The silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that more and more Australians are taking the time to enjoy what is right under our noses. Thankfully this has also meant that more and more are investing what they may have spent in overseas holidays into these adventures. The positive effects of this behaviour are massive for the country. Think about it, more people buying products related to touring; think 4×4’s, accessories, trailers and more. Then, they are going out and touring our amazing countryside, contributing to regional towns and areas along the way.
One area that is really outperforming is the Recreational Vehicle segment. Sales of trailers are up significantly, with very long wait times for delivery where people buy new. Ensuring you have the right insurance coverage is never more important, so here are a few tips you should consider in making your decisions.
Where are you covered?
Think about your trailer, is it designed to go off-road or on-road? Are you towing it with a 4X4 capable vehicle and intend to tour off the blacktop (yes silly question I know)? If the answer to the last question is yes, do you have coverage that will allow you to claim where you intend to drive or camp? Off-road touring is mud, rock, snow, sand, water, private property, national parks, non-gazetted roads and everything in between. The last thing you want is to find out that your expensive trailer is not covered where you choose to take it after you need to claim, or that there is a special excess to pay. It pays to shop around and ask very specific questions
How much are you covered for?
Many insurer will offer an Agreed Value or a market value for your trailer, but what about where you’ve made changes? Added a gas hot water unit? Added an extra battery, upgraded solar panel, or charging system? Upgraded your suspension or added electric brakes? These are all quite common things we do, but can you get coverage for the investment you made in these items? It’s important to understand if your insurer covers you for those modifications and accessories too.
Do you have a choice of who repairs your trailer?
Some of these trailers are quite specialised, so do you have the opportunity to nominate who does the work? Remember that what you’ve paid for is for your asset to either be replaced, paid out, or repaired. If you fall into the latter, it pays to know that you can choose who you want to do the work to ensure the repairs are done to a standard.
Do you get a benefit for combining your insurance?
So you can’t move a trailer without a tow rig, right? So do you get a benefit for combining both of these together? Does it just make sense to combine two complementary assets on one policy? The benefit can be financial but it also means you can answer the questions posed in point 1 above also!
Do you pay for a tow if your tow rig gets damaged?
A big one to consider when towing a trailer is who would pick up the tab for towing if your tow-rig broke down or was damaged, but your trailer was fine. Let that thought sink in. There are some policies on the market that have a towing benefit connected to the trailer policy which may be just the ticket!
Owning and using a trailer can be a really rewarding way to get out into the bush and enjoy the countryside, but you need to ensure you’re well prepared to do it safely. But if the worst were to happen, you’d want to know you have the best available cover for your needs.
If you’re not sure, give us a call and we will gladly run you through a quote
Kal
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Comments 13
Hi,
Very interesting articles spoilt by the floating Facebook and Instagram buttons.
Not necessary folks.
Author
Thanks for the feedback. We’ve disabled them.
Aiden
Hey Aiden
I noticed they were gone straight away, it makes a difference.
Good call Colin Kleinig.
Do insurers take in to account the huge amount of downtime the camper trailers spend? Currently my trailer spends so much time under the carport that the tyres are going square. The insurance cost for a 35K trailer is about two thirds the cost of my house insurance. Go figure. It is a shame they don’t charge a “pay as you perform” charge especially during current times.
Author
Hi Blair, we do offer laid up cover for periods where you are not using your trailer! You nominate up to 2 periods per year where it will be sitting in the shed and we’ll limit the cover to your address during that period, but also reduce the premium…
Regards,
Aiden
Do you insure vans such as the Fantasy F5-E?
We certainly do Tim!
Do you insure 8metre Jayco motorhomes with a value of $120,000.
Thanks
Danny
How does cover work with web sites like camplfiy ie you own the rig and rent it out?
Author
Hi David,
We currently won’t insure Caravans or Camper trailers which are hired out. We are working in this space to see if there is a way to cover this, but the risk increases substantially when inexperienced people will tow and use a vehicle that is not familiar to them. I’ll be sure to let you know where we land when we’ve done out due diligencve here.
Aiden
4×4 Insurance covers my 4wd but when I spoke to your rep about cover for my van the cost was $500 more for $12,000 less cover.
How are you so good with 4wd insurance, but not competitive with off road van insurance.
Aiden, Thanks for feedback .
Author
Hi Graeme,
Aiden here. Thanks for the comment and feedback. We love to insure Camper Trailers and Caravans but the industry does face some challenges when it comes to the insurance space. A lot of insurance companies use Caravan insurance as an accommodation line – that is they make no money on it, or use it as a loss leader to secure a bigger share of your overall insurance spend. This makes it hard to compete on price sometimes because some of these guys are prepared to make a loss on the policy. Our focus is on being sustainable meaning we price to represent what we believe is fair given the risk that is actually represented. We do also appreciate the value of share of wallet, and do offer up to 10% off every policy you have with us when you have 2 or more to reflect this.
The other factor affecting pricing is that the specialist skills to repair caravans and campers across the country are slowly disappearing given the consolidation that has happened in the industry and the fact many repairers are reaching retirement age without others interested in continuing that trade. The effect of this is that many repairs now need to be transported to a capital city for repairs which increases costs.
I’d always be happy to have us look at reviewing the sum insured to make sure it is appropriate, but we can’t always compete on price because some in the industry are willing to offer prices that are well below what is sustainable.
Rest assured that we are interested in insuring what people tow with their 4X4, but as a specialist, we need to be able to charge a sustainable price to do so, where some of our competitors are willing to lose money in this space.
Hope this helps?
Aiden
Thanks. I may look in to this.