Caravan insurers and their wording
Article by Roger Jones
Understanding the insurance cover provided by your caravan insurers is critically important. It is worth noting that such cover may place certain obligations on you, including:
• you may be obliged to think very carefully about where you are planning to site your caravan - some caravan insurers, for example, may not welcome sites with a known background of flooding or they may require, in the case of statics and park homes, that you only use sites that are formally and legally registered with the local authorities;
• you may find that your caravan insurance policy requires that you use certain forms of security (hitchlocks, wheel clamps and alarms etc) as mandatory;
• if your caravan is mobile, typically considered to mean touring caravans and motorhomes, you may find that the policy places certain restrictions on the age and experience levels of anyone that is likely to tow/drive the caravan;
• caravan insurers may vary significantly in terms of their attitudes towards contents cover - some, for example, may exclude high-value items from cover including things such as PCs, mobile phones, laptops, some forms of jewellery and cash etc, so do check the policy wording and look at any exclusions;
• if your policy provides European cover, it may be on the basis of asking you to restrict yourself to a specific number of days driving per year or a maximum number of miles/km;
• if you are unfortunate enough to experience burglary or vandalism to your caravan, your policy may oblige you to report it to police within a specified period of time and to obtain evidence that you have done so;
• if you have a static caravan, you may find that the policy requires you to drain down all water systems in the winter - it may also place certain obligations on you regarding the way the caravan is secured, such as ensuring that it is jacked off its wheels and secured through formal concrete anchors etc;
• your policy may or may not have special requirements with regard to things such as awnings, where it may require you to commit to stowing them away when you are away from your caravan, as storm damage to an awning while you are not present, may not be covered.
Caravan insurers will typically make considerable effort to try and ensure that these conditions are clearly articulated in their policy documentation but if you are ever unsure, it may make sense to contact your insurer for clarification.
About the Author
Roger is the Editor of the UK's first Caravan insurance comparison website, http://www.caravanquoter.co.uk. Our easy to use site allows you to get multiple quotes from specialist brokers for static caravan insurance
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