Here are a few tips that you may find useful if you are considering renting a park home for the first time:

• remember that a park home is not typically a holiday rental situation but involves you renting somewhere that you may consider to be your permanent place of residence. This means that you would be advised to take seriously all issues relating to contracts and understanding your legal rights;
• what a local authority, park home owner or an insurance company refer to as a park home, may all have subtle differences and you should be sure what situation you are renting into from all perspectives;
• for example, the site owner may refer to the caravans or dwellings on the site as park homes but unless the local authority has licensed the site for permanent habitation, a provider of park home insurance (perhaps contents in a rental situation) might not consider the property to be a bona fide park home;
• you should remember also that the cost of rental may include a number of different charges:

• the rental amount you pay to the caravan or dwelling owner;
• the pitch fee that you may need to pay to the site owner (this may or may not be included in the rental you pay to the caravan owner);
• the costs of providing the park home with electricity, gas and water etc.

You may have noticed that static caravan insurance may typically be less expensive than park home cover. You may, therefore, be wondering if one way of finding a cheap park home insurance quote may be to use a static caravan insurance policy instead.  There may be a number of reasons why that is typically not possible due to these being two very different forms of insurance cover:

• a park home may typically be built to a higher specification than a static caravan, so may therefore cost more to buy and more to replace should the worst happen;
• a park home is a permanent place of residence, so may be fitted out to a higher standard that might typically be the case with a static caravan;
• your park home will contain all of your belongings rather than just those holiday essentials that you may find in a static caravan. You may find that static cover may even specifically exclude higher value items;
• all of these features may help determine the price of your policy, so using the appropriate cover for the type of caravan you actually have may therefore make a significant difference to you and you may wish to bear in mind that what may be a cheap park home quote for you may not be cheap for someone else;
• you may find that park home insurance cover may come with a specific set of terms and conditions;
• these may include requirements that your site must be licensed by the local authority for use by park homes and that all homes must be connected to mains services;
• when thinking about insurance, caravan or park home location may be a significant factor, with some providers able to offer premium discounts if the site you use has a history which shows it to be flood free;
• finally, when looking at a cheap park home insurance quote, you may wish to satisfy yourself that the level of public liability it provides is adequate. This is the amount of financial protection that would be available to you should someone decide to sue you for damages they have sustained that they believe are attributable to your park home.

Some people may occasionally become a little confused about the nature of their caravan and when they may require residential park home insurance.  This may be particularly the case as Easter approaches, given that we are all starting to think about our caravans for the year ahead:

• a point of confusion sometimes arises around the difference between a park home and a static caravan;

• the static caravan is typically defined as being somewhere you occasionally occupy, for a few weeks each year, to enjoy your annual holidays or occasional recreational breaks etc;

• a park home, by contrast, is typically defined by insurance providers as being your normal and permanent place of domicile;

• the two types of property have different types of insurance policy and these are typically not interchangeable;

• static holiday caravan insurance may typically not cover a static caravan that you are occupying on a permanent basis;

• it may also be the case that simply moving permanently into a static caravan will not mean it automatically becomes a park home – insurance providers may have other criteria they use to define what is or is not park home.  An example may be that a park home site may need to have the formal approval of the local council as being suitable for permanent occupation;

• different policies may also have other varying requirements of the site.  You may find some policies that require the site to be fully connected to mains services and not located in an area with a known predisposition to flooding (insurance providers may have their own sources on flood risk and/or use the local environment agency);

• it is important not to become confused between the two types of structure, as this may result in you selecting inappropriate insurance;

• we do understand that occasionally there may be grey areas of definition between static caravan cover and residential park home insurance, arising from the exact nature of your caravan and where it is located.  We will always be only too pleased to offer our services in helping you to understand the insurance options that are open to you.

As the winter is finally coming to an end and spring starting to become visible in the countryside around us, it might be a sensible time to think about park home insurance.

Living in a park home brings with it a number of attractions and advantages, which is why it is so popular.  Unfortunately though, this lifestyle cannot totally insulate owners from some of the less attractive aspects of life, such as burglary and natural disasters etc.

Although some park homes are located in rural environments they may still be a target for thieves and even vandals who, paradoxically, may also be attracted by that same rural isolation, as it means that they may be less likely to be disturbed.

Your park home may also be no more immune from extremes of weather and other related natural problems, than would be a city centre property.  In fact, if your park home site is located in a coastal or riverside location then it may be more at risk of things such as flooding, than would a conventional town centre or suburban property.

That is why residential park home insurance might prove to be important to you.

It may be able to provide you with cover both for the structure of your building and its contents and that second component might prove to be particularly important, given that park home owners may typically furnish their properties to a high standard due to the fact that their accommodation is their permanent place of residence.

As you might anticipate, park home cover may vary considerably from one insurance provider to another and comparing a number of options, prior to making a final commitment to buy, is typically a good idea.

Some people occasionally question what exactly is the difference between park home policies and static caravan insurance.  It may be necessary to read the policy detail to be sure but typically static caravan cover relates to caravans used only for a few weeks each year for holiday purposes.

Note that simply occupying a caravan on a permanent basis does not necessarily mean it becomes a park home.  Park home insurance cover may have certain additional requirements of accommodation before it will be considered to meet definitions of a park home – including possibly needing to be sited somewhere confirmed as suitable for permanent occupation by the local authorities.

Here are a few thoughts that may help you to form a view as to the suitability of that park home insurance quote:

• don’t forget that a park home insurance quotation typically applies to park homes and typically cannot be applied to a static caravan situation;

• the principal difference between park home and static caravan insurance is that a park home is typically permanently occupied, as your normal place of domicile, whereas a static caravan is essentially recreational accommodation used for a few weeks each year during holidays etc;

• although we are now hopefully on the brink of spring, nevertheless, you may find it important to note that your park home insurance may require that your water and heating systems are drained down if you leave your property unoccupied for any length of time over the winter period;

• a separate issue may apply if you plan to leave your park home unoccupied for extended periods (the exact number of days may be specified in the policy), as some insurance providers may require that you take out special cover in such circumstances, given that the risks to an unoccupied property may be higher than for one that is occupied;

• your park home cover quotation may also make certain stipulations relating to the facilities available on site – in some cases that may include the requirement for the site to be under permanent supervision;

• it is important to remember that moving permanently into a static caravan may not, in itself, automatically transform it into a park home and therefore a candidate for park home insurance – some policies may stipulate additional requirements such as your home being sited in a location that has full local authority permission for permanent occupation and which has full services on site;

• park home cover may be considered to be a form of residential home insurance but as with any home cover insurance, policy provisions for items stored outside of the property may vary considerably between insurance providers, therefore, it may be advisable to read your park home insurance quote carefully if that is an area of interest to you.