Like cars, static caravans will tend to lose value in their first year and continue to depreciate in value thereafter. That shouldn’t put you off though; they are a fantastic investment for those who want to know they have a home from home to escape to at a moment’s notice.
So how do you ensure your investment is protected?
When it comes to your insurance for your static caravan, there are usually two main levels of cover offered by insurance companies. The first is market value cover which does what it says on the tin and offers you the current market value for your static caravan at the time of an insured loss.
New for old insurance, on the other hand, is designed to provide you with a brand new, equivalent replacement of your static caravan should your caravan be damaged beyond repair by an insured peril such as fire or flood. Because you are insured for a replacement as new, you must therefore consider what the current cost of a like-for-like, or equivalent model will be.
There are a few of ways that you can find this out:
- Check with the manufacturer – You could do this online (making sure that the page you are looking at is the most up-to-date) or give them a call.
- Asking an independent, advice-giving broker like A-Plan to check in the up-to-date Glass’s Guide for new-for-old replacement costs.
- Your park manager may also have an up- to-date Glass’s guide.
The other aspects to consider are your contents, decking, re-siting and clearance costs. These should be included in your insurance quotation if required. By choosing to insure your static caravan and decking, if you have it, on a new-for-old basis you may find that the contents of your caravan are automatically insured on a new-for-old basis too, though it’s worth checking just to be sure. You should also check the value of your contents as new so if you need to replace them in a claim situation, you have the correct sums insured.
Lastly, remember that prices do tend to go up year-on-year so it’s worth reviewing the figures on your insurance documents to ensure that you have the correct up-to-date amounts there each year.
If you have any queries regarding market value cover, or new-for-old cover, or would like a quotation for your static caravan insurance, please call our A-Plan static caravan team members on 01527 879777.