Preparing your Static Caravan for the Winter
If you are a static caravan owner, now is the time to prepare your caravan for winter.
Maintenance Tips for your Static Caravan
Static Caravans can be both a great home to live in or a place to escape on holiday. However, like all homes regardless of structure, you will need to maintain it. Proper maintenance of your caravan will extend it’s life meaning you can enjoy it for longer!
So what do you need to do to ensure that your caravan is well maintained?
- Make sure that you protect your caravan during the winter months. You should “drain down” the caravan, so that the water and heating systems will not be damaged by the cold when you are gone.
- Turn off the supply of water and gas before you locate the external water drainage plugs. Once you have started to drain the water, you can turn on all of the taps and leave the inside plug holes open – just to make sure that there is no water left in the system.
- Don’t forget to flush the toilet and make sure that all of the water has been officially drained from the cistern
- You can also use compressed air to blow through the pipe-work, just to make sure that there is no remaining water that could potentially freeze.
- You might also want to use a solution that is three parts water and one part anti-freeze. Put it through the drained system to further waterproof it.
- It is also important to check the roof of your caravan for faults and blockages in the drainage system.
- Make sure that you remove all debris from the roof, such as rotting leaves and degrading matter.
- It is a good idea to blast the exterior with a pressure washer, or use a cloth and some soap to wash it down. This will help to avoid any damage caused by debris and build-up.
- Always keep an eye on your caravan and inspect it frequently for rust and corrosion – especially if you own an older caravan.
- It is also very important to make sure that your gas boiler is serviced annually – because if the boiler breaks while you are away from your caravan for the season, a lot of damage can be caused.
- If your caravan uses a butane cylinder, you should watch out and make sure that the sealer washers do not need replacing.
Another important factor to consider is the security of your caravan.
Make sure that all of the doors and windows on the caravan have security devices – and you may even want to consider investing in an alarm. It is advised that you take all contents of worth home with you if your caravan is for holiday use.
This is a marketing article from My Holiday Home Insurance, a specialist provider of insurance for holiday homes, leisure homes, holiday lodges and static caravans. Our team of experienced advisers are always happy to help, so for more information call our Northampton office on freephone 0800 988 0890.
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Extreme UK weather puts Caravans at high risk
Protection from the weather is a major concern for most caravan insurance customers. But few would ever think that it could be needed in case a tornado hits in the UK. Snow, sure, Flooding, perhaps. But tornado?
No way. Unfortunately for one caravan park in Anglesey, the unimaginable actually did happen.
On December 5th as the country was gripped by extreme winter weather, Sandy Beach Caravan Park, Llanfwrog was almost destroyed by a tornado. The force of the storm was so pronounced that even the sturdier caravans were severely damaged, so here’s hoping that their owners had kept their caravan insurance up to date.
However, the damage was luckily confined to property and no-one was hurt. Although the storm hit at midday and left staff manning the park running for cover, there were no holidaymakers on the park at the time, as it was closed for the season. Five touring caravans were destroyed and one static caravan had its roof completely torn off.
This may not be the end of it, either, as metrological reports about the cold front currently moving across the UK are waning of more to come. The turbulence caused by the cold front is expected to lead to more high speed winds and more damage is not being ruled out.
As the UK looks set to suffer extreme weather conditions over the next month or so, it is important to keep your caravan insurance fully up-to-date and as comprehensive as possible.
Can you afford NOT to insure your caravan?
One of our policyholders have had the misfortune of receiving the news that their Static Caravan was the subject of a total loss in recent strong winds. The loss was a result of impact damage from a neighbouring caravan which was flipped over in the recent strong winds and hit our policyholders caravan.
Unfortunately the neighbouring caravan was uninsured, and therefore our policyholder can only claim from their own policy to replace their caravan. However, the owner of the neighbouring caravan does not get away lightly, just because they’re not insured, doesn’t mean a claim can not be made against them personally.
One of the benefits of insuring your caravan is not just ensuring that your caravan is insured for fire, theft, storm damage etc you will normally receive cover for Public Liability of around £2million pounds in the event that you, or a member of your family become legally liable for to pay for damages for bodily injury or damage to property. A claim is now being made against the owner of the neighbouring caravan for causing damage to our policyholders caravan, and for not insuring their caravan.
Don’t just assume that you are the only person who will lose out for not insuring your caravan, you have a responsibility for those around you to ensure that they are not at risk too.
Storm Hits Welsh Holiday And Caravan Park
Winds of up to 94mph have brought chaos to parts of Wales, leaving properties damaged and trees torn down.
Aberystwyth in Ceredigion bore the brunt, with reports of a small tornado sweeping across the area.
Trees and roof tiles were blown into roads, with several being forced to close but Dyfed-Powys Police said no injuries had been reported.
BBC Weather said there had been “a few small tornadoes” across parts of Wales and the Midlands.
The RNLI station in Aberystwyth recorded the strongest gust of 94mph shortly after 10:30 GMT.
About 600 households were without power for part of the day due to the weather.
Scottish Power said service had been restored to about 35 customers in Pwllheli after a thunderstorm knocked out their power.
Western Power said most of its customers have also had their power restored but it was still dealing with six incidents across south and west Wales, affecting 308 customers.
Thomas Scarrott, director of the Clarach Bay Holiday Village, near Aberystwyth, said 15 to 20 caravans were upended and overturned by what he described as a tornado. Others had their roofs ripped off.
Reference:
BBC News. 2016. Roofs ripped off as storms hit parts of mid and west Wales. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-38014691. [Accessed 17 November 2016].