Caravan Questions

22 February 2022

Our underwriting team at Star are always keen to make sure we understand the risk we’re insuring; both so that it fits within our appetite and helps the client to minimise any potential loss. There are two important risk factors we question when providing terms for caravans.

Will the wheels remain on the van, and can it be moved easily?

We’re happy to look at covering permanently sited caravans however there are a number of reasons we ask the above question. 

Firstly in preventing the loss, can we move the van in case of emergency? If a van is permanently kept at a seaside holiday camp and a tsunami warning is issued can the client (or the park manager) move the van easily to higher ground? Or, if the van next to yours catches fire is someone able to push your van out of the way to prevent loss?

Secondly, if a van does suffer a loss and its wheels have been removed then we need to send the repairer out to the van (often in a remote area) rather than take the van to the repairer. This would increase any claims cost and therefore important for us to factor in when underwriting risks.

Is the Caravan secured to avoid any loss or damage?
When caravans are left at home, or holiday spots we want them secured with a coupling lock, cable lock or wheel clamp to prevent theft. 

Caravans are a popular target for criminals who want them for a spare bedroom, sleep out or drug den, so the harder it is for them to steal one the more attractive the insurance risk is to us.

We’ve had a number of incidents of caravans being stolen only to be abandoned a few blocks down the road because the security locks have made them too difficult to transport. A damaged yet abandoned caravan we can still make a recovery (salvage) on, but we can’t with one that’s disappeared.