Hi, I'm Liz from Caravan Guard insurance.
Recently, caravanner Dan Trudgian dropped by
and asked us lots of questions all about caravan insurance.
In this extended video, we go through all those questions and answers.
Thank you Liz.
My first question was, "Why should I bother insuring my caravan"?
Whilst it's not a legal requirement to insure your caravan,
you do want to make sure it's adequately covered
as you've invested thousands of pounds.
Should the worst happen, if the caravan's badly damaged or stolen,
you want to make sure that you're not left out of pocket.
A common misconception is a caravan's only needed to be insured
over the summer months, when the caravan's in use.
However, during the winter months, this is often the period when
most of our claims do occur.
This is due to the caravan being left unattended,
in storage in a lot of instances, and it's often unchecked,
and you can't actually see what damage is being done to the caravan,
or even worse still, thefts can actually occur from the storage site,
which are unknown to the caravan owner until
they next go and check on the storage site.
So it is really important to make sure that your caravan is insured
over those winter months.
One of the questions I'm often asked is
"What should I look for in an insurance company"?
It's always good to have a search online,
have a look at customer reviews, perhaps have a look on Review Centre.
There's also customer forums that are a good idea to look at,
see what people have got to say.
There's also a website called Defaqto, which is an independent financial body.
They have star ratings, and Caravan Guard is a 5 Star Defaqto rated product.
So they will tell you exactly what rating each caravan insurance provider is,
and that gives you an idea of what level of cover each insurance provider offers.
So the other thing to look out for with a caravan insurer
is a well-known household name.
Our underwriter is Royal and Sun Alliance.
We've worked with Royal and Sun Alliance for a number of years.
They have a great claims team.
The claims team have a specialist caravan insurance division.
At Caravan Guard, we also have an in-house claims handling team.
To make sure that all our claims went really smoothly,
we found that was something that the customer really needed.
Somebody, not just the underwriter to talk to, but that in-between,
just to see how the claim was progressing, that point of contact,
and we felt that was really important, for the customer liaison,
to make sure that the customer was really smoothly taken along the claims journey.
Another common question is:
"Does my car insurance extend to my caravan"?
Unfortunately not.
Most car insurance policies will cover you when towing the caravan.
However, if you were to have an accident in your car whilst towing,
the car policy would pay for any damage to your car,
and any damage caused to any other cars that were involved.
However, it wouldn't pay for any damage caused to the caravan itself, so
in that instance you would need specialist caravan insurance to repair the caravan.
Also, a car insurance policy wouldn't cover you for any damage
when the caravan was detached from the tow vehicle.
So for instance, we get a lot of our claims for things like
storm damage when the caravan is in storage or on-site,
or when the caravan is stolen out of storage.
A car insurance policy wouldn't provide any cover.
If you were using a motor mover, for instance,
to put your caravan back into its storage location,
and you accidentally caught the back of the caravan
on a wall, or the side of the house,
a car insurance policy wouldn't provide any cover to repair the caravan. So, again,
that's where a specialist caravan insurance policy would kick in and repair the damage.
Knowing the need for specialist caravan insurance,
I now wanted to understand the process of making an insurance claim.
So it really does depend on what's happened.
First of all, the safety of yourself and road users is the most important thing.
We actually do have an emergency helpline telephone number within our policy.
So if you've been involved in an accident, and you need emergency recovery
and your caravan can't be towed, the first thing you're gonna need to do
is ring that telephone number to get some emergency assistance out,
so they can come and safely recover you.
If for example it's a theft claim or it's vandalism,
the first thing you're gonna do in that instance is
you're gonna need to contact the police
and get a crime reference number before you report the claim.
If it is some form of accidental damage, storm damage, you're gonna need to
contact the telephone number that's in your policy booklet.
So, there's a claims helpline number in there,
and that'll put you through to Royal and Sun Alliance.
They're the underwriters of the policy.
So what they'll do is they will talk you through the whole process,
and you do actually get your own dedicated claims handler.
We do feel it is really important for customer service that
you've got the same person that you can talk to, throughout your claim.
What they're gonna do then is they're gonna take details, so they're gonna ask for
where it happened, what happened, the date,
and anything else, any information you've got that you can give them
is gonna be helpful, so they can process your claim as quickly as possible.
It's always a good idea, if you've got the opportunity,
if it is something like storm damage, or it's panel damage,
see if you can take some photographs,
because you can email them straight through to your handler.
That is gonna speed your claim up as well.
Also, if it's a damaged item you want to claim for
you need to make sure you don't throw that away.
It may be a case that a loss adjuster needs to come out and have a look
and just inspect the damage and see whether they think it can be repaired,
or whether they are gonna replace that item for you.
So you just need to make sure that you keep that.
I also wanted to know, "What was the common type of insurance claim?
And was there anything I could do to reduce the possibility of making such a claim?"
So the main type of claims that we've got is the accidental damage.
We've also got storm, and we've also got theft.
When it comes to accidental damage claims, you've got internal and external.
So a lot of the internal ones, they do tend to be where
customers have been towing, they've been going on their holidays
and it may be that tins, or some heavy items have fallen from the cupboards
or from the worktops, so they've caused dints to things,
or it may be you have instances where,
oven doors have fallen and they've smashed, because they've not been closed properly.
So those kind of claims, they can quite easily be stopped.
Literally just by making sure your locker doors close properly,
making sure you've not left any heavy items on your worktops,
or any liquids that could easily spill. And also make sure that you
don't overload your caravan as well. That's really important.
So when it comes to the external damage,
it does tend to be where there's been manoeuvring mishaps.
So it may be that unfortunately they've clipped a wall or a post
or a tree even, in some instances,
So for those type of things, there are some great devices on the market.
Reversing aids, that's a great one, so they can help alert you
if you are getting a little bit too close to something.
Really important that you do listen to the beeps though.
Another great device is the motor mover,
which can help you to manoeuvre your caravan into awkward spaces.
I asked Nicola if she had any hints or tips for any policyholders.
Yeah actually, I do. I think one of the really important things which could help
if you find yourself in the unfortunate situation where you need to make a claim
is to save the policy number and the claim number actually in your telephone.
Cause there's nothing worse than if you are in an accident
and you need to make that call, you're already in quite a stressful situation
and then you don't know who to call.
So it's great if you have that in the first instance,
it can take a little bit of the stress away.
At this point I popped into the contact centre,
as I wanted to find out more about insuring a caravan.
I asked Helen, "What information do I need when setting up my insurance policy"?
First of all we need to know what type of insurance you would like on your caravan,
whether it be New For Old, or Market Value.
New For Old means that in the event of a total loss claim,
you'll be replaced with a brand new caravan
of the same make and model, or the nearest equivalent.
We also need to know how much the caravan is worth,
including equipment and personal possessions,
so the know the total value of the whole sums insured
to make sure you get quoted the correct premium.
We also need to know the CRiS and VIN registration number.
We would need this in the event of a claim.
We do give you up to 7 working days to supply us with that,
and you can find that on the windows of your caravan
or on the chassis of the caravan as well.
We also need to know the full make and model of your caravan,
including any extra names or numbers,
we also need to know how many berths the caravan is,
whether its a single or twin axle, and also the year of manufacture.
This will help our advisers guide you in giving you the correct quotation.
We also ask about all your safety and security, such as an axle wheel lock,
a standard wheel clamp, hitchlock, tracking devices,
a factory fitted alarm system or a DIY fitted alarm system,
we also like to know about any Tyron bands,
tyre pressure monitors, or tyre safety devices,
including any electronic anti-snaking devices as well.
OK, so that's quite a comprehensive list of security devices, Helen.
What if I don't actually know what my caravan's got?
Let's assume I'm picking up a second hand caravan and I just don't know.
If it's a brand new purchase then the dealership should be able to
provide you with that information. If not, if it's a private sale,
the previous owner should also know that information as well.
A question that I'm frequently asked is
"Are there any no claims discounts available on caravan insurance"?
Absolutely. So the maximum no claims discount we offer
for a touring caravan policy is up to 3 years.
Once you've reached 3 years, then we can start looking at protecting those for you.
Don't worry if you don't have any no claims discounts,
as we do offer an introductory no claims of up to 1 year
if you've got towing experience in the last 3 years without any claims.
If you also hold a HGV drivers license,
then we give you an introductory no claims of 2 years as well.
I also asked Helen if there was any other discounts available for caravan insurance.
So we offer lots of discounts,
mainly around security for the caravan,
and any safety features that you may have as well.
So for example, things like reversing cameras, reversing aids,
alarm systems and tracking devices.
We do offer club discounts for being a member of our e-magazine,
Facebook, Twitter follower,
and also if you're a subscriber to the Trudgians YouTube channel.
With any insurance policy, you want to ensure it's fit for purpose.
So I asked Terri, "What usually isn't covered by caravan insurance"?
General wear and tear...
if you've got water ingress or leaky seals, that kinda thing, they're not covered.
It can be quite easy to keep on top of that kinda thing,
so in your general servicing and checks, do keep on top of it.
There's also... if there is water ingress into the caravan,
normally, if it's caught early, there is quick and easy fixes
that are not too costly to get fixed.
Another thing that's not covered on the insurance is vermin.
So if mice and rats get into the caravan and cause damage, that wouldn't be covered.
To prevent that happening, you can make sure there's no food left in the caravan,
so that wouldn't attract them.
We don't provide cover for hiring out the caravan for financial gain.
We do provide cover, family and friends, to borrow it and use it
for holidays and things like that.
We also can't cover if you're living in the caravan permanently.
But again, friends and family, just using it as a holiday basis,
is covered on the insurance.
One thing that we're all pretty keen on is value for money.
So I asked Emma, "How can I reduce my caravan insurance premium"?
Well there's various ways, there's a few ways we can do that for you...
The main thing is to get the Sums Insured correct on the caravan.
Make sure it's the right value.
Also, there's options: New For Old or Market Value
so that gives you different premiums as well.
We can also check that the storage is right for you,
cause changes in storage also affects the price.
Also making sure you've got adequate security on the caravan,
because things like alarms or trackers will give you discounts.
Also we can change maybe your excess.
A higher excess will give you a lower price.
So there's lots of different ways of doing that
and we can talk you through that, and
get the best price for you to suit your needs.
"If I had purchased my caravan on HP or PCP finance,
will my insurance policy cover me in the event of a claim?"
Absolutely, yes.
You need to insure on a New For Old basis.
Our insurance policy is PCP friendly,
so in the event of a claim or a write off, the finance is all settled.
Any remaining surplus would then go towards the cost of the new caravan.
So thanks for watching. For more hints and tips and topics about caravanning,
why not head over to the Caravan Guard website. Thanks for watching.