The Guide to Caravan Insurance
Whether you buy a touring or static caravan, you’re making a major investment. Safeguarding that investment with caravan insurance is an important consideration.
At Intasure, we’re caravan and holiday home insurance specialists with vast experience in helping owners safeguard their pride and joy.
We’re always delighted to share our experience, which is what this article is about. So here’s your guide on things you may need to know about insuring every type of caravan and tailoring the cover to your circumstances.
What is caravan insurance?
Caravan insurance comprises a range of policies designed to offer financial security if your caravan is damaged or stolen. It also helps protect against injury to third parties or damage to their property.
Do I need caravan insurance?
“Do you have to insure a caravan?” is one of our most frequently asked questions. The short answer is that it isn’t a legal requirement. But if you go without caravan insurance, you could be saving a little but risking a lot. In fact, according to the AA, around 4,000 caravans per year are stolen.1
Anyone who has driven while towing a caravan will know that it makes accidents more likely. Windy weather or misjudging the whereabouts of a gatepost can cause severe and expensive damage. And a touring caravan is often at its most vulnerable to theft or damage while standing outside your house.
For static caravans, insurance is typically required by the holiday park2. It’s also a wise precaution when caravans are left unoccupied or are looked after by tenants. The public liability component of Intasure caravan insurance can be vital if you rent out your holiday home, as it covers injury to third parties or damage to the property.
What are the different types of caravan insurance?
At Intasure, we offer policies tailored for each popular caravan type.
Touring caravan insurance:
covering a caravan that you tow behind your vehicle and park at various locations. Your motor insurance may include third-party cover that applies when you’re towing, but ordinary car insurance won’t protect you against many of the real risks of owning a caravan. Only specific touring caravan insurance can cover the caravan itself against theft or damage — and provide third-party cover when it’s not being towed.
Static caravan insurance:
this covers caravans permanently situated at a single location, usually a holiday park. Although they have evolved from caravans to be more like prefabricated bungalows, this type of holiday home is still frequently called a static caravan. Most holiday parks require static caravan owners to have insurance, and there’s a strong case for having this protection for your property, even when it isn’t compulsory.
Mobile home insurance:
is another name for static caravan insurance, covering prefabricated holiday homes with one permanent location. Even though they rarely move (if ever), static caravan holiday homes are still commonly referred to as mobile homes.
Park home insurance:
is a specific policy for all-year-round permanent residences. They are typically situated in residential parks that are, in effect, private gated communities and distinct from holiday parks.
We also offer static caravan abroad insurance for people who own a mobile home or static caravan in France, Greece, Italy, Portugal or Spain.
What does caravan insurance cover?
Intasure provide insurance to help protect your static caravan or touring caravan. Below, we’ve listed the cover included in each of our packages.
Static caravan insurance
- Cover during unoccupied periods.
- Cover for malicious damage or vandalism.
- New for Old or Market Value cover available
- Optional accidental damage cover for family and tenants.
- Public liability cover up to £2.5 million included as standard.
- Protection for hot tubs.
- Subsidence or landslip of the land that your mobile home stands on.
Touring caravan insurance
- Loss of use – up to £250 per day following an insured incident.
- Personal accident cover – up to £20,000.
- Emergency removal cover – removing a disabled caravan following an insured loss.
- Cover for your furniture and awnings if lost or stolen – up to £500.
- Cover to get you, your car and your caravan home following a serious injury or illness – up to £1,000.
- European cover – up to 180 days as standard which can be increased to 270 days.
- Cover for liability – up to £2.5 million
Are the contents of my caravan covered?
Intasure’s touring and static caravan insurance policies cover loss or damage to your caravan’s contents. This cover can also be extended across Europe for touring caravans.
You may also have a measure of cover via your home insurance. You can confirm this by checking the wording to see if it includes valuables when you’re anywhere in the world. If it does, items such as technology and sports gear are often covered up to a certain value while they’re with you in your caravan.
Will my car insurance cover my caravan?
In most cases, car insurance policies cover your vehicle while towing a touring caravan. But they may not protect against damage to your caravan in the event of a collision. As always, check the precise wording of your policy. You will likely find that caravans are expressly excluded, so specialist insurance is important to consider.3
How can I lower my insurance premium?
To help reduce the cost of your insurance, make your caravan as secure as possible. Ground anchors, hitch posts, and wheel clamps on a touring caravan will deter thieves. Many people use trackers on more expensive touring models, but they’re a wise investment even on a less expensive caravan.
Registering your ownership of the caravan with the Central Reservation and Identification System is another way to help secure peace of mind, as well as a possible lower premium4.
How much does caravan insurance cost?
A range of variables determines the cost of your caravan insurance:
- Which type of caravan you’re covering — not just whether it’s static or touring, but also the precise make and model.
- The value and age of the caravan.
- Your caravan’s security. Is it fitted with a tracker?
- Where the caravan is kept when not being used.
- How much the contents are worth.
- Where you live.
- Your age.
The simplest way to discover the cost of insuring your caravan is to GET AN INTASURE QUOTE.
1 www.theaa.com/car-insurance/advice/caravan-insurance
2? www.haven.com/caravans-for-sale/advice-inspiration/a-guide-to-static-caravan-insurance
3 www.theaa.com/car-insurance/advice/caravan-insurance
4 www.cris.co.uk
