The History of Lancaster Insurance |
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In 1973 the MG Owners' Club was formed and in 1983 a new department was set up to handle a special Agreed Value insurance scheme for club members. Insurers were persuaded that MG owners took more care of their cars than ordinary motorists who use their cars purely to drive from A - B and the accidents and claims results proved our case. As rates tumbled we were asked to insure other classic cars besides MGs and our underwriters agreed to accept classic cars with a similar profile of car and driver to the MG. Then we discovered that whilst Jaguar, Triumph, Austin Healey and other similar car owners were delighted to get the same excellent Agreed Value policies at such low premiums they were puzzled at having to insure through the MG Owners' Club. In 1979 the UK celebrated the anniversary of the Lancaster bomber and the name was chosen to reflect the broader base of our growing insurance business. (There was one regret at the Classic Car Show at Essen in Germany when a keen local classic car owner enquired about our services and was given a business card with the silhouette of the famous bomber - fortunately no one mentioned the war!) As the MG Owners' Club grew and reached 50,000 members we realised that half of the membership was insured through the club scheme and more and more non MG classic car owners were sharing in our success. We added a modern car scheme so that classic car owners could save by insuring their other vehicles, we added a motorcycle scheme discovering that most classic and modern motorcyclists are also excellent riders and thereby a good risk deserving of lower premiums. Then a club member had four new wheels and other new spares stolen from his garage. His vehicle insurer refused to cover them as they weren't fitted to the car and his home/contents insurer refused to cover them as they were vehicle parts. We therefore designed a new Home and Contents policy to cover members for this risk and we added a FREE Annual Travel Insurance which was included in our Home and Contents cover or could be bought separately. This became extremely popular because policy holders no longer had to buy expensive travel cover when arranging holidays and business travel. Over the years we have found that most policyholders buy insurance on price alone and fondly believe that they will never have to claim - or if they do, the service from their insurer will promptly sort everything our. Many have realised that as insurance premiums have dropped insurers have merged, cut down on staff and have reduced policy benefits. For some, claims service has not been a priority! In contrast we have greatly enlarged our staff, improved training and added extra benefits to our policies preferring to offer a really good value policy at the lowest possible premium and when a claim occurs that's when we really move into gear as the hundreds of testimonials we have do show. We are proud to handle the insurance for your classic, modern vehicle, travel and home and we know that if we look after you well then you will be pleased and you will renew each year. If you would like any further information , please do not hesitate to contact us Yours sincerely, Roche
Bentley |