Parkhome insurance and static caravan confusion

A park home may be the dream of some people and something that becomes, for some lucky individuals, a reality.  You may presume that parkhome insurance is something that you can take as read and perhaps you are puzzled as to why this is mentioned in the same breath as static caravan insurance?

The fact is that occasionally some confusion arises as to the difference between a classic static caravan and a park home.

That confusion may become serious if it results in you purchasing the wrong sort of insurance for your particular caravan or home.

To avoid such confusion coming to pass, it may be worthwhile revisiting the fundamental difference between a static caravan and a park home.

A park home is somewhere that you typically occupy permanently as your normal home and place of domicile.  You may well be on the local register of electors and paying various forms of local taxes – to qualify for park home insurance, typically the site will need to be formally registered with the local authorities as being suitable for permanent occupation.

By contrast, a static caravan is accommodation that is semi-permanently located on a holiday occupation site and a place where you may spend a few weeks or months each year on holiday.

Typically, static caravan insurance may not cover a caravan that is being permanently lived in as your official place of residence – that may require parkhome insurance.

There are two different policies to cover the two different situations.  The reasons for this are typically related to the fact that a park home may contain rather more valuable fixtures, fittings, furnishings and personal possessions, than may be the case in a static caravan used infrequently for holidays.

Whether you have static caravan or residential park home insurance, in either case some caution may be advisable if you are planning to rent it out (including for a few weeks during the holiday season).

Firstly, if you have a park home, you may find that under the terms and conditions of your site, you are not allowed to let it out.

However, if you are allowed to let your park home, or you are letting your static home, you may find that your caravan insurance becomes invalid, as this would constitute commercial income-generation activities based on your property.  In such a situation, standard parkhome insurance (or static caravan insurance) may no longer be applicable and you may require special forms of insurance protection.