hi. im new to caravanning and ive recently brought me a 4 birth bailey.
do you have to have some sort of insurance when towing your caravan or is that optional extra? also do i need some sort of paperwork, simlar to a cars logbook to say im the owner as this one didnt have one.
you need to insure your van through a decent company, have a look at caravan guard, the caravan club etc. also the log you are referring to is CRIS REGISTRATION, same thing mate get the details from the Tinternet you can register your van for 12 shinny new pounds (I think anyway)
------------- If its not broke, dont fix it, and stop nagging
but is the insurance optional or is it something thats required by law? ive been given loads of conflicting stories, some saying yes you do ned it by law, some saying its only if you want to have it and others saying you dont have to have it at all.
My understanding is that it is not a legal requirement in the same way it is with a car. Whilst being towed the caravan is usually covered for third party risks by the car insurance. However you do have to consider the security of the caravan. If it were stolen or damaged you would be responsible for the loss or cost of repair. I don't know how much you have paid for the van but if its more than a few hundred pounds its shortsighted in my view not to insure it. Although I suspect rare you do also have to consider the risks to other property or persons when the van is not being towed. For example if you were moving it by hand on a campsite and damaged an electric bollard you could end up with a bill of £1500!
well lets put it this way you have invested a fair bit of cash on your van, theres a lot of toe rags that would pinch it, you have always a chance of pranging it or someone doing it to you so personally, get it covered you would be pig sick if you did not and something happ[ened, also make sure your recovery company are aware so you are covered for the van as well, mayday throught the caravan club are the cheapest I found at £117 thats with personal cover for me and the wife and excellent cover.
------------- If its not broke, dont fix it, and stop nagging
when i brought the van it had nothing at all on it so i spent a small fortune over the last few days updating the security on it like a top of the range hitch lock, wheel clamp, alarm etc plus im waiting for cris to send me a form to fill in to register the van with them (and have some electronic tag put in and the windows etched).
The way I understand it is, for the purpose of driving you are covered, third party through your car insurance. So if you have an accident, it's your fault, and you are towing the van, the other person will be covered through your car insurance. Similarly, if it is the other persons fault you should be covered through the other persons car insurance. If you have a comprehensive car insurance but no caravan insurance and an accident is deemed your fault, your car would be covered but not your caravan.
In my opinion, this alone, is sufficient to merit caravan insurance, but then by insuring your caravan you would (hopefully) be insured for fire/theft/damage too. Speaking as someone who has had a caravan stolen, I would not skimp on caravan insurance and also not necessarily go for the cheapest cover. Look at the details of the policy - the sad thing is, it's not until you need to claim that folk tend to look at the policy details, and all those 'get-out' clauses. We are insured with the Caravan Club (the largest insurers of caravan in the UK), and have found them very fair and helpful when our van was stolen. You can also cover your van 'new for old' for the first 10 years of its life, with the caravan club - I think they are the only company that offer 10 years (I stand to be corrected here). If you do go for 'New for Old' cover you need to have the van insured for its replacement value as if you were buying it new, at the time of renewal. When considering caravan insurance, contents need to be covered too - companies do this in different ways.
There are lots of threads on here about caravan insurance, and so it would be worth using the Search facility to read some of them. I hope I have at least been able to point at a few of the things you need to consider. Everything here is my personal opinion and no doubt others will think differently, but whatever the case always check with your car and caravan insurers for the final word on everything - we can all make mistakes in offering advice on here, and I'd hate for me, or anyone else to give you incorrect information that could leave you in a mess.
Remember if it is an old van then its market value will be low, regardless how much money you have spent on it, the insurance will only pay out up to the market value.
As you say the van is too old for automatic CRIS registration then I would confirm with the insurance co how much they we reimburse you before paying them a premium. They will base the premium on the value you insure for, but in the event of a claim they will pay the lower of market value & the insured value.
Also as you say you are new to caravanning, the premium will be higher as you will have no no claims bonus. There are some companies that specialise in cover for older vans. They may be the best deal in these circumstances.
I've got a 1996 caravan and my insurance is £75, the van is insured for £2,600 and contents for £500 (water containers, awning etc, not the stuff that's covered by my house contents insurance). That wasn't the cheapest quote I got, either. I think it's worth every penny, for peace of mind. Never thought I'd say that about insurance!
Personally, I think a caravan should be covered for third party at the very least - unhitched, that is, because it's covered third party whilst hitched.
to put it in perspective mate we bought our swift last october at the end of last season.
we got it insured for £96 including £500 contents cover.
on our first trip this year the van was damaged beyond repair thanks to a blowout.
insurance paid out and were soon to be the owners of a nice new (to us) fleetwood countryside
worth every sngle last penny tbh
------------- Who needs travel agents,we have our static
so many good comments about insurance! can anyone recommend a good company that i can get a quote from??
Caravan Club: for Caravan Insurance, Car Insurance and Breakdown/Roadside/Recovery (called MayDay). Not always 'the' cheapest, but always very competatively priced, especially in relation to the service you get.
absolutly superb! just got a quote from caravan guard and its only 79 quid a year. i nearly fell off my chair! i was expecting it to be like my car insurance but obviously not!
thanks to everyone who gave me great, sound advice!
absolutly superb! just got a quote from caravan guard and its only 79 quid a year. i nearly fell off my chair! i was expecting it to be like my car insurance but obviously not!
thanks to everyone who gave me great, sound advice!
John the cost of insurance is dependant on the cost of your van, so if you
bought a £13,000 van plus contents, and the insurance cover is new for old
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Topic: insurance.
