Caravan insurance can be a complicated matter, if you don’t take out enough or the right type you could find yourself out of pocket in event of a claim. Caravans are a valuable asset, and should be treated as such when the time comes to set up or renew your insurance. When considering caravan insurance you need to be clear on precisely what your needs are: cover for what, and for how much?

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.

As static caravans are unlived in at least some part of the year, they should be protected against break in and vandalism. You will want to install an alarm system, smoke alarms, and locks on the doors of static caravans to help reduce your premiums. If you have a static caravan, you should ensure that it is at a secure site (for instance, walled with floodlighting), both to reduce costs, and risk of claims.

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.

To prevent any ugly shocks later on, always read the small print of any policy before you considering taking it out. Be sure that you have adequate coverage with your policy as claim limits vary quite a bit between companies. The same as buying any item, it makes great sense to have a good look around and get a few quotes, comparing what each company have on 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.

Continental use coverage is required if you intend to travel to mainland Europe, and does not always come as standard. Roadside assistance (to a maximum amount) and repatriation of the caravan (to its insured value) is included in some policies. Some countries are normally excluded from the cover, mainly the former Soviet Block countries (e.g. Poland, Albania, Bulgaria… etc).

Excess is the amount of a claim that you must pay yourself, before the insurance company will stump up any cash. For instance, if you had an excess of 100 and made a 300 claim, you would get 200 from the insurance company. Increasing the amount of excess on your policy is one way you can save money on premiums.

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.

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