When buying touring caravan insurance, it may be perfectly understandable that you may be reluctant to spend much time reading through the terms and conditions.
The trouble with this approach though, is that the banner headlines of your policy may only tell you what is being provided at a very high level.
The terms and conditions (Ts and Cs) spell everything out in more detail and apart from telling you what your insurance provider will do for you in certain circumstances, they also make clear what responsibilities you may have in relation to the touring caravan insurance cover being offered.
For example:
- some policies may require that you take steps to help prevent the theft of your tourer. So you may find that you are expected to use a wheel clamp when your caravan is left attached to your towing vehicle. However, when your caravan is not attached to your car, then you may have to add a hitchlock to prevent it from being hitched up and towed away by a thief;
- you may also be expected to take special care of your awning, particularly in relation to storm damage. While all caravanners can appreciate the very useful additional living space that an awning can provide, they are neither the most robust of structures, nor the most secure. So you may find that you are required to stow your awning away when you leave the caravan, otherwise storm damage to the awning may not be covered;
- similarly you may find that, while outside furniture left in your awning may be covered by your touring caravan insurance, other belongings typically may not be. Further reading: Awning insurance: need to know and Guide to Awnings;
- not all policies may typically offer unlimited European cover as standard. There may be quite a mixture of options available, ranging from:
- cover provided only for touring in the UK;
- continental cover but only for a limited number of days or miles per year;
- right up to unlimited European travel;
- the Ts and Cs may also provide important information relating to the conditions under which you may qualify for new for old replacement of your caravan, if it is damaged beyond economic repair. You may find that with some policies, you qualify for a new caravan if your tourer is less than three years old – no matter how many previous owners. Others may require that you have been the only owner. You may find that there are policies which can offer this replacement basis for caravan up to five years old;
- touring caravan insurance policies may impose upper value limits for individual items kept in your caravan. Understanding what these are may help reduce the scope for expensive mistakes;
- there may be times when you need to let you insurance provider of a change in circumstances – our blog When to notify your insurance provider explains this in more detail.
Understanding just what is and is not covered by your touring caravan insurance and what your responsibilities may be, can help you keep your caravan safe and your cover valid.
Questions?
If you have any questions relating to your policy terms and conditions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Please call 01702 606301 and one of our friendly, professional team will be happy to help. Also, please check out our Caravan Insurance Glossary .