EP 32 - From Dream to Driveway: Real Caravan Stories with MDC Finance

What really drives someone to buy a caravan?

In this episode, we sit down with Candace from MDC’s in-house finance team—someone who’s helped countless Aussies turn their dream of caravan ownership into reality.

But this isn’t about numbers or approvals.

It’s about people.

We dive into the stories behind the decisions—families chasing more time together, individuals stepping into van life, and everyday Australians choosing freedom over the traditional path.

Candace shares what she’s seeing on the front lines:
 • The rise of van life and why more people are leaving city living behind
 • The surprising mix of people stepping into caravan ownership
 • The excitement that comes with buying a caravan (it’s not like buying a car!)
 • Real stories that show “this lifestyle is possible for anyone”

Whether you’re dreaming of hitting the road or just curious about the lifestyle, this episode will open your eyes to what’s possible.

Welcome to the MDC Family.

Escape with Confidence

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Today we're talking about all things finance. MDF marketing finance? MDC marketing campusing.

SPEAKER_05 0:07

But yes, we do. I mean we see people as younger than the monthly. You know, it's something I'm wanting to get into the market, which is temperature, um my oldest customer with AT3.

SPEAKER_03 0:18

It's becoming a call part of the business. Um I think that's coming up for using lending other lending companies that are providing options for the market.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

We do often see a lot of these coming from the customer.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

Hi everybody, welcome to another edition of the Off Grid Down Under Podcast brought to you by MDC. I'm Sam, I'm your host. I'm sitting here with Vaughan Heinley, Managing Director. Thanks for having us back, Sam. Welcome. Really excited about this one today. Pumped? Absolutely. We're talking dollars. Be exciting. Sitting here with Wayne Chavez, our assistant to the National Sales Manager, is that right?

SPEAKER_01 1:15

It is, it is, mate. Thank you for having me back. You're the assistant national manager. Yeah, that's a bit of a cheeky side, doesn't it? Office reference there.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

Yeah, I like that. And uh welcoming Candice Kansian from MDF Finance.

SPEAKER_04 1:28

Hello.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

Hello.

SPEAKER_04 1:29

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

Welcome. Thanks for coming up the road. You're based in our Brisbane showroom and have been in the head office for a while, so we're now up at Kabulcha. Bit of change of scenery for you.

SPEAKER_04 1:40

It is. It is.

SPEAKER_03 1:42

Nice. Well, thanks for joining us. Today we're talking about all things finance. Um, in the current climate, there's a lot happening. Finance is uh a hot topic, and people getting loans is certainly becoming uh, I guess, a key discussion point. It's becoming harder, banks are tightening things up a little bit, and certainly with the war going on and cost of living, people are looking at affordability of things, caravans being another one. So we thought today might be an interesting topic to talk about finance that MDF provides and um essentially why people might look at finance as a solution to be able to get out and you know continue to with the living the dream despite all the current market conditions. So Vaughan, do you just want to give us a bit of insight about where MDF has come into the business for MDC?

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Yeah, so um MDF is short for Market Direct Finance, MDC Market Direct Campers. So MDF is a uh company that we have within the Market Direct Group that uh offers consumer finance to customers that come into a dealership and want to buy a camper trailer from around the 20 grand mark up to caravans around 100k. So, you know, these purchases are big money, and for many customers, it's uh probably their third most expensive purchase. So you have their home, primary residence, motor vehicles, and then a caravan, right? So, you know, we offer a solution within our dealerships that if someone comes in and they need help with finance in regards to a caravan or camper, we can do that in-house with Candace and her team of wonderful lending specialists. Um we've been doing that here at MDF since 2013. So we're in our 13th year of um offering that service to customers.

SPEAKER_03 3:29

It's not new, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

Yeah, we've been doing it for a long time.

SPEAKER_03 3:32

And it's had a good adoption through that time as well, and certainly something that we're seeing more of in the last probably 12 to 18 months. I think we're really it's become a core part of our business. Um, and I think that's come about through using lending, other lending partners that are providing more options to the market, and as our range grows, yeah, we're appealing to more customers and more people looking for more finance options.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Yeah, well, one thing I always talk about with my team is I've always been a lucky guy. And you know, um a couple of years ago had the opportunity to work with Candace and she's really taken the business forward.

SPEAKER_03 4:05

That's great. Well, without further ado, Candace, tell us a bit about your background. You have certainly come into the business, you're a lovely person to have around, you're a great personality, and people have probably seen you at the shows now. You do get around in the show circuit a little bit.

SPEAKER_05 4:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 4:20

Where have you come from and what's your background?

SPEAKER_05 4:23

So I have been working in asset finance for over 16 years, uh predominantly in New Zealand. I've been in Australia for just over two years now. Um my role with MDC, so this is my first role within the leisure asset space, um, and it definitely has been very enjoyable. It's a lot different to the sort of the car space where it is a necessity. Um, you know, you get to share in the excitement of the purchase with the customer, they take you on the journey with them. Um they're traveling around the shows, like we have a lot of customers returning to see us. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

It's obviously a different buying decision. Yeah, it's a different buying process for customers. As you said, cars are more of a necessity. This is a very much more, I guess, a luxury or lifestyle purchase. So do you I guess some if we probably compete in the space of things like boats or motorbikes and things like that. Is is that kind of where the other things that we are playing up against?

SPEAKER_05 5:30

Not necessarily. I think when customers come to us uh to pursue finance to purchase a caravan, they already have visualized that lifestyle, that dream, and then it is up to us to help them achieve that.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

Um So why do they typically come to us? I mean, it's probably probably a question for Wayne. Like, what are you seeing out in the sales world where we go to the shows? Uh are people generally coming with finance solutions ready to go, or is it a bit of an afterthought? Are they sort of come in and go, I want a budget of about 50 grand, and then they realise that they want to spend 80?

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Yeah, that's it is definitely something that we see a lot of um people coming, not just to the shows, but you know, show shows are a big are a big thing for us. Uh, but it is certainly one of those things where people come in and like you said, Sam, they've they've got a certain dollar amount or they've got a a dream in mind, um, and then that's when the you know sales team will come in and obviously have a discussion with them about needs and wants, uh, and then when when the customer you know wants something that is beyond their means, that's when Candace and her team come in with the uh with the assist on the finance. But it is one of those things where people, and we're seeing it more and more, where people have a particular budget in mind, uh, and this is where finance comes comes in to uh save the day for us.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

So do you find that having a a solution to be able to offer customers straight off the bat it does make that whole decision-making process a bit easier?

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Oh, a hundred percent. Having having our in-house finance is certainly a a massive advantage to us. You know, we're not waiting on another company to reach out to our customers. It's the amount of times where I've just jumped on the phone to Candace and you know, myself when she hasn't been at a show or when we're working out of showrooms. The ability to call Candace and go, Hey Candace, can you please have a chat with Jim? He's looking at a XT17. You know, he he has 40 grand. He was talking about borrowing money from a friend, and then yeah, Candace comes in and goes, Well, you got 40 grand deposit, let's finance the rest.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

So I guess um one of the benefits is having sort of like a one-stop shop in our showrooms. A hundred percent, yeah. Um going back to that previous question, I think with customers come to a show, it's primarily a camping show, right? So there's not going to be boats and motorcycles there at the majority of them. They've made a decision as a family, they're gonna come in and purchase the caravan, it might be one of ours or someone else's, and we want to offer a seamless solution from point of sale to delivery that we keep everything in-house, and it is about that communication. Um up before Candace um actually came across with us, we were working with third-party lenders, and there was it was just a bit disjointed because they weren't aware of where the stock was or where it was going, or um ETDs, and also those lenders are actually working with multiple companies, and there was sort of sort of confusion. I guess our competitive advantage is it's all in-house, all one team, everyone knows each other, everyone knows the process from go to woe.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

I think that's that's a fundamental thing. The fact that if there is a a a situation in terms of the delivery schedule or anything like that with the van, the finance guys know straight away, and they're not going to then be chasing and knocking on the door going, Where's your papers? Where's your where's your final approval? Because they know that there's either it's gonna be delivered early or it's gonna be delivered later for whatever reason. Yeah, having that one-stop shop and everybody under the same roof makes it a bit easier.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

The the biggest advantage of, and I I've seen it over years that I've been here, the biggest advantage is you're not just a number, it is it is a much more personal approach for our customers.

SPEAKER_03 9:04

Yeah. So looking at that then, how does caravan finance differ for you in terms of I guess the behaviour and the process, Candace, from I guess or what what's keeping you excited about working in the role? Is it about the dream that you're helping people kind of achieve?

SPEAKER_05 9:22

It is, it is. There's uh an emotional sense to it. Um we help facilitate finance for people from all walks of life um at all different stages in their life. Um two customers are the same. And they all come together. Never had twins? Never had twins of life and comments? No, no, no. Okay, cool. Just making sure they're not. Siblings, not twins. Um it's the emotional journey that you go on with the customer. Um sharing your financial situation with someone is very personal, so you do you do get to know your customers well, um, and you do get to, you know, get a good idea of what they are trying to achieve by purchasing a van. Um Yeah, it does. It keeps you it keeps me excited. I'm excited to get up and come to work.

SPEAKER_03 10:20

What's interesting and what I notice about the team is I say there's a team, like how many people in the MDF team at the moment?

SPEAKER_05 10:26

There are five.

SPEAKER_03 10:27

Five. Five of us. Like you're all actually very genuine and very personal people. Like you've got Esther who's you know, a mother and very, very personal. She's generally quite quiet, but she's very uh I guess honest, comes across as very honest. And then you've got Sedu, who's a lovely guy and just has all the time in the world for everybody, brings in like morning teas for you guys, and you obviously do you are very open and honest people, and I think that probably goes a long way to the customer experience.

SPEAKER_05 10:55

It does, it does. You do find that your customers naturally open up and share things with you. Um, and I think it's important to be able to for the customer to feel comfortable enough to to you know discuss their their life with us and their lifestyle. Um but yeah, no.

SPEAKER_00 11:15

And one thing um Sam mentioned before was siblings and you s you talked about um you know, family. I guess the referral business, like we see customers coming back buying their second, third, fourth MDCs, and they're throughout their journey they're upgrading and they're refinancing. And yes, you know, I there's a lot of referral business there too, and I guess that's a testament to you and your team when people keep coming back, they're really getting a good experience when they're doing the finance through MDF.

SPEAKER_05 11:45

Oh, thank you. Yes, we do see a lot of business coming back through. I mean, as I mentioned, I've only been with the company for 24 months, and I'm already seeing, you know, returned cut, you know, return customers, um, you know, sons and daughters of people who have come through MDF, siblings, friends.

SPEAKER_03 12:05

So it's I think they've just heard about Wayne Chavez, who's been on channel nine weather, channel seven weather uh throughout the country.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

They run into a salesman and then Candace comes around and gets the deal done.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

Yeah. Lock him in and Candace swoops into the back. Well uh Adelaide Show. I think we had two two or three of the financers in Adelaide Show were were repeat customers, yeah. So that was was uh something that was yeah quite interesting to see. Like they've you know come onto the stand with the intention of wanting to look at a caravan and not being not being in the right market to buy something else, but then they've sat down with Candace and we've we've made their new dream come true. So I guess Candace, for people that are kind of sitting on the fence at the moment going, I don't know if it's right for me, or you know, that that's not where I want to be, Luke. What would you say to them about you know applying for that finance process for for a leisure a leisure product?

SPEAKER_05 12:58

I think the biggest misconception with finance is that people think that they can't afford it or they're not at a stage in life where they're able to achieve you know the goal of purchasing a caravan. Um but definitely reach out. Um I am always willing to just you know discuss options. Um if it's not right now, you know, it's also good to discuss um sort of you know where you can be, how you can achieve that in the future.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Um when we talk about affordability, our entry-level product is an explorer forward fold, right? And from a bloke's perspective, if I'm sitting in customers' shoes and the finance on that is around$75 per week and I'm buying three cartons of beer per week and they're$75 each, I'd be saying to my wife, you know what, I'll cut my three cartons down to two, and that one carton will put that towards the uh camper. Sounds like a fabulous idea. Good way to look at it. And uh for anyone out there that that's a tip for you when you're talking to your better half tonight around finances, that's how you do it. One less carton. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 14:08

But if you do want a full-size caravan, then perhaps at three cartons you need to re-rethink your life choices.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Yeah, go from six to three, maybe.

SPEAKER_03 14:15

That's right, or start homebrewing or something like that. Back to the COVID days. Correct. Look, in terms of uh accessibility in that, uh, the people you sort of talked about different people, but is that is it is it really wide open? I mean, is there much is there strong criteria about lending and and borrowing? As you said, it's pick up the phone in a lot of cases and have a chat. Are there kind of some sort of bottom end of scale? Obviously, we're not going to disclose any details, but what are the basic requirements? Like essentially, obviously you've got to be employed and have consistent income and things like that. Um but I guess what does it take to apply for finance? Because it can be overwhelming, I think, for some people.

SPEAKER_05 14:52

Oh, absolutely. And I mean that's why we we try and keep it as as simple as possible for the customer. Um requirements, we require identification. Uh you need to have consistent income and you know, reasonable, reasonable credit. Um But yes, we do. I mean, we see people as young as 19, you know, still living at home, wanting to get into the market, purchasing camper trailers. Um I think my eldest customer was 83 purchasing a caravan.

SPEAKER_03 15:25

Um banks didn't look at that and go, oh, is he gonna be around here in a couple of weeks? You do have to have an extra exit strategy. Okay, yes, cool. So if you could sum it up, I guess in terms of caravan ownership, what do you think it represents to people, I guess, beyond just the product itself?

SPEAKER_05 15:41

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, it's a lifestyle. You know, you are owning a caravan comes with a sense of freedom, you know. It's packing the family up and heading away for the weekend. Um I have also had families come through who have, you know, sort of ditched the the normality and they've you know taken a year off to travel around Australia, you know, homeschool their children.

SPEAKER_03 16:08

Um We were talking the other day about people that are actually buying vans to now essentially live in them. So like from an affordability and housing point of view and rent, they're going, well, for this kind of money I can actually go and buy a 19-foot or a 17 family or something like that and do a lap, but we're gonna do it slow and we're gonna cruise and for the first few months we're actually just gonna park it up at a friend's property and we're gonna live in it and we'll just live our daily life and do what we need to do. Um that's becoming a literally a financial decision for the family.

SPEAKER_05 16:41

It is, it is, and we are seeing more of it um, you know, with the economy that the way it is. Um I even had a young couple last week come through who purchased an XL 154E with the bunks because they were hitting the road full time and they needed the bunks for their dogs. So you do, you know, a a lot of people are sort of changing um choosing, you know, the freedom of being on the road and living in a van.

SPEAKER_03 17:08

Yeah, like big lifestyle choices. It's interesting. Customs and emotions and things, experiences like that. Like Wayne, you must see a bit of that out in the field.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

Oh, a hundred percent. Um, and it's it's one of those things where you have a lot of people, obviously, they've they've got that dream in mind, they've got ideas in their head of what they want to do. And as Candace just touched on, and as Vaughan touched on earlier, like you've it's their second or third biggest purchase in their in their lifetime, uh, especially with housing as it is these days. So it could potentially be their second biggest purchase after a motor vehicle. Um, and it is one of those things where people are trying to get a get out of the rat race or create their own race by travelling on the road full-time and working, you know. But we we do often see uh a lot of excitement from our customers, and it is always refreshing when you have a customer come back or you know, randomly at 10 o'clock at night you get sent a photo of them in an absolutely killer location, and you're like, that is that is what we do. We we sold that to them, we sold them that dream, and now we're part of their journey. And you know, I know you obviously have a different take on the the finance customers, but I know a lot of our customers are always very grateful. Like, how how do you have that from the finance standpoint? Like, you know.

SPEAKER_05 18:23

Yes, yeah, very like very similar.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Nice, and then talking about you came from car finance to leisure finance. I'd imagine it's just a better experience overall. Buying a motor vehicle is I need one, I need one to get to work. It's like I I have to go buy it.

SPEAKER_03 18:46

It's more of a functional decision rather than an emotional decision.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Yeah, buying a caravan is a leisure decision for the family, right? This is our holidays, this is our downtime, um, it's how they're gonna make memories together.

SPEAKER_03 18:59

Yeah. What price can you put on memories, hey? So you've seen a rise in people choosing that van life, and and we have certainly seen it through the business as well. And and is the main reason they're making that shift, do you think it's about cost of living, or is it just attitude changes, do you think, in the market? It's probably a question for both of you, I guess. You're both on the ground.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Do you want to touch on this one first?

SPEAKER_05 19:22

I feel like it's a it's a bit of both. I feel like it is the market. I think the market definitely drives it, but there definitely is an attitude change.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Um it's yeah, I think we've seen a little a little uptick just maybe since the start of this year, with people not travelling overseas as much. You know, for obviously world events and whatever else is happening. And I know we've touched on this in another podcast, but it could have the potential of having that kind of like mini COVID-esque kind of uptick in the industry where people are gonna look at home, and you know, our our big brown country, it's you know, there's a lot of land out there for people to look at and explore. Um, and when an overseas holiday is gonna cost a lot more than you know purchasing a caravan and travelling at home, exchange rates, travel costs. 100% feeling and just the uncertainty. Like, I know you know uh my partner and I, we we had friends that were stuck in uh Abu Dhabi and Jubai, like they couldn't fly anywhere. Wow. So you know that it took them what was meant to be just a quick flight home, it took them you know two weeks to get home because they had to travel around and you know you're not gonna have that risk when you uh you know traveling in Australia.

SPEAKER_03 20:34

Well, everyone wants a break, right? And I think it's just the type of break having young kids growing up. I noticed you know my my travel plans changed. It you I used to want to go to go to Thailand or something like that for a week or two, but now with young kids I find it easier just to go for a couple of days somewhere or go for a week or something like that, and you don't have to go that far. So uh uh especially now with the cost of fuel, it'll be interesting to see what happens at Easter as we're coming up to Easter here. How many people's travel plans are going to change? The reality is you don't have to change it that much if you're not going that far. Yeah, if you're gonna have to do that. So if you've got a caravan that you could roll down the beach or go and park up somewhere and it's only two hours from home, that's a far more affordable holiday option. You still get the the joy of just hanging out, change a scenery, you know, get outdoors, go and enjoy it rather than having to spend seven hours or doing a lap to Cape York and back in winter. Yeah, I think that's a it still provides a huge runway and opportunity for holidaying just in a different format as what we pops were doing previously.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Oh, especially you know you just look at you know the Brisbane region, there's so much to do you know that's only an hour or two away. And people people are going to take advantage of that.

SPEAKER_03 21:40

I think all those cities, you go to New South Wales and Sydney, you've you go out to Mudge or you go up to the Central Coast or you know the hunter where you're from originally, and you know those places, or even Victoria, you go up to Gippsland or up into the mountains and those types of places. There's there's so much around. I think we don't have it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. It's just a bit of planning about what you want. To do which kind of takes me to the next question is do you see people coming in looking for finance with a plan? Do they sort of come in with the intention to take on finance or has they kind of been sort of funneled through by the sales guys and say, hey, we didn't they weren't aware of the option or hadn't considered finance?

SPEAKER_05 22:18

No, no, we definitely have people coming directly through to MDF who uh are ready to go. Um, a lot of people do like to sort of discuss their their options with finance before actually making a decision on a van. Um just to to to know that it is possible before they sort of get their heart set on the asset itself.

SPEAKER_03 22:40

Yeah, cool. You work with I guess a range of customers there. Uh what are some of the examples? We talked about, I guess, the age differences we've had, you know, 19-year-olds coming and getting loans and stuff like that, right up to an 83-year-old. Um what are some of the other people that are taking on finance? Is it couples, singles, families? Is there a bit of a trend towards one or another at all?

SPEAKER_05 23:03

Not really. No, no.

SPEAKER_03 23:05

And is it I guess is a single person any more or less likely to get finance than a than a couple, for example, where you might have dual incomes or not necessarily.

SPEAKER_05 23:15

No, I mean we have a lot of options um available with finance. So whether you're single, married, um, a family, there's there is something for for everyone. Um I think the trend at the moment, I have been noticing a lot of uh married couples come in who are planning for retirement. Like a lot of people coming in with sort of like a five-year plan to to retire in five years, so they want to to make the purchase and and have their asset paid off so they're ready to hit the road once they're retired.

SPEAKER_03 23:49

They do. Yeah, nice.

SPEAKER_00 23:51

I guess also um if they've got that plan in mind, is to like a couple of small trips before you go and do your big lap.

SPEAKER_03 23:58

Absolutely, yeah, longer term planning and things like that. Is uh there any surprising trends, Wayne, that you're sort of seeing? I guess the 19-year-old's getting finance. It's not something I would have been thinking about at 19 buying a caravan or a camper trailer, like I used to travel and surf and do things like that, but caravans was not on my list.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

Look, we we have seen that uh, you know, back when we were younger, Sam, like you know, every young fella wanted a 79 series. You know, every everybody wanted the big V8 land crew. Yeah, fair. No, yeah, that's fair. I guess uh we've seen more of that. Um younger people these days have got that more common sense kind of spending thing, and I'm not sure if that's because they they're a result of growing up like with more frugal family, but instead of buying the you know,$100,000 car, they're buying the$20,000, you know, secondhand already done up kind of four-wheel drive. Uh, and that's what we've seen with, you know, especially with our smaller units. So your Forbes 11s, your Jacksons, your little Fort Nines, uh, and even the XT12. So those ones that are in that in that realm of you know, it's not gonna cost me an arm and a leg to live in or travel, we've certainly seen that. But as Candace said, we're also having the the early retirement customers as well who, you know, they're not looking to retire for another five, five to ten years, but they will when they do retire, they don't want to have to be paying off an asset.

SPEAKER_03 25:22

So yeah, you're talking about different bands there that you're looking at the compact range, but obviously we finance pretty much is there anything we don't finance in our range? Nope.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

No, everything.

SPEAKER_03 25:34

So that's everything as Vaughn was saying from like 20 grand to right up to 100 basically. In that case, then you talked about options earlier, Candace, for different people. How do those options come about? Like what flexibility do we have? Obviously, different lenders and things like that that we lean on.

SPEAKER_05 25:52

Yes, yes. We have a range of lenders uh that we facilitate finance through. Um so we have uh in-house lenders and then we also have uh a second stream lender, so a broker partner uh who offer uh financial um services like personal loans, uh debt consolidation, things that we don't facilitate in-house. Um so yes, the there is a range.

SPEAKER_00 26:23

Yeah, so I guess uh essentially what that means is anyone who walks through the door, providing they have employment, is able to finance a product with us if they meet the lending criteria. But generally anyone who walks through the door, we can do the deal.

SPEAKER_03 26:40

Yeah. So we act as essentially a screening agent, identify the best lender, best rate for that applicant, depending on what they're purchasing, how much the loan is and the terms of the loan, and go from there.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

Something I want to talk to um previous question when we talked about the young people coming in, and that might be something new. I guess back in the day when we were camping when we were 20 years old and we were going out with our mates, the barrier to entry to buy a camper trailer then or caravan was a lot higher because there was nothing in the market that started at a very cheap price. That's a really good point. We're in our different landscape. We're in our$69 Oz tents, three-person tent, sitting on the beach, sleeping in the back of a Volvo wagon, and waking up at midday's mate.

SPEAKER_03 27:26

But now you see um I don't think that's changed, I just think where you're where you're staying is different.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Well, every uh Easter we do have a family holiday that we go to Fraser Island, and so we're up around the Orchid Beach and so we get to travel the whole island. And over time you've seen that these tents have actually turned into camper trailers, and now in the last five years, it's you know, little hybrid caravans are really taken off. And it's the same demographic of people, but what they're actually living in on their holidays has just changed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:58

Well, that's the thing. I think people have got the there is still a level of disposable income out in the market, but it's how people are prioritizing to holiday and and things like that as well. What about insurance? Is insurance part of the MDF package as well?

SPEAKER_05 28:13

It yes, it is. So we also have uh two insurance companies that we're partnered with. Uh they are solely insurance caravan insurance providers whose insurance is designed for caravan customers. So it is a service that we offer also.

SPEAKER_03 28:33

How is that different to I guess uh going up to your alleyarns or something like that in caravan insurance versus more contents insurance or personal items?

SPEAKER_05 28:43

Yeah, sure. I mean the uh insurance uh the the product that we offer um covers things for when you're on the road. So when you're traveling, um it covers uh parts of the caravan that your your average insurer wouldn't.

SPEAKER_02 29:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 29:00

Um it covers your accessories, it covers your your awning, your annex.

SPEAKER_02 29:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 29:05

Um you you have sort of yeah, that cover of travel and accommodation. So if anything happens while you were, you know, you are out on the road, you're not stranded. Right. Um you're able sorry.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

No, that was me. Sorry.

SPEAKER_05 29:18

You're you're able to select layup months, so you're up uh able to select So it's not a flat 24 12 month period if you shut it off.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

And that is that is something and pause it essentially. Layup months are actually amazing for customers, like especially in the the northern and most southern extremes. Like, you know, people aren't gonna go camping in the wet season in Darwin, uh, and people don't necessarily want to go camping in the frigid winter months in Victoria. So that's where and they both offer layout months, which is quite quite a uh cool concept for caravans and so let's just explain that.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

So that's if you decide you're not gonna use your caravan for three to six months, you can go to the insurer, hey, I'm just gonna park it up, and for those months you'd pay a reduced premium or a you don't pay, or is it workers?

SPEAKER_01 30:10

Yeah, it's a reduced premium. And when they're initially looking at insurance, and that's you know, both of the insurers that we use, um that the thing that separates them from your alliances and your RACs and uh is that they specialise in caravan, camper trailer, motorhomes, leisure craft. Um and the layout month option for them, you you can actually you can have that discussion with the customer um while they're uh processing their finance, uh sorry, processing their insurance. Um but if if they say look, I'm not I know I'm not gonna go camping between the months of June and September, you can actually select that and it'll lower their overall premium as well. So it it's not it's a lot there's not a lower premium for those particular months, it's a lower premium overall. Yeah, right. Yeah, okay, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 30:58

And I guess another point is too, if you go through a specialised caravan and camper insurer, if it comes to you having to put a claim in because of an accident, they have a amount of businesses that they work with every day in regards to doing repairs for caravans because it's a little bit more specialized in, say, motor vehicle. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:20

Yeah, right. Very helpful to know.

SPEAKER_05 31:24

I think too, if you if you do go with the in-house insurance, we uh we still uh uh support you with that. So, you know, if you do need to make a claim, um we are able to assist with that. So I guess it's that personal touch still throughout the process.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

Brings you back to what Vaughan said earlier. It's that the one-stop shop, you know, we we we manufacture and sell caravans, we uh have our own in-house finance with MDF, and essentially all of our sales team and our and our finance funding specialists are all uh in insurance writers essentially. They are.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

I imagine from a finance perspective, Candace, that if a company is going to finance a caravan, then it has to be insured, right? Otherwise you can't have the finance. That's a good point.

SPEAKER_03 32:15

Yeah, what are the what are the conditions around achieving finance?

SPEAKER_05 32:18

Around achieving finance.

SPEAKER_03 32:19

Yeah, I guess with regards to insurance or other things like that, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:22

I mean we do we do advise that you have insurance. We have we have one financier that we work with who uh it is a condition that you do have to have insurance. Um but I think we're very well our customers are very lucky in a sense that we have the insurance options that we do available. We we do discuss it with every customer. It's highly important that um we we're they're made aware of it.

SPEAKER_04 32:51

They're made aware of it as an option, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

I'd imagine there'd be nothing worse that you know, touch wood, you had your caravan stolen and it wasn't insured, and then you still got to pay that finance out. That'd be a terrible position to be in. Oh, the worst.

SPEAKER_03 33:06

Or you push the limits and take it up to Cape York like you guys did, and then turn around and go, ooh, ooh. Well, I'm not sure you can insure for that. Well, that's a good question. On or off-road insurance, and that's that's where you might want to ask the questions. I think it's just about it's about due diligence, right? It's about in the process, thinking about having a plan, going, look, how do I want to finance this and what's the terms of the agreement that want to put in put in place? If I do want insurance, how am I going to be using the van? Coming in, going, am I going to have it out every weekend, or am I going to have it out for six months of the year or only three months of the year, or on or off-road?

SPEAKER_01 33:42

I'll just touch on that as well. Both of our insurance uh companies specialise in that off-road insurance as well.

SPEAKER_03 33:48

So look, from a forward driving point of view, yeah, something that is a is a key decision that I think a lot of people do need to make. You know, places like Club 4x4, for example, uh they do note that for off-road vehicles. Yeah. Um, but being caravans, that's a good thing to know. You don't have to go to those guys necessarily. It can be all done with ours. In house. It's fantastic, great. Well, look, that's been really interesting, Candace. Um, it's yeah, who would have thought there'd be so much more emotion and personality in finance? But it's interesting to see like the depth of the type of people that are coming in asking for it, it is becoming far more common. Yeah, we see the rates of people taking up finance versus those that don't. Um, and it's pretty surprising, like it's they're much higher than I anticipated. So, yeah, I think thanks to you getting out there and actually being out on the ground at the shows. And if it's not you, it's one of the guys from the team. So, understanding that you have a I guess a team of five, you guys certainly cover a bit of ground. So we do. I think the customers appreciate that too, and I'm sure Wayne and the sales guys appreciate having you on hand when they need it. Well, thanks for coming out. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. I hope you've had a lot of fun. Well, thanks for joining us on another episode of the Off-Grid Down Under Podcast. If you'd like to find out more, please visit the mdf.com.au website for more information or have a quick application or look at what finance options might be available to you. We also have a Facebook page, which is on Facebook, MDF. Quite easy to find. But uh look, if you do like what you see, please like, please subscribe to the channel, and we look forward to seeing you on the next episode.