I hope that I am a very enthusiastic person, I certainly love my job and I keep finding myself surrounded by like minded people at the moment which is awesome.

Take my Cover4 Communication team – we have only just started meeting and already we are off and running with a number of projects which each member is contributing to. It is a great breath of fresh air.

We have finally got the agreement to offer insurance for Hobby Caravans and we now have to get the scheme loaded onto our computer system – this was another exmaple of enthusiasm – the drive and passion of one of our team has demonstrated to our Underwriters that we can insure Hobby’s if we have the correct safeguards and underwriting in place.

I am a real believer in the headline of this post – nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm – live it, feel it and believe in it. Always.

Have a great day.

Richard

Park home insurance may be very important to you if you live permanently in what’s deemed to be a park home.

Designation of dwelling

Sometimes it’s not always easy to see at a glance what the physical difference is between a static caravan and a park home. In fact, sometimes there may be no visible difference at all and the same caravan or dwelling may be considered at times to be a park home and at others a static caravan.

So, what’s the difference?

Usage is important

To you it may appear to be a single caravan but the insurance industry typically has to take into account the way you’re using it.

If you’re spending a few weeks holiday now and then in a static caravan (also known as a static home), then typically insurance providers may classify it as a caravan – specifically a static caravan if it is parked permanently on a site.

Such usage presents certain risks that the insurance company attempt to quantify. They then define a policy (and premium) to protect you.

However, if you occupy the same vehicle on a permanent basis as your normal home, the caravan becomes a park home and its risk profile changes.

Typically you’ll need a new insurance policy to protect you and this is sometimes referred to as park home insurance.

What changes?

A static caravan typically is at risk from a range of things including natural disasters, theft, vandalism, fire and so on.

Although some of these risks, such as vandalism, may theoretically reduce if the vehicle is occupied more constantly, others such as fire risk may increase.

It may also be the case for example, that if you live in your caravan permanently then it may contain a higher level of internal fixtures, fittings and other home comforts than would be the case if it were a static holiday caravan. That higher level of equipment and contents typically increases the risk for the insurance company.

So for all these reasons, insurance companies have developed a special permanent occupancy policy called park home insurance.

Changing use

It might be advisable to keep in mind that changes in use may catch you out.

If you use your static caravan as a holiday home and decide to start living in it permanently, then this will usually require a change of cover to park home insurance. If you do not notify your insurance provider, you may unintentionally invalidate your existing insurance policy.

Similar considerations may apply if you decide to start renting out your static caravan for other people’s holiday (or permanent) usage. It may be prudent to review your insurance cover in such situations.

Also note that if your static home is within a park home site, then under the terms of you being on site, you may not be allowed to let your home out.

Insurance protects

No insurance policy can stop a problem arising – it is typically there to help protect you from some of the financial consequences.

If you are living in a caravan permanently, then it is your home. If it suffers a disaster, you presumably will wish to waste no time in restoring it so that your home and lifestyle are restored to normality as soon as is possible.

Having a park home insurance policy may help you achieve that.

Good morning

To be honest I like some sun but the recent hot weather has been too much for me, and my son is having huge trouble sleeping at the moment which is making him really grumpy! I don’t envy my partner at all!

We had a great night out on Friday which involved a few drinks and then a delicious curry, I treated her to the delights of Chicken Shaslick. I also took my son to the park on Saturday before it got too hot. All of which was better than the football yesterday as England were crushed by Germany, I know we should have scored a second but we were not good enough on any level. I don’t think Capello should be sacked as who could replace him?? But for £6m per year we should have done better.

Still, that’s the World Cup over for me and I really don’t care about tennis so it’s just a long wait to the new football season!

Have a great day

Mike

One of your main considerations as the owner of a caravan is how to keep your asset and its contents as safe as possible. Having good insurance for caravans may therefore be a sound move.

Not in use

No matter what type of caravan you have, one of the greatest threats to it may be from theft.

A caravan used for holidays is going to be empty for a fair portion of the year but it may still contain some fairly valuable items – and this may make it an attractive and possibly easy option for thieves.

If you have a tourer you may find that you have the additional problem of protecting your caravan itself from being stolen.

What you can do to help

Taking some simple precautions may not only help protect your caravan and its belongings but also reduce your premiums. Possible examples include:

• removing all high value items from the caravan when no one is using it;
• fitting an approved security alarm and making sure that door and window locks are fit for the job and working properly;
• if you have a tourer, using a hitchlock to keep your caravan securely attached to your vehicle when unattended and if the caravan is unattached, making sure that a wheelclamp is fitted too (note that under the terms of your caravan insurance, you may be obliged to do this anyway);
• when your caravan is not in use over the winter, storing it at an approved site or at least keeping if off the public highway to reduce risks of vandalism etc.

It might be worth noting that a condition of cover may be that all water and heating systems are properly drained down while your caravan is not in use.

Be realistic

Getting as accurate a picture as possible of the value of the fixtures, fittings and other personal belongings in your caravan is essential to get a realistic figure for contents cover. Too little and you may find yourself under-insured and having to pay out for replacement items yourself. Too much and you may be paying for insurance for caravans cover you don’t actually require.

Using our site to find out more about insurance for caravans may help you find the right protection for your asset – or why not give us a call? We are happy to assist you, whether you need further information, a quote, or you simply need an answer to a question about your caravan cover.

Many people who own static caravans may be accustomed to buying their insurance from the owners or managers of their site. Some may even think that this is somehow mandatory if they want to use those particular facilities.

It may be perfectly understandable that site owners need to ensure that static caravans using their facilities are properly insured and insisting that you buy their insurance is certainly one way of achieving this.

This method of doing things may undoubtedly also be convenient for caravanners but in common with some other situations where you may feel you have no choice, the deal you get may not be the most competitive around.

Old thinking

This state of affairs for the provision of insurance for static caravans is similar in some respects to the situation that used to exist for products like mortgage or loan insurance.

In these cases lenders typically, and sometimes falsely, gave borrowers the impression that their request for a loan would only be approved if they took out loan insurance from the lender as well.

This gave rise to borrowers taking out what could be very expensive cover that they typically may have been able to buy at a more attractive price elsewhere.

The Financial Services Agency stepped in to give borrowers a fairer deal and the introduced new guidelines for the sale of loan protection products by the lenders. These guidelines meant that borrowers could look elsewhere for their loan insurance without the fear that they may be jeopardising their application for the loan itself.

Choosing where

The FSA doesn’t have to step in to regulate insurance for static caravans. Static caravanners already have a choice about where they can buy caravan insurance.

There are already a number of alternative caravan insurance providers, many with internet sites, where details of suitable policies can be found with just a few clicks of the mouse. With our service, our online quote and buy service is also backed up with a telephone service too, so we can help you choose the most suitable static home insurance for your needs.

Having the choice of a number of policies may mean that you get the policy that is suitable for you and your caravan taking into account all those important variables such as:

• the age of your caravan;
• new for old replacement;
• site location;
• contents cover;
• security alarms;
• etc.

You may also be able to see at a glance whether or not the suppliers offer discounts that you may be eligible for. These could include things like membership of caravan clubs, no claims bonus etc. (Again, we can discuss this with you if you prefer).

What about the site fee

You may find that some static home site owners will try to charge an administration fee to caravanners who have made alternative arrangements for insurance for static caravans.

The good news is that even once this fee has been taken into account, you may find that you are typically still better off than you would have been if you had purchased the site owners’ insurance.

There may be some people these days that would opt for convenience over potential savings. When it comes to insurance for static caravans though, it may be a fair bet that some caravanners would prefer the savings!