How to Minimise Your Caravan Insurance Costs

How to Minimise Your Caravan Insurance Costs

Owning a caravan or a motorhome opens up a new chapter in the book of vehicle insurance. Of course you would want to safeguard yourself against possible theft, but there’s another angle. Even the most basic of caravans are typically equipped with a substantial range of equipment and caravan accessories. Today, the typical modern caravan houses everything from a refrigerator, to a washing machine, to a television, to air-conditioning and hot water systems, to sundry kitchen appliances and gadgetry. Together, these dramatically raise the overall value of your caravan, and as such, the cost of your caravan insurance premiums. Not getting an insurance is hardly an option, since you do want to be covered in the instance of accidental damage or theft. But you can certainly outfit your caravan in ways to minimise your insurance costs.

Install Fitted Security Features on Your Caravan

By fitted, we mean directly wired and/or integrated within the control system of your caravan. These security features aim to minimise chances of caravan theft, break-ins at caravan parks, and accidents due to loss of control while driving or towing. Certain caravan insurance companies will offer discounts on their insurance premiums if a caravan has one or more of the following:

  • GPS tracking system – to help locate the caravan in case it is stolen.
  • Burglar alarm – to alert the owner if the caravan is broken into via its door or windows.
  • Electronic trailer stability system – to detect and neutralise any discrepancies between the control input and your caravan’s actual response, reducing chances of accidents and damage while towing.
  • Locking corner steadies – to immobilise the caravan when parked / stationary, reducing chances of caravan theft.

Accessorise Your Caravan with Additional Security Add-ons.

While the abovementioned security features will go a long way in minimising your caravan insurance costs, you can take things a step further by adding a few security accessories to the mix. Besides, the integrated security features we just mentioned would need to be a part of your caravan’s overall control system. Which means that in case your caravan doesn’t have one or more of these, you can use the following independent add-ons to cut some of your insurance premium costs.

  • Hitch lock – to keep your caravan’s hitch and receiver locked together when parked and unattended, preventing caravan theft.
  • Wheel clamps – to lock the caravan’s wheels in place when parked / stationary, thus preventing caravan theft. Brightly coloured, conspicuous wheel clamps are a major deterrent to caravan thieves.
  • Corner steady locks – to be added separately to corner steadies that do not belong to the auto-locking variety.

Do You Go Caravanning Often? Research Club Memberships Around You

Certain caravan and camping clubs have business associations with insurance companies where they are able to offer discounts on insurance premiums for caravan owners who sign up for their club memberships. This option will require some research into the terms of your caravan insurance provider as well as the caravan clubs you’re considering for memberships. Important to note here is that this option only works for frequent travellers, where long term memberships work out to be more profitable than paying caravan park fees every time. On the other hand, if you only head out once in a while, you’ll probably end up paying just as much as your insurance premium (if not more) to the caravan club.

Regardless of which alternative you choose, make sure you read the fine print. Terms and conditions listed in insurance cover documents may seem tedious to read, but they can help you avoid investing in something that doesn’t really help you minimise your insurance costs. It also pays to spend time talking your policy over with your friends. See what company they are using and what inclusions they have opted with. Better yet, chat with someone who has had to put in an insurance claim and see whether or not they had a positive or negative experience - forums are great place for these conversations if you don't know anyone personally.


DISCLAIMER* Please note, this advice is general in nature and we strongly recommend consulting the product manual and where relevant, a professional installer.


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