We are battling it out against some of the UK’s most successful insurance brokers in the “Customer Service Provider of the Year” and “Personal Lines Intermediary of the Year” (which names the UK’s best broker that offers insurance to the general public).

Chris Nettleton, Director of Leisuredays, will be representing us at the event and had this to say on the fantastic news,

“To be nominated for just one of these prestigious awards in what are hotly contested categories would have been fantastic, so to be shortlisted for two is something which we are hugely proud of. It’s testament to the hard work our whole team put in on a day to day basis to ensure we offer the best possible cover, value and service.”

During the last 12 months we have surpassed our own extremely high customer service standards – something which greatly contributed to us being named finalists in both these awards.

Some of our measures include being more accessible to customers, with extended 7 day opening, including late nights and early mornings on weekdays, and a 24 hour online quote and buy service for holiday home owners.

Leisuredays also take measures to ensure that when you do call you get the best possible service, Chris Nettleton explains,

“Leisuredays aim to resolve 80% of incoming calls first time, meaning that the first person you speak to will generally be the person that deals with your entire query, so you’re never passed from person to person. This is achieved using unique customer phone numbers for different types of enquiries, and an intelligent call tracking system that automatically directs you through to the relevant highly skilled insurance adviser.”

We also carefully monitor our claims service to ensure a high level of satisfaction, and evolve their insurance products to meet customer needs whilst remaining good value for money.

Leisuredays and Caravan Guard received the “Customer Service Provider of the Year” award in 2008 so we are keen to claim it back again this year, and also hope to add the prestigious “Personal Lines Intermediary of the Year” award to our trophy cabinet.

Chris added, “We won the Customer Service Award in 2008 and hope to regain it this year after further improvements to the excellent service we offer our customers. We work extremely hard to continually improve our customer service, so to be recognised in this way is a very welcome reward. On top of that, the Personal Lines Intermediary of the Year category is a very high ranking award that is often the reserve of the UK’s biggest brokers, so to be shortlisted in this category is also a massive achievement. ”

RSA’s business started in 1710 with the Sun Fire Office in London, who later joined the RSA Group, making them one of the world’s oldest insurance companies.

We have forged a strong working relationship with RSA, who not only underwrite all of our holiday home policies, but also our new park home insurance scheme which they helped develop thanks to their extensive knowledge of household insurance.

“RSA are one of the largest and most experienced insurers in the UK, and we are very pleased to be able to work with them when developing insurance products for the leisure insurance market. We’ve worked with RSA for many years now and know that their claims handling and underwriting expertise are vital to the award winning customer service we offer our holiday home and park home customers.”

Chris Nettleton, Director, Leisuredays.

Leisuredays are thrilled to announce that Hannah Cockroft, a budding Paralympic athlete from West Yorkshire who we sponsor, has this weekend (27th May) broken a World Record in the 400m!

Hannah was competing in the ‘Knowsley Disability Athletics Challenge’ when she broke the 400m World Record in her classification by over 2seconds – beating the previous record which had stood since 2002.

It’s a huge achievement which crowns a string of positive results, all of which help her bid to compete in the London 2012 Paralympics. ‘UK Athletics’ had this to say about her:

“Cockroft’s World Record 400m performance at the UKA Disability Athletics Challenge event in Knowsley was an incredible result for the 17-year-old who won UK School Games 100m gold in 2008 and the Mini London Marathon wheelchair race for the first time in 2009. She reduced Deborah Brennan’s previous world mark of 1:07.68 – set back in 2002 – by over two seconds.”

Hannah also competed in the 10k BUPA Great Manchester Run yesterday and came in 2nd place behind Paralympic Bronze medallist Shelly Woods, and ahead of Paralympic athlete Anne Strike – a fantastic achievement for a budding athlete of just 17.  

To read more from UK Athletics about this weekend’s results, or for further info, visit http://www.uka.org.uk/media/news/may-2010/24-05-10-world-records/

We have now launched our brand new residential park home & residential lodge insurance policy, which offers fantastic benefits and extensive cover to park home owners.

As a well established insurance specialist from the static caravan, holiday home, chalet and lodge industry we chose to develop the policy in conjunction with our underwriter Royal & Sun Alliance insurance plc, who have vast experience of the household insurance market.

The policy promises we will replace your park home, regardless of age, as new if it is damaged beyond economic repair (subject to terms & conditions), dealing with your park operator directly to ensure you’re quickly in your new home. In fact, Leisuredays even cover removing debris from your damaged home and resiting and reconnection to utilities for the new home – further peace of mind for when the worst happens.

You also get the reassurance of a 24 hour helpline – there to protect your home and contents from further damage following an incident, such as making temporary repairs to smashed windows to secure your home.

Legal expenses cover, cover for alternative accommodation, replacement locks and keys and up to £5 million public liability cover are all included as standard.

Should you need to make a claim there is a low excess of £75 and a dedicated claims team on hand 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Leisuredays Director Chris Nettleton commented “We’re delighted to be using our extensive insurance expertise to bring a new option for owners looking to insure their park homes. It gives owners many top quality inclusive benefits with generous cover limits at a very affordable price.”

As well as fantastic policy benefits, Leisuredays offer award winning customer service. Our expert insurance advisors are on hand 7 days a week.

For more information click the Park Home Insurance tab at the top of this page or click here: http://www.leisuredays.co.uk/park-home-insurance/index.php

Your site owners will no doubt do all they can to ensure security on your park remains of the highest possible standard but with parks covering such vast spaces, it’s difficult for every static caravan holiday home to be monitored 24/7.

However long you leave your holiday home unattended, it is vital you follow a few security tips to keep it as safe as possible from thieves.

That may sound obvious but it’s very easy when in holiday mode to forget a few commonsense rules.

If you’re away for just a few hours on a day trip the most obvious measure is ensuring all doors and windows are locked and secure.

Ask yourself how confident you are that your existing locks will stand up to the pressure of someone trying to break in? You might consider upgrading them to a better quality lock.

When closing down your holiday home for a month or two over the winter it’s worth following a security checklist.

Try not to leave valuables and cash on display as it’s an open invitation for thieves to break in.

If you can, fully empty your cupboards and leave the doors open to show any would-be thieves that it is not worth them attempting to break into your property.

You could go one step further and make your position perfectly clear. A large sign clearly stating “no valuables are left in this holiday home” left in the window could deter a break-in.

Ask your park owner or manager for his or her advice. They may well recommend installing a monitored alarm system that will alert park staff to the fact someone has entered your static caravan or holiday home – such devices are very effective during the winter when your park has few people around. Ramtech seem to be the market leaders in providing such systems.

Alternatively, you could install a standard audible alarm that operates using a PIR sensor that will sound an alarm if it detects movement or a change in heat within your holiday home. If triggered, the noise generated should certainly encourage neighbours or site staff to rush to your home to check that everything is ok.

There are many options out there on how you can protect your holiday home. How much you are willing to spend on preventative measures is up to you but it’s always worth carrying out the basic security checks whenever you leave your holiday home unattended.

Visit our static caravan insurance section for more information about insuring your caravan holiday home.