Have You Adequate Caravan Insurance?

Around 500 or so touring caravans are reported stolen each year in Australia, representing a major inconvenience to their owners. Unlike a car, a caravan is an extension to your home and caravan theft not only has the usual financial implications but can be very emotional for the individuals involved.

There are a number of ways that caravan owners can help with the security of their caravan. All caravans should have a chassis number that can be written or etched in various places in the caravan. For example, labelling the underside of drawers, in cupboards and on other areas of bare wood will help the police to identify a touring caravan if it is ever stolen. Obviously, the method of labelling should be permanent and not easy to remove or disguise.

There are various security devices available to the touring caravan owner and owners should consider using as many as convenient.

These include using a good quality padlock and lockable cover as well as fitting locking wheel nuts. A wheel clamp of some description is essential whilst the caravan is in storage and most touring caravan insurance companies insist that some form of wheel clamping is used to comply with the exclusions in the policy. A tracker device similar to those fitted to high value vehicles is also available for caravans and enables a better chance of recovery if the caravan is stolen. Some systems are capable of phoning an owner’s mobile phone if the caravan is moved without warning. Of a course a traditional alarm system will alert owners to an attempted theft.

There are many other precautions that a touring caravan owner can take and the Government has a web site detailing some sensible precautions such as securing roof lights when leaving the caravan and not leaving caravan registration documents in the caravan.

Camper and pop-top caravan owners throughout Australia may not have insurance cover if their recreational vehicle becomes the target of thieves.

A recent theft from a camper which involved a Dubbo Caravan Park raises an immediate need for camper and caravan pop-top owners to review their insurance policies. Concerns are now being expressed by many owners of campers and pop-top caravans about whether their policy protects them when valuables are stolen from their "soft-target" recreational vehicles.

In that case the insurer is said to have declined to pay on grounds which are said to be that the camper was not "broken into" as access was gained through the Velcro and there was no forced entry.  These concerns now extend to pop-top caravans. If a knife is used to gain entry then that policy might not protect you.

Contact your insurance broker if you need caravan insurance.