Posts Tagged ‘cheaper’

Security and Insurance for Touring Caravans

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Owning a touring caravan is a very enjoyable experience, and brings about many pleasant memories. However there is of course always the question of security. Given that a caravan is often a hefty investment, often running into thousands of pounds, it is obvious that good security is a must.

Fortunately there are a number of things you can do to improve your security (and at the same time protect your insurance). You will often find that hitch locks and/or wheel clamps are a minimum requirement for an insurance policy. And that they must always be used whenever the caravan is unhintched or unoccupied. Alarms are another good form of security, and although a more expensive option, tracking devices have an excellent track record at protecting caravans from theft.

The great side-effect of improved security is the discounts you can achieve on your touring caravan insurance policy. These can be up to 25% discount for a tracking device. Bear in mind though that discounts will only be applied up to a certain level, and that any additional security precautions will not attract discounts. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have other forms of security, because they still reduce the chance that you will have to claim on your insurance policy.

Another thing to bear in mind is storage of the caravan. If it is not kept at a secure storage site, the next best thing is to have it behind locked gates in your drive. It is not unknown for caravans to be stolen from driveways, so don’t believe that just because it is outside your house that it is necessarily safe.

Security is of course a big issue for touring caravan owners, because it can save you decent amounts of money on your insurance, make it less likely for you to need to claim on your insurance. It also increases the peace of mind you experience, allowing you to enjoy those wonderful trips away with the worries of ‘what if…’ Security and a good caravan insurance policy are two sides of the same coin.

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Save Money On Your Caravan Insurance: Tip 4

Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Cheaper Caravan Insurance

Cheaper Caravan Insurance

This is the latest in our posts to offer tips to help you find cheaper caravan insurance. Today we look at the excess of a policy.

Caravan insurance has what is called an excess attached to it. This means that if you were to claim against your policy for any reason you would receive how ever much you claimed for minus the amount of your excess. For instance if your excess is £200 and you make a claim for £500, if your claim is approved you would receive £300… i.e. 500 – 200 = 300.

What this means for the insurance company is that they will end up having to pay out a pound less for each pound more you have on your excess. So from their perspective, the higher your excess, the more profit they are going to make. They in turn will charge you lower premiums the higher you set your excess level.

This can be a useful way of saving money when buying a caravan insurance policy. But it should be considered that it is pointless having cheaper caravan insurance if when you make a claim you don’t have enough money to cover the excess, and as a result end up without a usable caravan.

So next time you are getting caravan insurance quotes, experiment with different excess levels to see the effect it has on the premiums. You could save yourself a decent amount of money.

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Saving Money with Caravan Insurance Excess

Monday, November 28th, 2011

With all the belt tightening going on these days, people are sensibly looking for more ways to save their hard-earned money. There is an opportunity to do this with your insurance policies. If you have a caravan insurance policy you may want to think about opting for a voluntary excess.

Almost all policies have an excess as standard. This means the insurance company will only pay the amount of any claim minus the amount of your excess. Clearly the higher the excess on your policy, the less you would receive back in the event of a claim. However bad this may sound, it also attracts the benefit that it reduces premiums.

It is important however that you get the balance correct. It’s great to be able to save some money on premiums, but you have to bear in mind the practicalities if you have to make a claim at some point. You need to be realistic about whether you could acutally afford to cover the excess. If you choose a voluntary excess to save yourself some money, you need to know that you could bear the cost if you need to make a claim.

So with some common sense it is easy to save yourself money on your caravan insurance. You just need to consider carefully that you are getting the balance between saving money and protecting yourself adequately

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Cheaper Static Caravan Insurance Policies

Sunday, November 6th, 2011

Finding the right insurance for a static caravan can prevent a number of issues, especially if you are trying to tighten your pursestrings. It is important that you have an adequate level of cover to protect yourself, but at the same time you want to make sure that you’re not paying more for it than you need to. Trying to find the right insurance can be a bit of a pain, but it really doesn’t have to be.  A few simple tips can help you do this the right way, making it straightforward for you to find static caravan insurance that is cheap, and also importantly matches your needs.

First up, have a good look at your current caravan insurance policy, dig down into the detail to identify what in fact you are getting. Perhaps there are elements that you don’t need, or maybe a lower level of cover, and perhaps you may realise there are som things that are not covered that you thought were! Look at ways you can trim the policy down a bit. Another option here is to increase your excess, as this is one of the easiest ways to cut premiums. However this should be approached sensibly, because if you make your excess too high, you could find yourself unable to cover their costs in the event you need to claim.

One of the very best ideas to getting anything cheaper is to make sure you shop around, this is as true for caravan insurance as for anything. If you are in need of a new policy in the near future make sure you use a comparison site. This is the premier way of saving yourself money on your insurance. By comparing what companies offer, and their prices, you are sure to find a good deal that gives you the cover you need, but at a reasonable price.

Another, more old-fashioned way of saving money is simply to haggle. You can get online quotes, but there is nothing to stop you then getting on the phone and speaking directly to them. In these difficult times companies are desperate for our business, and therefore often more flexible on price, especially if you are switching to them from another insurer. Nothing ventured, nothing gained they say, and you could get a decent discout if you do this.  If you put these ideas together and put a little time into the process you will be able to find yourself a cheaper static caravan insurance policy than you have now, that offers as good, if not better cover.

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Saving Money On Your Caravan Insurance: Tip 5

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

In the fifth of our series on ways to get cheaper caravan insurance we look at caravan clubs.

There are several caravan clubs you can join, the major ones being the Caravan Club and the Camping and Caravanning Club. And the great thing about being a member of these clubs is that you will find many caravan insurance companies will offer you discounts on you caravan insurance premiums.

If you are wondering why this is, it is because membership of these clubs is a good indicator that you are serious about your caravanning, and take security and safety seriously. As a result of this you will present a lesser risk, and thus a better bet for the caravan insurers. These are exactly the type of people that caravan insurers like to protect.

Membership of these clubs starts at around £40, and benefits extend beyond just getting money off of your insurance. For instance Caravan Club membership pays for itself in just 5 nights at a site with pitch fees savings offered at club sites. So all in all membership makes excellent sense, and not only because of the caravan insurance premiums.

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Cheaper Caravan Insurance?

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

The caravan insurance industry will be breathing a collective sigh of relief today as a four Irish travellers have been found guilty of conspiracy to steal, following a three-month trial at Winchester Crown Court.

In the twelve months following their arrests in March 2007 there was a nationwide drop in caravan thefts to the tune of 47%! Good news not only for caravanners, but for the people who insure the caravans.

Detective Inspector Matt Davey, from Wiltshire Police described the investigation as ‘long and complex.’ Close to £1 million worth of caravans and personal possessions were recovered as part of the investigation. This haul included vehicles, cash, jewellery, china and crystal.

Overall, nineteen police became involved in the operation to catch them, which culminated in a raid in March 2007 on their site in Gloucester. And a second raid involving 120 officers from Wiltshire Police was carried out on another site near Swindon in October 2007.

In total they discovered £970,000 of stolen goods, including £700,000 worth of vehicles, £70,000 cash,  £80,000 of china and £20,000 of crystal, and £100,000 of jewellery.

So caravan owners and insurers will be able to rest easier as these scum bags have been taken out of circulation, hopefully for a long while. Now, given that there are fewer thefts of caravans, this means there are fewer insurance payouts, which in turn should mean that it should lead to cheaper caravan insurance… that makes sense doesn’t it. I wonder if this will be the case?

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