This is an extended warranty not an insurance scheme started by the NCC (National Caravan Council) into which the mobile home manufacturers pay. It is like a trust fund and it is administered by AROS holdings Ltd. The fund aims to provide repairs to mobile homes after the initial guarantee period offered by the home manufacturer has expired and only covers proven manufacturing faults. There is a code of practice (CoP) which includes obligations on the park owner for the correct siting of the home and those matters incumbent on the homeowner for subsequent maintenance.
For you to be able to access this warranty, the park on which your home is sited needs to be registered with GoldShield. It is otherwise without cost to the homeowner.
Here the important point is the ‘proven’ faults which can be attributed to issues that appear resulting from poor manufacturing or structural material failures.
There are other faults that can manifest themselves in the later years in the life of a mobile home which might occur due to rough handling in the transport of the home or poor siting the effects of which might not be seen for some time.
A good example might be where the building work has been poorly constructed and not in accordance with the Cop resulting in structural damage due to rising damp. In this case the warranty would not be valid.
Similarly, failure to paint the home in accordance with the CoP, currently within two years of siting and then every three years thereafter, would render the warranty void.
As with many things associated with warranties and insurances the burden of proof lies firmly on the shoulders of the homeowner. Having the complete outside skin of your home replaced is neither cheap or without the stress of any major fault found with your home. But in year nine it will be exceedingly difficult to determine which has contributed to this; poor manufacture, mishandling by the siting people or poor maintenance on your part.
Principally therefore part of the CoP demands that the home is inspected annually; top to bottom. It also suggests interim checks for external cracks around windows and doors for example are carried out every three months.
The CoP does allow for owner inspections which seemingly avoid the need to enlist the help of a third party. However, the scope includes thoroughly inspecting the roof and underside of the home. Both demand a degree of agility not to say a head for heights and having no fear of confined spaces.
Whilst some might elect to get stuck in, proving that the inspections have been done thoroughly and with some degree of competence might turn out to be difficult in the event of a claim being necessary.
One other issue not necessarily unique to the mobile home is that of any report that a third party might make with suggestions that work albeit unnecessary needs to be done where you cannot see this for yourself.
We will discuss repairs and trades in another section.
However, GoldShield offer ‘packages’ which include the regular checks, painting and minor repairs all for a regular monthly payment. As to whether this is good value for money will be a matter for individual homeowners and will depend on local situations such as the rates charged for painting and the availability of park home savvy tradesmen.
Some homeowners who have tried to claim on the scheme and who have had difficulties are disparaging of the cover.
There are some particularly good pro’s, however.
It is free.
The CoP makes absolute sense whether you ever need to claim or not; the guidelines are beneficial and sensible in keeping your home in good order and in catching any minor matters before they become major.
A mobile home is not enormous and checking this in small regular sections is not too onerous. This can be done when other regular tasks such as cleaning windows, clearing gutters, or even pottering in the garden are done. Most things can be seen from the ground and even much of the roof can in the main be seen from the top of a short ladder.
Getting together with a neighbour to do mutual checks can help too. This is a good idea as two pairs of eyes are better that one and your neighbour may be less reticent to dive under the home than yourself.
