards and when we eventually turned in, we were all very tired and so we woke up the next day already late for our arranged meeting with our friends and fellow motor-homers the Wilsons. Then of course we had the morning rush and the queue for the shower and by the time we were ready to leave our friends had decided to explore the countryside without us.

Then I couldn’t find the keys. We looked everywhere, and in my usual patient and understanding way I first accused every member of the family of hiding them, progressed to accusing them of not helping me to look for them properly and concluded by accepting my son’s version of events that aliens had come from Mars and stolen the keys to my motor home. I went to the cab to get my mobile and call my insurance company for help. I was stranded in the middle of a field with a grumpy family… and it was about to rain.

There, sat in the middle of the cab, next to my mobile phone were the keys! I had left the keys to my pride and joy on display in the cab, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the motorhome would be insured if it had been stolen under these circumstances, and so my mind wound its way back to the Insurance Times article.

If my motorhome had been a car the ombudsman would have considered

Location

Was I in a position to deter a thief

Was I recklessly ignoring the risks

Mitigating factors

Whether I knew about the exclusion in the insurance policy

I would like to think that this form of insurance pragmatism would have applied to me and my motor home. I think that by using an insurance broker there is a lot more chance of getting the right insurance policy for your motor home

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