Practical Caravan mag November 2011

[ALH]

Re 'Caravan Bore' page 21. Please get your facts right before putting to print!

You state "............There is no legal requirement for caravan insurance. When on the road your caravan is covered by the car insurance."

The caravan IS NOT covered at all by the car insurance. Only third party cover is in force, so any damage to the caravan is not covered at all. Please print a correction in your next edition before some poor sap takes your word for it and ends up thousands of pounds out of pocket if involved in an accident.

 

[ALH]

And now I've read your following paragraph and must issue an apology!! Well if nothing else that has taught me a very big lesson and one which I will indeed learn from!

Al

 

[RogerL]

Perhaps it should have been worded better, eg "There's no legal requirement to have insurance for damage to the caravan or damage to third parties when on site or in storage - the legal requirement to have third party insurance while on the public highway is covered by the car insurance."

 

[Parksy]

The Caravan Bore article appears as a conversational question and answer type format so it's understandable why Al jumped to the conclusion that he did if he hadn't read the article all the way through before posting his complaint.

 

[Steve L]

Well put Parkesy.
If you read your car insurance terms and conditions, they state quite clearly first of all if they allow tow bars to be fitted without the need to notify them and then state that basic third party insurance is provided for towing trailers. The one where you could be on a sticky wicket is if you are towing a brokendown car.

Without tempting fate

.
Should you have an accident with your caravan that is individually insured, you could well find your caravan insurer trying to off load the third party liability towards your car insurance company, to reduce their financial position. This could lead to you paying out two excesses even if you are lucky enough not to of damaged your tow car. These days insurance companies are tring every angle to get out of paying.

 

[Sedo]

There is a Swift twin axle on our storage area and has been for 4 years to my knowledge that proves you don't have to have caravan insurance.
It must have been a nice van until it was smashed, it's been standing on offer for spares until it now looks as if it's been in a bombing strike.
In fact it's a salutary lesson in having insurance.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Heres an interesting point,

The caravan is endowed by third party cover whilst towing. However, if the caravan detaches from the car and then it causes damage, is it still coverd?
Its a moot point, as soon as the caravan has no mechanical connection to the car, it is not part of the car, so given the circumstances above an insurance company could argue the detatched caravan is not covered.

 

[Dustydog]

I think you'll be ok John.
In the operative clause of the motor policy, most say something like:-
We will indemnify you for any incident arising out of the use of a motor vehicle. So if the caravan, roof box or wheel fall off and damage a third party, bodily or property I doubt an Insurer would be able to escape acepting policy liability

 

[Surfer]

Heres an interesting point,

The caravan is endowed by third party cover whilst towing. However, if the caravan detaches from the car and then it causes damage, is it still coverd?
Its a moot point, as soon as the caravan has no mechanical connection to the car, it is not part of the car, so given the circumstances above an insurance company could argue the detatched caravan is not covered.

For example you unhitch the caravan and it runs down a slope into parked cars or if on a site, another caravan, who will pay for the damage to the cars or the caravan. I believe that this scenario happened at some point in the past.

 

[RogerL]

Once the caravan is unhitched in a normal way it's nothing to do with the car's insurance.
Who pays for damage? Depends whether negligence is involved but in any case the caravan owner isn't legally required to have insurance. If a negligent caravan owners causes damage in this way the third parties may still have no comeback if the owner has no disposable assets.