Caravan insurance is not always straightforward, not getting the proper cover or not getting enough cover could leave you short if you ever had to claim. Your caravan is a valuable investment and should be treated accordingly when its time to renew or take out caravan insurance. If you are thinking about insuring your caravan, it is important to understand exactly what your needs may be, how much and what cover you need.

If you own a touring caravan, your insurance needs may be totally different to if you were renting out a static caravan on site. You can insure your caravan fully comprehensive, or you can choose to go with just third part fire and theft. Whatever you do, do not buy caravan insurance just on price there is a huge void between best, and cheapest, coverage is more important.

Being vacant for at least some of the year, a static caravan should be covered for both break-in and of course vandalism. Installing good window and door locks, a good alarm system and a few smoke alarms will help to pair down the cost of your insurance. Storing a static caravan at a secure site is a very good idea both for security risks and for reducing your premiums.

If your caravan is a touring caravan and you like to take it overseas to Europe, avoid any nasty surprises by making sure that you are covered to do so. Although some insurance policies do not, most will cover your touring caravan in Europe for a set number of days. Europe is a great (and popular) destination for caravanners with touring caravans make sure you do it properly.

It is vital that you take out your magnifying glass and read the fine detail of any caravan insurance policy before you take it out, you dont want any surprises later on. There are different limits to paying out on items and they vary between providers quite a bit, make sure you have decent coverage. Shop around and compare what each company provides, as with anything it pays to look around beforehand.

Caravan holidays are becoming an increasingly attractive proposition in these difficult financial times. A new generation of young families are discovering the joys (and money savings) that caravanning has to offer. Spain is no longer the number one holiday for British people, caravans have now taken over the mantle.

Carl Way is a founder of Caravan Insurance Cover, the UK’s premier website for caravan insurance.

The average touring caravan insurance policy is made up of a number of different elements, and if you own a caravan you should be aware of these. These are Contents, Liability to the public, Damage and Loss, Continental use, Excess, and general exclusions. In this article, I am going to delve a little into each of these different parts of the policy.

Damage and Loss not surprisingly relates to the damage to or loss of the caravan, and normally covers up to the full value. Newer caravans can get new for old cover, this means that if it needs replacing, it will be with a new caravan. Market value is the other type of cover, which will pay you the market value of your old caravan should it need replacing.

You often have to pay extra for contents and personal effects cover, and beware that it is normally limited in the things it covers. You will often find the following excluded: valuables; credit cards; bikes; photographic equipment; computers; phones; valuables. Policies also differ in whether they cover theft from trailer and toilet tents, and from awnings, and will only cover theft from forcible entry.

The policy will also cover injury or loss to a member of the general public from your use of the caravan. This cover will normally extend to people who have borrowed the caravan, as long as it is not hired to them, and they are not using it for business purposes. Normally the coverage is between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000, and sometimes includes costs, but not always.

You must make sure you have continental use coverage if you are going to mainland Europe, as this doesn’t always come as a standard. Some policies will also offer repatriation of the caravan (up to its insured value) and roadside assistance (up to a maximum amount). A number of the former Soviet block states are not covered, among them Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

The amount of any claim you must pay yourself before the insurance company are willing to part with any money is called the excess. To illustrate, if you made a claim for 500 and your excess was 200, then you would get 300 from the insurance company. If you up the amount of excess that you have on your policy, you will find that your policy will get cheaper.

All policies have general exclusions, mostly to do with highly unlikely event, but still important to review. Things like hostilities (war, invasion…), terrorism, pressure waves from supersonic aircraft, but also be aware that use other than social, domestic or pleasure is excluded. You will find that by and large these exclusions are consistent between the different policies available.

Carl Way is a founder of Caravan Insurance Cover, the UK’s premier website for insurance for touring caravan.

The average touring caravan insurance policy is made up of a number of different elements, and if you own a caravan you should be aware of these. These are Contents, Liability to the public, Damage and Loss, Continental use, Excess, and general exclusions. In this article, I am going to delve a little into each of these different parts of the policy.

Damage and Loss of a caravan are covered, normally up to the value of the caravan itself. New For Old cover means that you will get a new caravan replacement caravan, but this is normally only for caravans up to 5 years old. Market Value cover means that if your caravan needs replacing, you can claim the prevailing market value for your old caravan.

Contents and personal effects are not always standard in a policy, and are often quite limited in the coverage provided. Things like computers, documents, phones, bikes, money, credit cards, valuables, and audio/video devices are often excluded. To claim, entry must have forcible, and policies offer different coverage for awnings, toilet and trailer tents.

The policy will also cover injury or loss to a member of the general public from your use of the caravan. This cover will normally extend to people who have borrowed the caravan, as long as it is not hired to them, and they are not using it for business purposes. Normally the coverage is between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000, and sometimes includes costs, but not always.

You must make sure you have continental use coverage if you are going to mainland Europe, as this doesn’t always come as a standard. Some policies will also offer repatriation of the caravan (up to its insured value) and roadside assistance (up to a maximum amount). A number of the former Soviet block states are not covered, among them Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

The amount of any claim you must pay yourself before the insurance company are willing to part with any money is called the excess. To illustrate, if you made a claim for 500 and your excess was 200, then you would get 300 from the insurance company. If you up the amount of excess that you have on your policy, you will find that your policy will get cheaper.

General exclusions are a feature of all policies, and are generally very exceptional circumstances, however you should still be aware of them. Terrorism, pressure waves from supersonic aircraft, and hostilities to name a few, but be aware that use other than social, domestic and pleasure is excluded also. Often the general exclusions are fairly consistent between the different available caravan insurance policies.