subject: Insuring Your Campervan - Its Not A Campercar [print this page] So many people think that because they can go to the website of any number of UK insurance companies and insure a car with just a few clicks of the mouse, the same applies to getting a campervan insured. Unfortunately, many end up getting a rude awakening because it just does not work that way. Now, nobody is saying that you cannot get cover online, but it certainly is not the same as insuring a car.
First of all, the average car has little, if any, contents for the owner to worry about. A campervan on the other hand is usually full of contents. Sure, some families may enjoy going camping with just the bare necessities, but most owners tend to enjoy a little bit of luxury when they hit the road. This means they'll usually have a state-of-the-art home entertainment system in the vehicle, they'll have a collection of CD's and DVD's, they'll have a fridge, a cooker, a TV and etc.
Most everyone will also have cutlery and linen and anything else which may be necessary to make their home away from home as comfortable as possible. If you have got a fully kitted out camper, go ahead and draw up a list of all the contents, together with the amount each item would cost to replace. This figure, although you may find it alarming, is the figure you will need to have included in your cover. As you can see, insuring a campervan is not as "straight cut" as what you may first have thought.
Campervans are also very tempting to thieves and even though they may not steal the vehicle itself, they can still make off with most of your possessions. Of course if your actual camper gets stolen, you will want to know you can have it replaced at the expense of the insurance company. Here again, you need to decide what sort of arrangement suits you best. Some policies will only pay out the current market value at the time of the theft, while other policies will pay for you to purchase a brand new vehicle. You will more than likely find though, that if your vehicle is beyond a certain age, the latter option may not be available to you. Either way, it's always best to make things as difficult as possible for thieves. In other words, get a good alarm system fitted, together with an immobiliser and make sure both are makes which are recognised by insurance companies. Having a GPS tracking device fitted is also highly recommended and doing so will certainly see you qualifying for lower premiums.
Many providers will automatically try to sell you campervan insurance which provides you with cover all year round, but if you only intend using your van during the summer months and perhaps once or twice during winter, then you need to inquire about "limited mileage" cover. After all, why pay more for something when you do not even need it in the first place.
You will also need to decide on the type of campervan insurance you require. For example, if your vehicle is relatively old and it's not of a very high value, you could consider settling for Third Party, Fire and Theft insurance. If on the other hand your van is worth a small fortune, Full Comprehensive cover would be a far better choice, even though it will cost you more.
