HI after many months of hard thought, my wife and I have decided to buy a caravan. We've looked at trailer tents and tents alone, but today we visited a 2nd hand caravan dealer and seen something that we've fallen in love with!! However I've bursting with a 1001 questions before I take the plunge and buy it so I'll try and keep it all brief.....
1. How much on average to store a caravan( I've no where at home).
2 Do I need extra car insurance cover or do I have to buy a seperate policy?
3 Will my car( a renault laguna 1.8 16v) be good enough to pull the van? its an abbey county lancaster.
Many thanks and hopefully I'll post some more questions later
We have just started caravaning after many years of camping and we are all looking forward to it.
With the storage, there are lots of different prices, the more they offer the more they cost. We found a good one about 15 mins away from our house and it costs £50 quarter.
You will need ins for van, we went with camping and caravan club and have found it very good.
We have are R reg Laguna 1.8 petrol and we have to get another car, because they do not tow very much weight. 950kg max towing, our van is 1100kg. Even phoned renult and they said will only tow 950kg, so 85% of that weight is 807.5kg, which is very light.
So it's up to you, hope this helps, just keep looking around to find what you want.
1. How much on average to store a caravan( I've no where at home
this varies dramatically , normally around £200 for a secure storage ( outdoor) and up to £500 (indoor) so its pay what they ask if you like what they have too offer, you may get a farmer to take your caravan in for a lot less but these are getting very few and far between.
2 Do I need extra car insurance cover or do I have to buy a separate policy?
In short no , you should however insure your caravan for loss and damages.
3 Will my car( a Renault Laguna 1.8 16v) be good enough to pull the van? its an abbey county Lancaster.
I dont forsee any problems with your car , although you should read up from the car handbook to get the correct max weights for the car
1. Around here(Essex) its about £250-£350 per year for van storeage. A quick search on goole should give you some idea locally.
2. Your car insurance will normally cover you for third-party only. Seperate insurence should be taken out for the cost of the van and contents.
3.It is recommended that the van should weigh 85% of the tow cars kerb weight ( this is in the handbook). I don't know the weight of this van the dealer will tell you. A good site to see car to van weights is :- http://www.caravantrekker.nl/en/
Hi adjohnson (1) storage starts at about £200 per year and there are registered sites all over England someone will come along shortly with the website. (2) Your car will cover usually 3rd party only when attached. you are advised to get proper caravan insurance but if you jion the Caravan club or the camping and caravan club they are quite good rates. (3) Its not whether your car can tow it but a matter of weight. Your van weight should not exceed 85% of you cars unladen weight this is deemed a safe practice so you need to do some homework.
1. We pay £220 but if you need storage phone round there is a waiting list in our area. Don't just assume you will find somewhere easily.
2. So long as you tell the insurer you are towing it will cover damage done to a third party you will need to insure the caravan seperately for theft damage etc. Recovery policies usually don't cover the unit unless through a club.
3. not my area of expertise sorry.
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Hi , storage costs vary considerably in different areas of the country and also according to the degree of security offered by the facility. I pay £250 per year, this is by no means the cheapest nor the dearest so it means shopping round.
No you don't need extra CAR insurance but you must notify your insurers of your intention to tow a van and they will cover third party risk whilst attached to the car. HOWEVER for your own protection take out a policy on the van to cover fire theft accidental damage to van and contents whilst detached from van, ie, in storage or on site etc.
If the van is one of the older Abbeys I would have thought it would be ok, the guide line being the total laden weight of the van shouldn't be more than 85% of the kerb weight of the car which you should be able to find in the handbook. The weight of the van will be shown on the chassis plate, add a couple of hundred kilos for your kit and that will give you some sort of a guide line.
well done you,, you will never regret it (I hope!) anyway before you buy the van find a place to store it, prices vary but look for one with good security and good access, we pay £160/year for our storage which is very good, some storage sites charge a lot more up to £500/year. The Abbey is a hefty van so get the weights checked out and make sure the van weighs 85% of your cars weight or less. Your car insurance policy, if fully comp, will cover your van for third party claims only, so the advice is insure through one of the big companies who specialise in this insurance (we use N.F.U. Mutual, very good deal) your motor should be O.K. but you will find it slow on some hills ,(and theres some bloody good hills in Plymouth, we stayed there last year at Plymouth Sound c.c. site, loved it!!!!) so go to it and chill regards S/C
Hi mate just a quick note on storage,if You can get a storage site that will give you your own pitch its much better so you know which caravans are around yours,preferably hard standing so you can manoeuvre your caravan easily,also that allows you good access times to your caravan not just office hours so if you need to get off or back from your hols you are not under pressure with time chasing and as much 24hr security as poss, I pay £250 a year all this plus video cameras electric fence, grass banks all around the compound key fob entry 24hrs,washing your caravan area,tyre pressure checking area and gas selling area also 2 minuites from the motorway
You seem to have had all your questions answered, all I can say is that caravanning is the most brilliant holiday experience, independence, freedom, home comforts and freedom. Well done for making the right choice. We upgraded from a tent to a tiny caravan (freedom microlite) 2 years ago. Now we've got one a little bigger to allow us to at least stand up, it's a fantastic investment and worth every penny,good luck x
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: New to all this.
Hi mate just a quick note on storage,if You can get a storage site that will give you your own pitch its much better so you know which caravans are around yours,preferably hard standing so you can manoeuvre your caravan easily,also that allows you good access times to your caravan not just office hours so if you need to get off or back from your hols you are not under pressure with time chasing and as much 24hr security as poss, I pay £250 a year all this plus video cameras electric fence, grass banks all around the compound key fob entry 24hrs,washing your caravan area,tyre pressure checking area and gas selling area also 2 minuites from the motorway
