Top 10 Tips for Protecting Your Holiday Home

Compass insures tens of thousands of holiday caravan and lodge owners, they’ve been doing so for more than 40 years. Here are their top 10 tips when it comes to protecting your holiday home.

1. Get your sums insured right, the cost of new caravans and lodges have spiralled since the pandemic so it’s more important than ever to insure for the right amount. The simplest way to work out what it would cost to replace your holiday home with a brand new one on your park is to get guidance from your park.

2. Make sure you also consider the cost of decking, steps, balconies, and hot tubs in your sum insured. Some insurers, like Compass, will include these in your structure sum insured but others will need them adding or may not cover them at all.

3. Resist the temptation to save a few pounds and insure for less, this could end up costing you thousands in the long run if you have a claim. Underinsurance affects each and every claim you make and when you add up the cost, those few pounds saved won’t be worth it.

4. The same goes for choosing between New for Old and Market Value. Insuring on a Market Value basis is the right thing for some people, and on average will mean you pay a cheaper premium, however, it also means every claim will have an allowance made for wear and tear. In real terms that means that most claims will be reduced and you might not get the amount you thought you would.

5. For some people Market Value is their only option, many insurers put age limits on their New for Old cover, typically when the caravan reaches 15 years old, Compass however, will provide New For Old cover for older units.

6. Beware when comparing prices, especially online, not all insurance products are the same. Read the small print, exclusions, terms and conditions differ. Over the years we’ve seen some examples of terms that effectively render the cover useless. Given it’s a holiday property there will always be times it’s not occupied! Also, many parks insist on £5M liability cover which some products do not meet.

7. Understanding the risks your caravan or lodge is vulnerable to will help you identify which products are not up to scratch. For example, the most common losses we see relate to flood, storm and escape of water. So, make sure your policy covers those along with accidental damage.

8. If your caravan is a ‘total loss’, cannot be repaired and needs to be replaced, there are additional costs involved, from disconnection, debris removal, re-siting and reconnection to possible legal and conveyancing costs. Compass cover this as standard and without you needing to add this to your overall sum insured, does your insurer offer the same?

9. Nobody buys insurance in the hope they need to use it, but if you do need to make a claim the level of service and speed of response is essential. Will there be someone there 24/7/365 to help you? Also, will your insurer allow your park owner to help you, especially if you are not there when the loss or damage occurs?

10. If you do need to claim then there will be an excess to pay, this is the amount of the claim you have to pay yourself. At Compass we have the lowest excesses in the market at just £50 we’d suggest you check the level of your excess so you don’t get an unwelcome surprise at a time when you really need help.