Vacation Planning Tips

Its not always that easy to understand caravan insurance, if you ever had to claim you may find yourself out of pocket if you do not take the right type of cover, or even enough cover. A caravan is a big investment and should be thought of that way when you come to insure or renew your caravan insurance. At the time of purchase, be very clear on your needs, what cover you need and how much you want to pay.

Your caravan insurance needs depend on what you do with your caravan, do you take it touring, or perhaps rent it out on site? When choosing caravan insurance you have the choice between third party fire and theft, and fully comprehensive insurance. Cheapest and best are often two entirely different things, so don’t buy insurance based on price alone, base it on coverage.

If you own a static caravan you will want to cover it for both vandalism and break-in as it is probably vacant for some of the year. A good way to reduce your premiums is to install smoke alarms, and alarm system and so good locks on the doors and windows. With a static caravan, you can again reduce both the costs and the risks by storing it at a secure site.

To make sure that you are not on the end of any unexpected shocks when taking your touring caravan to Europe, make sure that you are properly covered. Most caravan insurance policies will cover your for a certain number of days in Europe, although some do not. If you are going to the mainland of Europe make sure you get it right, as you dont want to spoil your great holiday in this very popular caravanning spot.

You should always read the small print of any policy before you take it out, to prevent any nasty surprises down the road. Limits for paying out on items can vary quite widely between providers, so make sure you know you have everything adequately covered. As with buying anything, it always pays to shop around and compare between what each of the providers has to offer.

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 to compare caravan insurance.

If you own a touring caravan you may be interested to know what makes up the main elements of a touring caravan insurance policy. The main elements are: Damage and Loss; Contents; Liability to the public; continental use; Excess; general exclusions. This article will give you an overview of each of these different parts of the policy.

Damage and Loss – this covers the caravan, normally up to its full value, for damage to or loss of the caravan. If you have a caravan normally up to 5 years old you can get new for old cover, which will provide you with a new caravan. Older caravans require Market Value cover, which means that if it needs replacing, it will be to the going value of 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.

Liability to the public is to protect the owner in the case of injury or loss to the general public resulting from use of the caravan. This will often cover people the caravan is leant to, as long as it is not for business purposes or hired to them. The level of cover is normally between 1 and 2 million pounds, sometimes including costs, sometimes plus costs.

If you plan to travel to the continent, you will need to ensure you have continental use included in the policy. You will find that some policies also include roadside assistance and/or repatriation of the caravan. You will find that many of the former Communist countries (e.g. Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic) are excluded from continental use.

When you make a claim you will have to pay the first x amount yourself, this is what is called the excess. Should you make a 1000 claim and have a 300 excess, you would receive a 700 payout from the insurers (i.e. 1000 – 300). If you want to save some money on your policy, this can be achieved by increasing the amount of excess on it.

You should be aware of the general exclusions of a policy, despite the fact that many of them are exceptional events. Pressure waves from supersonic aeroplanes, terrorism and hostilities are several of these, but importantly so is use other than social, domestic or pleasure. The many different caravan insurance policies generally offer the same general exclusions as each other.

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