Protecting your home with park home insurance

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.