News & Events

Home Builts and Conversions

July 19th 2022

Our new Insurance deal with ORNELLA. 

That will beat them all. Watch This space .

So far so good  the new Insurers are far better to deal with, very helpful and are very accommodating.The company formerly named Patrona and rebranded to Ornella Underwriting Ltd on the 1st of May 2022.

We are now almost 2 years into the new deal and we are delighted with the move.We are very pleased with the staff at Ornella, great assistance , no more pedantic crap, that we were getting from our former insurance broker. We have the best deal and we are now in a better position that we had for years. We should have left Richardson years ago but loyalty was a factor that was our downfall. too damn loyal. We have discovered  that there’s no such thing in Insurance.  Anyway Richardson have now been take over and  have left their posh offices at the Beacon Court  and have moved to the LHK company office in Dundrum

We left  Richardsons on   21st of January 2021. We should have done it years ago but loyalty was a factor for us. (frenemies) Now we are no longer associated with them and now have a new Insurer with a better deal and a much better price.Much nicer people to deal with.  In fact we probably have now the best camper van Insurance deal in Ireland and it’s exclusive to the Motorcaravan Club Members. No height rule, no walk through rule, can be used as a prime vehicle, unrestricted use,12 months foreign touring, towing a trailer, step back insurance, optional Roadside assistance  for a nominal €40 from Mapfree.                      phone us for an information pack and quote

The status of home built’s is changing all the time, We have our own rules to protect our insurance scheme. Revenue  brought in much needed controls. Some of the rubbish we get asked to approve are unbelievable. We have our own name for those Scamvans. An immediate give away is lack of curtains.

As of 2021 No height rule,You can use  as a solo vehicle, can use to go to and from work commute (but no commercial trading)  you can can tow a trailer, and many more advantages.

The Club will insure standard roof vans, some times called tin tops, that have been properly converted and certified by one of our appointed SQI engineers. The basic rules are you must be able to operate in the campervan, and only from the interior, cook eat and sleep inside the vehicle. You can’t open up the back door and cook outside, these are day cruiser vans.  Sometimes call Dayvans. There must be full bodily access between the cab area and the habitation section, that means if you can jump over the seats to get out it’s not a problem. You don’t have to have a car, our insurance scheme allows a member to use the camper as their prime vehicle ,unrestricted use, and you do get a full no claim bonus. You can retain an existing bonus, or if you start with a nil bonus (usually  named drivers) you earn a bonus’ and an additional bonus of  a step back of 20% in the event of a Fender bender claim.

There are a number of good converters in Ireland that we  are happy to approve, Happy Campers in Wexford 086-4066056,  . Martyn Reilly Monsterevin. Vanderlust in Ennis, Eddie Lyons in Carlow 086 0576032  .PAT Fox in Nenagh 087 6683747 highly recommended, Lazy Days in Wicklow , see our front page. If you are seeking a convertor please ask us for advice. The vehicle must be fit for purpose (safe), we have a simple flyer with our guidelines as to the requirement to turn “a sows ear into a silk purse”  “Whats a Motorcaravan”is available free to anybody . We  also supply a number of good booklets How to  buy a campervan  ,”now that you have bought it what Next” “The Tavern Trail”.   And  we have a booklet “So you want to build a motorcaravan”,It’s only available to members, the cost including printing and postage is €25. We are always happy to quote for home conversions provided that the conversion has been approved by our engineers.Please take note we stick to the original act , proper sink unit with a cooking device of not less than 2 gas burners ,we dont take any electric hobs, also will not allow any campervan-Motorhome ,Motorcaravan with a wood or log burning stove on to our Insurance scheme.

Ferry Travel

Always have a good look at your booking, if you do not have marine Insurance your camper is not covered while at sea and that means not tied up at a dock. Check with your Ferry provider.

We  are asked regularly about discounts ,well it would appear that one gets a better deal by phoning not once but a few times. 2020  a total write off and looking like 2021 will follow, France and Spain are out of bounds, and only a selfish fool would contemplate going to either country in these dangerous times.,

Leixleip

Springfield Hotel Leixleip great reasonably priced Restaurant Simply called SEASONS , excellent menu, Try their Sea Bass, the bar food is very good, great selection  and morning full Irish breakfast has to be experienced. You can stop over in a motorcaravan in their very secure rear car park, 01 4581100

Great eating house

  Update 20 Sept 2016

Went back as stated but very disappointed, what was presented as a Big Breakfast was despicable, burnt rashers, overcooked sausages, and two hard yellow blobs as eggs,  They must have had a poor cook in that Sunday Morning , pity as first impression was good but  I took to Trip Advisor reviews and I am not the only one disappointed,seems you can be unlucky if you get the wrong cook on the day. or indeed server as some reviews mention a young rude server, we only met Maureen who was delightful.

Always a lover of the full Irish breakfast , we were delighted to find FIDELMA’s in the main street Dunshaughlin, We had read a few reviews and decided to try it out for ourselves Imagin our  surprise to find that the reviews on trip advisor etc  were every bit as good if not better. We went for the big breakfast on Sunday morning the 12 June 2016,  lovely clean restaurant maybe a bit spartan for some but clean and a very good ambience and to top that a brilliant breakfast  fantastic value,  on the advice of reviewer’s I opted for the medium full Irish  wow, I found it hard to finish, I doubt I could have managed the FULL IRISH service was excellent served by a very hospitable lady .

Best Value eating house in the Dublin region has to be Seasons Restaurant in the Springfield Hotel (old Dublin Rd ) Leixleip . Fantastic food at very very good prices. typical  4 course meal for two including a bottle of very good wine €65. You just have to try the Sea Bass.

July 2020 We have returned to  the very welcoming Seasons  amidst the Pandemic and it’s great news ,the managment have overcome a lot of the  distance difficulties and the service and the food are as good as ever, It’s our third Saturday evening to be back, It’s nice that we can say well well done to the owners,

Kilkieran Cottage Carrick-on-suir.  New Place added to the Tavern Trail today July 10th  Kilkieran Cottage near Carrick on Suir  South Tipperary, Comeragh Mountain area.  have a look at the website, could be a great spot for an overnight or even a weekend, to refresh your tired souls. www.killkierancottage.ie  will welcome members  can be contacted on Email: info@kilkierancottage.ie Website: www.kilkierancottage.ie Contact Person: Ade Walsh looks very interesting and in a hidden and beautiful part of Ireland .

NEW NEWS March 03!

We are so so busy ,the new insurance deal is far better than we have had and as we are transferring our members over to Patrona it is taking time and toll, but we are getting there and Patrona are far easier to deal with than our previous brokers, most members are getting their certs and discs within a few days  rather than the weeks it used to take.

2021 has to be better but I’ll start with the word PEDANTIC I have invented a new word Pedantism. It’s crept into Irish life  since the EC brought in the awful GDPR crap  its rife in Ireland from Banks ,Government,  Insurance bodies it’s everywhere, like a cancer its eating it way through Irish society,  you need permission from some asshole to scratch your bum. And no body or person is saying NO, enough is enough.

I have to hate politically correct  pedantic people, Ill dedicate 2021 to try and get people of like mind to object to Pedantic assholes, don’t accept  it remember there is an Irish Way (and that’s to help our neighbours) and it just takes all of good people  to not accept

Jobsworth’s Pedantic actions and object to damn the Compliance crap Damn the  GDPR crap and damn the EU. when we get a referendum to leave Ill be the first in the queque to say Leave ASAP.  what was once a good concept has been hijacked by corrupt  failed politicians

What is wrong with people who can’t handle the truth. If  we have learned anything in 2020 it’s that Truth   seems to have  little or no relevance anymore. So far this year Ill call the year of the Campervan, or in my terminology the new toilet paper..In our 36 years of existence we have never been so busy, which in turn has led to stress,and a little short temper on occasions and no apology for it.We try to help every body but some awful arrogant assholes who come on the phone would stress any human.

That applies universally not just Ireland.We seem to attract a lot of enquiring losers. The new years has kicked off well,until the Chinese landed us with their virus and then to compound the virus we have had lockdown. We have had an exceptional number of assholes who  for God alone knows why call us looking for advice, proceed to contradict us  then criticise us ,while we always like to help people, its very annoying when an asshole comes on asking for help then tells us we are snotty. We give honest advice, nobody is infallible, there is a certain “Karma” in finding out that the person who was given the good advice gets burned, We have to say serves them right.

 This past year We   received many thank you cards all with positive compliments  for which we are extremely grateful. It makes what we do worthwhile and helps us ignore the assholes. 

Sometimes we have to protect people from themselves enthusism can be very expensive, please remember if it is too good to be true 99% of the time it is .

We had a few calls recently but none more so that the 9th of November  2016 warning against buying off Done Deal, Nothing has changed for 2021 probably even more so Buyer beware not one but two people making us aware of campers that were put on done deal with “Clocked” mileometers, the sad part is neither of those phoning us were prepared to give us their names however they did give us the reg numbers of the vehicles and we know who the vendor is in once instance, and we are not one bit surprised. The particular vendor ripped off one of our members to the tune of €5000 and if we are asked to insure any vehicle coming from that vendor we will not even consider it for our scheme , So can we advise you to be cautious and if you have any doubts call us.  scroll down to buyer beware

Is Eir the worst company in Ireland to do business with ? we would appreciate your observations, their “customer service” has to be the worst in the world. Second to none for stupid automatons answering their phones

Cobh motorhome park in jeopardy over legal concerns

The GREED Rot has set in, Thursday, October 13, 2016 Caravan Park owners that close throughout the winter are Complaining ? About what ? it’s a greedy caravan park owner in Dunmore East that cost that village dearly , Get a life .

Sean O’Riordan The continuation of a council-controlled overnight pay-parking site for motorhomes, at a harbour town in Co Cork, has been put in jeopardy. Caravan-park owners claim the local authority’s model is illegal and anti-competitive.

Cobh

A number of caravan-park owners throughout the country have written to Cork County Council, threatening to take legal action, if it proceeds with plans to formalise the paid-parking facility in Cobh.

They made submissions to the Cobh/Glanmire municipal district body, after it announced plans to introduce bylaws to formalise the control of the designated parking area, at the town’s quayside Five Foot Way.In recent years, it has become a popular stop-off point for motorhome owners from all over Ireland and Europe because of its panoramic views of Cork harbour.

Seizing on the potential for increased tourism, the municipal council recently designated 30 spaces for motorhome and caravan owners, allowing them to flush wastewater into the town’s sewerage system and park overnight for €10.

However, the municipal authority has now referred the correspondence to the council’s legal department, after councillors expressed fears that the bylaws may need to be re-examined, in the event of a challenge in the courts.

“When I saw the submissions from caravan owners, they put the fear of God into me,” said Cllr Claire Cullinane.

The councillor, who is one of the driving forces in attracting tourists to the town, said that caravan-park owners were claiming the council had contravened a number of rules and regulations.

“For example, they [caravan-park owners] said we couldn’t use a car park, and that it wasn’t right that we weren’t providing shower facilities and electricity. But the motorhome owners using the site say they have those facilities in their vehicles,” she said.

However, Cllr Cullinane said there was a need for County Hall’s legal department to consider the legal challenges and to address these as “a matter of urgency”.

Cllr Padraig O’Sullivan said he was not in favour of adopting bylaws only to later discover they were illegal.

Cobh, motorhome, park

Occupation, Something that we did not give great stress to was the occupation of any insured person be they the primary insured or a named driver,  It has been brought to our attention to stress that a person answers that question very honestly as we have just recently been made aware that non disclosure of a persons occupation can  and will be treated very seriously,   Insurers have very legitimate grounds not to pay on a claim. Also not having an up to date DOE (CVRT) test invalidates insurance.

Watch this space as of the 17th of Oct 2016 we have just been given new European and UK regulations regarding Motorcaravans and Seat Belts, we should have a full text on here in the next 48 hours  

The ever helpful Paula Roch has just left Richardson’s Insurances for yonks  due to family commitments and has been replaced by Sinead .    Paula was very helpful and we are glad to say Sinead is equally helpful .    If you or any friends have any queries regarding  your personal insurances, car, House  etc contact Sinead 01 2999554  , In the meanwhile  there’s none better than Betty Fry , who looks after our motorcaravan scheme, the voice you all hear when you call  01 2999501 .

Proof if ever it was needed, its the 27th Sept and not one comment, so people don’t read further than the first page

100% of people visiting a web site do it for a good reason, some out of curiosity some seeking pertinent information, however we have a thought that 90% never read past the front page so Just for “pig iron” ,we  are hoping that people might try and prove us wrong. Why would anybody eat potato crisps with scrambled eggs ?

We are now switching to our Winter mode, Summer has come and gone Autumn is almost non existing,  it’s been a very busy year but as its beginning to quieten down we have decided that maybe it might be a good idea to cut down on the hours we work so we are going to trow the question open to members (that’s if anybody reads these pages) should we cut back on opening hours for the winter? We are planning for 2017 and the new membership card is already designed, we are preparing the Freeway for Christmas .

for more news  always scroll down further

Buyer Beware

More so than ever for 2021

 as the August weekend 2020 approached we put this cautionary  warning as some people were looking at campers with a view to purchase, please be acutely aware that not everything you see on done deal is as it seems, We have had a few  members get ripped off badly, remember if the price is too good to be true it is usually is. Check the chassis for rust one member bought in good faith and 6 months after purchase the vehicle for put off the road, a rotten chassis, the guy who sold it to him had given him a DOE  cert, no chassis deteriorates that badly in 6 months, it cost our member close on €5000 to have the chassis repaired to road safety engineering specifications.  If in doubt just ask, questions might seem trivial but could save you a lot of grief. There are a few on Done Deal  at the moment that we were asked to appraise , we would not touch with a Flag pole. We have had a serious complaint  from a trusted member about a guy converting vans who in our opinion should not be trusted.We cannot put his details in print lest we get sued but suffice it to say if somebody calls us about a particular vehicle we will give the usual” if we have nothing good to say we will say nothing ” answer, so be aware of chancers,

 

How about this for good News .

Cavan county council unanimously passed a motor home motion allowing motor homes to park overnight for a duration of one night at all amenity car parks. The details are yet to be worked out but the spirit of the motion is to allow motor homes to use lake or other amenity car parks for one night stopovers. They may include dedicated motor home spaces in towns and villages also. They want to utilize existing infrastructure at as little cost as possible. The locations will appear on the “this is Cavan” website map. I would like to commend councilor Shane P O’Reilly for bringing my idea to the council. Gerry Doherty of Donaghys ,Cavan is now motor home friendly. Just another 31 counties to go. Please pass this message on to your local representatives as we can make change happen.

A great time was had by all who attended at St. Patricks night in Browne’s Bar,  crossroads, Killygordon Donegal

 Motor home parking available free Any member who want to go and have a great craic weekend, at any time of the year , feel free to do so.

We have been asked to get definitive information on Marine Insurance and its implication relative to the severe damage to motorhomes recently during Storm Gertrude . We are awaiting  information and we hope to have something on this page shortly