The Important Elements of a Touring Caravan Insurance Policy

By Carl Way

The average touring caravan insurance policy is made up of a number of different elements, and if you own a caravan you should be aware of these. These are Contents, Liability to the public, Damage and Loss, Continental use, Excess, and general exclusions. In this article, I am going to delve a little into each of these different parts of the policy.

Damage and Loss not surprisingly relates to the damage to or loss of the caravan, and normally covers up to the full value. Newer caravans can get new for old cover, this means that if it needs replacing, it will be with a new caravan. Market value is the other type of cover, which will pay you the market value of your old caravan should it need replacing.

Contents and personal effects is often an optional extra, and is generally quite limited in coverage, so check what is covered. Normally excluded are money and credit cards, valuables, audio/video devices, bikes, phones, documents and computers. Forcible entry is also required to be able to make a claim, and also policies differ in whether they cover theft from awnings, trailer and toilet 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.

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. - 21396

About the Author:

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