Posts Tagged ‘camping’

How to Find the Right Insurance for Your Caravan

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

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?

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.

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.

In these testing economic times, caravan holidays are becoming an ever popular way of getting a value for holiday. Younger families are uncovering the fun (and savings) that a caravan holiday can provide. Caravans are now the king of holidays, replacing Spain as the top holiday spot for us Brits.

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

Why You Should Know the Important Elements of Your Touring Caravan Insurance Policy

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

Touring caravan owners should know what the elements are that make up any insurance policy they take out. The elements of a policy are Contents, Continental use, Damage and Loss, general exclusions, Excess, and Liability to the public. It is my intention to offer an insight into the policies different parts in this article.

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.

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.

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.

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 touring caravan insurance.

The Important Elements of a Touring Caravan Insurance Policy

Sunday, May 24th, 2009

Touring caravan owners should know what the elements are that make up any insurance policy they take out. The elements of a policy are Contents, Continental use, Damage and Loss, general exclusions, Excess, and Liability to the public. It is my intention to offer an insight into the policies different parts in this article.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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