Buying And Insuring A Static Carvan

By: Carl Way Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Does the thought of taking more holidays appeal to you? An excellent way to be able to take more holidays is by owning a static caravan. This will enable you to take a holiday at much shorter notice, and at a fraction of the cost that is generally expected.

Bear in mind though, if you are genuinely considering investing in a static caravan, then there are several things you should you should consider prior to investing your cash.

Unlike touring caravans, static caravans can be prone to a variety of locational risks in the park where it is located. The risk of such unforseen events as falling trees, flooding and storms are often overlooked by many people, regardless of the fact that these occurrences are not uncommon. On top of this there is the possibility that in winter pipes can freeze solid and burst, which is a major headache to owners of static caravans.

Once you have identified a site you are interested in, it is very important that you find out from the owners if the park has flooded or been damaged in a storm. If they tell you that it has then this could prevent you getting affordably priced insurance for your static caravan on the park.

Even if the site owners say flooding is not an issue it would be advisable to also do a further check to see if the site is located in an area that is prone to flooding. To find this out you need to know the postal code of the park. If the site is located in England or Wales, then you want to visit the Environment Agency flooding page on their website and put in the post code into the field on the right hand side of the page. If the park is in Scotland then you will need to check on the website of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

It would then be a good idea to check on google's mapping technology to locate the park and the caravans more precisely before referring back to the flood map for a better idea to the flooding risk presented. Areas that are often problematic to get insurance because of flood risk are Lincolnshire and Norfolk, sites near major rivers such as the Avon and the Severn rivers, and low-lying coastal areas of North Wales.

It is a fact that the large majority of static caravan/holiday home sales are of already sited caravans. The sale will be made either by the site owner themselves, or the owner in the case of a second-hand caravan (with the permission of the owner of the site).

Occasionally it is possible to buy a pitch that doesn't have a caravan already on it and arrange with the site owner to have it sited there. In such circumstances the owners of the site will require a significant payment to allow the siting of a caravan as they would have expected to make a profit when selling a sited caravan.

What this means is that you will pay a good deal more for a caravan that is sited than an van that is not sited. But you should note that the amount of insurance should provide for the actual unsited retail cost of the caravan plus the cost of resiting a replacement caravan, along with the cost of any additions like storage containers, sheds and verandas, should it be damaged beyond repair or destroyed. You should also include an amount to cover replacement of any equipment and contents. You will find that some policies require you to include costs required for site clearance as well.

Your contract will dictate what needs to happen should your caravan be destroyed. This could dictate that you must replace the caravan with a brand new equivalent model of caravan. If this is the situation then you should purchase a new-for-old caravan insurance policy, otherwise you could find that your policy doesn't provide enough cover.

You should bear in mind that signing up to buy a static caravan should not be undertaken lightly. The contract can be onerous, and you would be well advised paying a solicitor to look over it, and be clear that you completely appreciate what you are putting your name to before you put pen to paper. In particular make sure that i) you check if there are rules that force you to buy a new caravan after a set number of years, ii) you are clear what happens should you ever want to sell the caravan, and are happy with these terms, iii) you have security of tenure.

A extremely worthwhile document provided by the Office of Fair Trading called "Guidance on unfair terms in holiday caravan agreements" can be found at their website.

Should you buy a static caravan intending to rent it to people then you should check that your insurance policy protects you against anyloss of income in the event that your caravan becomes unusable. Should you fail to do this then you risk being hit with a nasty double hit: the financial loss while the caravan is being repaired: and also the excess costs of any repairs.

It is very advisable to also ensure you take out liability insurance if you rent out the caravan. Should somebody get hurt as a result of something for which you are found to be at fault, then you face the very real possibility that you could be many thousands of pounds poorer. Liability protection will ensure that any court and medical costs you may incur resulting from such a scenario will not have to come from your pocket.

You are very wise to get yourself educated if you are thinking of purchasing a static caravan, and also make very sure that you have adequate insurance cover. As any sensible person knows, it is always better to check with multiple providers for your static caravan insurance, as this will probably save you a decent amount of money. You will find there are a number of very good insurers on the market, ready to provide you with exactly what you require.

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About The Author: Carl Way is a founder of www.caravan-insurance-online.co.uk For the very best static caravan insurance online come on over to our site.