Caravan cover costs are no picnic

Just as holiday homes will often attract higher insurance costs than full-time residences, caravans and mobile homes may be much more expensive to insure than more permanent vacation properties.

The reason for this is reasonably self-evident: a caravan has much more chance of blowing away in a storm than a semi-detached, three-bed home. Thus, insurers view them as high-risk propositions and the charges they apply to cover will naturally reflect this.

As with more permanent holiday homes, caravans can either be insured under an existing home policy or as a standalone property.

Mr Michael Brown of Kidd Insurances says that a modest caravan insured for €20,000 on the structure and €5,000 on the contents will probably attract an annual insurance cost of €400 on a standalone policy.

This is significantly higher than the comparative charges for houses and is purely a reflection of caravans' vulnerability in the face of storms.

Mr Brown says some caravan-park operators will operate insurance "schemes" for the caravans based within their confines, which could offer preferential rates provided that the small print is acceptable.

Likewise, holiday apartments will usually be insured under a general policy for the overall building, thus leaving their owner little freedom for negotiation, at least on buildings cover.

Insurance for the contents of apartments is a different matter however, with brokers such as Kidd offering individual policies for exactly this kind of cover under holiday-home rates.