Have you ever wondered: “do I really need caravan insurance?”
It’s a perfectly legitimate question, so let’s examine the issues – and then discuss what you need to note when getting caravan insurance.
The value of your caravan
For most people, their caravan represents a very significant sum of money. As a result, anything that puts their caravan at risk is also going to put the capital that’s tied up in it, at risk too.
Ultimately, this boils down to a question of your finances. If your caravan suffered a major disaster, would you be happy to take the write-off against your own bank account or would you prefer to have the financial assistance that comes with touring caravan insurance to help cushion the blow?
If you’re in the latter category, then touring caravan insurance will be a must.
The car insurance myth and tourers
An important clarification is required here due to the sentiment that’s sometimes heard that “my car insurance covers my touring caravan”.
Typically, this is incorrect. As a general rule, your standard motor insurance policy may cover your car plus whatever you’re towing. It would be advisable to validate that by reading your car’s insurance cover.
Assuming that’s the case, it’s worth noting that you may find that such cover only applies to your touring caravan:
- while it’s hitched to your car. The moment you un-hitch, the cover may cease;
- while your caravan is under tow on a public highway. Once you take it off the public road, such as onto a site, the cover may again cease;
- even when meeting these other conditions, your tourer may only be covered for third party liability risks.
To give two practical illustrations:
- typically, if you reverse your caravan into another vehicle on the public road, your car’s insurance might (but do verify that) cover your third-party liability. Any damage caused to your caravan typically may not be covered;
- if you caravan is unhitched and on site, should it be destroyed by a flash flood, your car insurance typically won’t help.
The legal dimension
The site owners may have a legal right and very possibly a regulatory obligation, to ensure that caravans using their facilities have full third-party liability insurance cover as a minimum. They may be entitled to inspect yours and refuse you entry if you were unable to produce evidence of adequate cover.
The law itself does not explicitly require you to have unique touring caravan insurance per se. It does require your caravan to be covered for third party liability while on the public road.
However, in terms of protecting your own finances and respecting the requirements of many sites, it only makes sense to put such cover into place.
Getting the most appropriate caravan cover
Any kind of insurance needs to be tailored to the item you intend to cover. This applies just as critically to your caravan insurance, which needs to reflect the particular type of caravan or leisure home you own, namely whether it is a static home, tourer or motorhome.
No shortcuts
There are no shortcuts to arranging appropriate and adequate insurance for your caravan. If you are ever in any doubt at all about any of conditions of your policy documents, don’t be shy in asking your insurance provider for the answers about whatever the policy does and does not cover.
There are the big – and obvious – questions to ask your provider about any suggested cover:
- the fabric and structure of the caravan itself, for example;
- whether the cover also extends to the contents – and, if so, to what value and on what basis (i.e. new for old cover or wear and tear); and
- if alternative accommodation will be offered to whoever might be using it when a sufficiently serious insured event leaves it temporarily unusable.
With any caravan insurance policy, however, there will also be finer points of detail that remain equally important to understand and acknowledge. With respect to a static caravan, for instance, does the proposed insurance also cover structures in the garden surrounding the plot or decking alongside the caravan?
On the other hand, if you are insuring your touring caravan, you might want to check any provisions for cover of the awning. (For further info, please read our Guide to Awnings).
If you have recently upgraded your caravan, or if it has been modified in any way – with an updated fitted kitchenette, for example – you might need to raise the total sum insured to reflect its increased value.
Contents
When it comes to the contents of your caravan, you might want to consider very carefully what items are taken into the caravan in the first place. Apart from the fact that the less you bring, the more space you have inside the caravan, your caravan insurance may not cover items of especially high value, or it might limit the maximum settlement payable if something untoward happens to them.
So, why not take this opportunity to have a good clear out or spring clean.
Getting a quote for caravan insurance
We can help you find what we believe is the most cost-effective and appropriate suitable caravan insurance, either via our online caravan insurance quote system or our friendly, professional team, who are available at the end of the telephone – just call us on 01702 606301.
Of course, to ensure that we can help you as much as possible, we will need information about yourself and the caravan. Typically, this includes the make, model, and age of your caravan. We may also need to know what security features have been fitted (as some policies will require that you have a certain minimum level of security measures in place), and where the caravan may be taken.
If your tourer caravan is to be used out of the country, for example, there might be a limit on the number of days of continental cover included as standard in your policy
For further reading, you might want to review our Guide to Caravans.