Online caravan insurance providers Towergate Bakers have announced plans of a new range of ‘Green’ caravan insurance polices that will allow their customers to offset their carbon emissions they produce on their caravan holidays.
They have teamed up with world leading carbon consulting and carbon offsetting business The Carbon Neutral Company to produce the policies, which will be available from September 2009. They will not be charging extra for these policies as they plan to make these policies available online only, and will use the savings made on postage and processing to pay for the carbon offsetting.
The average amount of carbon produced each year from towing a caravan will be offset by investing in projects such as forestry projects, and renewable energy projects (wave, biomass, wind).
This is very much in line with a recent study that suggested that caravan owners are particularly environmentally-conscious, and with caravanning holiday numbers set to increase this summer to 14 million, this is a very timely and intelligent development. Bookings at caravan parks in the UK are up by about 25%, while passenger numbers at airports in the UK have slumped. The National Caravan Council believe that many new caravanners have changed from taking a holiday in Europe, and the flight that often entails, choosing instead to stay in the UK. Meanwhile the more experienced caravanners are taking the now-well-established ’staycation’.
Green credentials are further enhanced when you consider that the average return flight to Europe produces somewhere between 250 and 500 kilos of carbon dioxide per person (of course depending on: how far you fly; the age of the plane; the type of the plane). This compares with the 38 kilos per person produced by 4 people in an average sized petrol car travelling 250 miles, towing a medium-sized caravan. If this were a diesel car, this amount would be even less.
The National Caravan Council gave their seal of approval to the project stating, their Director General John Lally: “We applaud this initiative from Towergate Bakers. More and more people are becoming “green savvy” and we’re delighted that caravanners who want to help fight climate change can now match their principles with their holidays.”
Towergate Bakers director Paul Havenhand commented: “We are proud to be leading the charge in carbon offsetting amongst the caravan community. With recent research indicating that people who go on caravan and camping holidays are indeed more likely to be environmentally aware, we feel it is a natural progression to offer a greener way of holidaying. Caravanners can continue to drive with a conscience and do their bit to help climate change.”
We at www.caravan-insurance-cover.co.uk also applaud this development and wish Towergate Bakers luck with this. Hopefully other insurance providers will follow their lead and such policies will become more widely available.