Caravan
General Information
The Netherlands has a great tradition for people who enjoy caravanning, there are many families who are the proud owners of a ‘second home on wheels’. Caravans can vary quite a bit in value, and this means that the right kind of insurance must be based on the caravan’s value.
Insured Amount
It is very important to establish the caravan’s value precisely, thereby enabling the insurer to calculate the premium amount based on the true value. In principle all insurers operate on the premise of ‘current replacement value’, to which should be added the value of any extra’s such as an add-on tent. If you intend to make your caravan ‘more expensive’, you would be smart to have this included in your insurance policy.
Home contents
Those who plan to take some ‘home contents’ with them on vacation, can have these things added to the insurance on the basis of replacement cost (and separate from standard travel insurance, which is known to have restrictions). Clearly these items will only be insured if the have been recorded on the policy beforehand.
Restrictions
- It is important to note that the caravan must always be intended for recreational use, your personal recreation, in fact. Renting out your caravan is normally excluded from caravan insurance, as is using the caravan as a permanent dwelling, unless expressly included in the policy.
- Secondly: almost all insurance will exclude damage caused from frost or flooding.
- Most insurers have determined that the reimbursed amount may only be applied towards repairing the actual damage. If you do not do the repairs this usually means reduced or no reimbursement.
- The policy terms will furthermore refer to sudden occurrences. This means that damage that develops in a gradual manner will not be reimbursable. Wear and tear is such a gradual process, which is therefore not covered by the insurance. The logic makes sense: regular maintenance will always uncover things that are wearing out in time.
- standard coverage, or
- extended coverage
In principle all sudden uncertain events are insured: collision, storm, fire, etc.
The ‘uncertainty’ factor plays a determining role. Lighting a roaring campfire inside the add-on tent will probably not gather a great deal of sympathy from the insurance adjuster.
Extended Coverage
Extended coverage, sometimes called ‘Extra extended’ or ‘Super package’ essentially pays out more in reimbursement of damage claims than the standard cover. Added to the basic cover will be:
- Repair of construction or material faults for caravans up to 5 years
- Replacement value paid for 60 months instead of 12. Sometimes even for 120 months. Thereafter reimbursements also tend to be higher than with standard cover.
- Higher payments for the expense of a replacement caravan
