If you have seen a quotation for the cheapest park home insurance around, you may wish to ask the following questions of it before assuming that it is necessarily right for you:

• what might prove to be cheap for one park home owner might not prove to be so for you, so take the time to read the quotation and policy in detail so that you know whether or not the low price is being achieved at the expense of compromising on cover;

• it may be advisable to look carefully at the quotation’s stipulations relating to your park home site and flooding risks (something that may be a particular issue at this time of year), as some policies may exclude this risk altogether while others may do so if your site has a known history of flooding;

• on a related subject, you may find that an online caravan insurance quote for cheap park home insurance might contain other requirements of your site that you may find inapplicable in your circumstances;

• some policies may also apply very low maximum payout levels for your contents – as a park home is typically your normal place of residence it may be furnished to a high standard and your contents value may need to be adequately reflected by your policy;

• comparatively few people may enjoy reading through the details of an insurance policy’s terms and conditions but it may be extremely important to do so, particularly in the case of what appears to be very low cost cover – that is because the terms and conditions may define requirements of you in order to make a successful claim and you may or may not find these practical in your individual situation;

• although it is a commonly heard saying, it is perfectly true that in the event of needing to make a claim against your policy, you may typically find that the price of the policy is irrelevant to you and your entire concentration is on the quality of the cover provided – so it may be sensible to focus on a search for adequate cover rather than for the cheapest park home insurance you can find.

Here is a quick summary of the main characteristics of park home insurance online:

• park home insurance online typically provides cover for a park home – that is a form of dwelling place that you live in as your permanent and normal place of residence;

• as such, it is typically regarded as being quite distinct from a static caravan – something that you may only occupy for a few weeks each year during your holidays or long weekends etc;

• in order to meet residential home insurance definitions of a park home, your residence may need to comply with certain requirements of which perhaps the most commonly encountered might be the need for your site to be duly authorised by the local council (or equivalent) as being approved for permanent occupation – some policies may also require that the site is connected to all services and is under some form of permanent supervision;

• of course, an individual park home insurance policy may contain a number of other qualifying conditions which may need to be complied with – we would be happy to explain these to you if they are unclear;

• although at this time of the year it may not the at the forefront of your thoughts, remember that if you let out your park home during the holiday season then you may invalidate any existing insurance that covers it, as such cover may not apply in what is essentially a commercial situation – if you plan to do so, it may be advisable to take advice in advance, as to the insurance implications (as well as checking with the site owner whether you are actually allowed to let out your park home under the terms of your contract with them);

• park home cover, as per all forms of insurance, may vary in both price and cover detail depending upon the provider and policy you are looking at – it is always advisable to try and assess the suitability of the caravan insurance policy based upon its fitness for your purpose and the cover it provides, rather than merely its price;

• the cost of your park home insurance online may be significantly affected by the location of your site – if it is close to the coast or by a river and has a known history of flooding, then you may find yourself subject to higher premiums and possibly special conditions in the policy.

Trying to identify the best park home insurance brokers may be something that might prove to be a little harder than it sounds.

To begin with, if you are searching for the best park home insurance brokers, you may wonder what all the fuss is about – surely this is just a case of finding the broker that is able to offer you the lowest cost caravan insurance options?

Of course, few will dispute that price is an important consideration. However, the true test of a caravan insurance broker may be their ability to source options that provide suitable and cost-effective cover rather than merely the lowest cost.

Why?

For some caravanners, their caravan represents a sizeable proportion of their total invested capital and as such, constitutes a major asset. For park home owners, even more so – their static caravan is their home.

What is therefore typically important is that this investment is protected as far as is realistically possible.

The reality of insurance life is that some policies may be far more suitable for your requirements than others in this respect.

Take, for example, someone that is looking for insurance cover for his or her four year-old touring caravan.  An efficient broker may know of policies that offer new-for-old replacement for caravans up to five years old whereas perhaps the market norm is only for caravans up to a maximum of three years old.

As another illustration, some brokers may know that in the case of residential park home insurance, some policies may cover certain externally located items whereas others do not.

In both these cases, these considerations may or may not be more important to the policyholder than the price of the policy alone.

In these situations, the role of the broker is not simply to find the lowest-cost policies but to offer a range of options to the policyholder along with appropriate clarification as to the issues involved in individual possibilities.

This shows that the best park home insurance brokers may be those that are able to offer all the information necessary to help you make an informed decision.  Of course, the best broker for someone else, who may be exclusively focused on price, may not be the best broker for you, if your requirements are more qualitatively and more broadly based.

Park home insurance quotes typically cover circumstances as follows:

• a park home is typically defined as being your normal and permanent place of residence;

• in that sense, it is significantly different to a static caravan which, in insurance terms, is typically seen as being a caravan used for a few weeks each year for recreational and holiday purposes;

• given the very different nature of the usage of a parkhome versus a static caravan, there are significantly different forms of insurance for each;

• it is important not to confuse the two and if you have a parkhome then you will typically need to look for parkhome insurance quotes;

• insurance providers may apply other conditions relating to the definition of a parkhome as opposed to a static caravan, for example, the sites of both parkhomes and static caravans may need to meet certain conditions before insurance will be effective;

• if you are looking for a cheap caravan insurance quote, it may pay to remember that the two forms of cover are not interchangeable and you cannot choose to use one policy type based upon whichever appears to be the lower cost;

• the owner of your site may have the right to require that you have adequate insurance (typically relating to third party liability cover) but they may not have the right to insist that you purchase it from them – you may find that your own insurance options prove to be more cost-effective;

• your quotation may be affected by a number of factors including things such as the value of your contents, the value of your property itself and the nature of your site – if your park home is located somewhere with a known vulnerability to flooding then you may find that your premium is higher as a result (you may also find that the policy is subject to special conditions and/or exclusions);

• occasionally, some types of situation fall into what may be called a grey area between the definitions of static caravan versus parkhome – if you feel that is the case with you, we would be happy to offer assistance in helping you decide whether you need to look for parkhome insurance quotes.

If you are looking for parkhome insurance, then you may wish to consider parkhome insurance brokers.

What is parkhome insurance?

Park homes are a form of dwelling place that are typically located on a formally constituted and local authority approved parkhome site.

Typically occupied on a permanent basis as your normal place of residence, such sites are commonly located in rural areas and the local authority approval is important because it must grant permission for the site to be used for permanent occupation.

Some parkhome owners have lived in the property for many years and have it furnished and decorated to a very high standard.

It is therefore understandable if they seek to protect their investment and their contents through the appropriate: form of insurance – which may be park home insurance.

Sourcing the cover

Some park homes site owners may suggest that it is mandatory to take their insurance.  In fact, that may typically not be the case and you may be better advised to look around for your own cover, which may be better suited to your needs and more cost-effective.

Some site owners may require an additional administration charge if you use your own insurance but it may still prove to be a more cost-attractive deal for you if you source your own.

You may, of course, simply contact individual insurance providers to obtain a lengthy series of your own quotations and then compare these in detail against each other.

You may find though, that parkhome insurance brokers offer a slightly more efficient route.

These organisations are typically specialists in the insurance marketplace and they may be able to speedily and efficiently match your requirements against a number of potential insurance providers.

That may not only save you money in terms of connecting you with suitable policy providers but it may also save you a considerable amount of time that you may otherwise spend in trying to obtain quotations from sources that are unlikely to be suitable for your situation.

Parkhome insurance brokers might be a source of information and a resource that means you spend less of your precious time involved in some of the complexities of trying to compare insurance policies.