Whether you have just bought your first caravan, have exchanged one for another or, you are coming up to an annual renewal date, insurance is likely to be one of your top priorities for protecting your investment.
Though you need to make sure that you arrange appropriate cover, there may still be ways and means that you do not spend more than you need.
If it’s an annual renewal that has come around once again, the natural inertia we all seem to share might encourage the simple expedient of giving it little more thought than rolling over the existing insurance cover from one year to the next. But with a little thought and care, it is possible to ensure that you are still getting the most suitable and cost-effective touring caravan insurance cover for you.
Here are our top tips to save on the caravan insurance you arrange – for the first time or upon the renewal of your existing cover:
Shop around and ask the experts
- shopping around seems such a simple tip it barely justifies the mention, but you do it for practically anything else you are buying, so why not your caravan insurance;
- finding the caravan cover you need is not simply a question of identifying the make, model, and age of your particular caravan, but also understanding a little about how insurance works and the range of products available;
- areas of uncertainty might lie in deciding just what level and scope of insurance cover you need by ensuring that you have everything covered while still paying a competitive rate – do you need new for old cover, for example, have your needs changed, or perhaps you need to increase the sum insured following improvements you have made to the interior of your caravan;
- if you have managed to define exactly what levels of cover you require and for how much, then you still need to find the closest match to your requirements offered by the many insurance options available in the market;
- even in the niche market of caravan insurance, the choice is likely to be extremely broad;
- to make sure that you are matching your actual needs to the specific, most cost effective and competitively priced policies available, you might want to consult a specialist caravan insurance provider – precisely the benefits we offer here at Cover4Caravans;
Insurance excess
- you are probably familiar with the concept of an excess – both compulsory and voluntary – when arranging your home or motor insurance, for instance;
- similar considerations apply when insuring your caravan – you might choose to take on an additional voluntary excess in order to share the risks with your insurer and thereby reduce the cost of the premiums you pay;
Play your part
- as with any kind of insurance contract, you have a responsibility for taking all reasonable precautions to minimise the risk of any loss or damage;
- not only that but many caravan insurance providers may also offer you more attractive and competitively priced rates if you go above and beyond what is required by any basic insurance policy by improving the trailer’s security – as you are then mitigating the risk of loss or damage;
- for a touring caravan, in particular, there are a number of ways in which you might do this;
- an important example – and one which your insurer may insist upon – is that both wheel clamps and hitchlocks are used when the caravan is left unattended but attached to the towing vehicle and that wheel clamps are also fitted when it is unhitched;
- while you may be reasonably expected to ensure that doors, windows, and roof lights are all properly secured and locked when you leave the caravan, you might also want to consider installing intruder alarms and/or motion detectors for greater security – and gain the possibility of further reductions in the cost of your insurance premiums;
- you might want to watch again our video on caravan security and insurance.
Secure storage
It is also worth remembering that the more you do to ensure that your caravan remains secure whilst it is in storage, the more you are able to help minimise any risks – and, so again, enjoy the possibility of a further reduction in premiums.
One of the most effective and safest ways of ensuring this degree of security is to overwinter or store your caravan at a site registered and approved by the Caravan Storage Site Owners’ Association (CaSSOA), which ranks member sites according to the level of security provided;
- the CaSSOA grades storage sites according to the level of security offered through features such as inspection patrols, perimeter fencing, CCTV and, controls at entry and exit points – and, with 500 or so CaSSOA members around the country, there is a good chance you will find a site conveniently situated close to home;
- it is during those winter months in storage that you may also help to mitigate loss or damage by draining down the water and heating systems of your caravan, removing items of value and ensuring that gas cylinders and the electricity supply are disconnected;
- we offer up to 20% discounts on the cost of cover if your caravan is stored at a CaSSOA-approved site – and remember that we also offer discounts on the cost of your insurance cover if you are a member of a recognised caravan club too.
It is hardly surprising that you set great store in the appropriate and adequate insurance of your caravan – it is likely to prove one of the most effective ways of protecting your investment.
Rather than letting a sense of inertia rule the day that you simply accept your insurance renewal quote, why not seize the opportunity to thoroughly review the insurance cover you have, the cover you need and the potential for beating any quote you might just have been given.
Let us help you to do just that by taking advantage of our experience and expertise as specialist caravan insurance providers. We’ll help to make sure that the cover you arrange appropriately meets your needs – and does so in a way that allows you to get a cost-attractive deal.