Tag: Motorhomes

Pros and Cons of Campervans and Motorhomes: Which Should You Buy?

Post author By Own The Outdoors
Post date 1st December 2020

In this article, we look at the pros and cons of both campervans and motorhomes. What advantages do campervans have over motorhomes and vice versa? We help you to decide which type of camping vehicle will suit you.

Touring, camping and day trips in a campervan or motorhome is a great way to enjoy holidays, weekends, and leisure time. Owning a camping vehicle has become more popular over the last few years and this has accelerated through the Covid-19 crisis.

Choosing between buying a motorhome or a campervan is often not so obvious, as both are brilliant vehicles to own and each has their particular merits.

In this article, we consider the benefits of each, as well as the drawbacks, to help you decide whether you will become a campervanner or a motorhomer.

Contents

Choosing between a campervan and a motorhome

Having our own home-away-from-home on wheels was a dream of ours for a long time. We finally decided on a VW California campervan and haven’t looked back.

There were loads of things that we considered in making our final choice.

In the future, we may move to a bigger van or a motorhome as our situation changes and we have more time to travel further for longer. But, we were selecting for what works for us right now and for the next few years.

We have two primary school-aged children so needed something that seated and slept four comfortably. We also wanted a vehicle which we could use day-to-day so parking at home was important.

Although a VW pop-top campervan was ultimately the right choice for us, it wasn’t clear-cut at the beginning. Just like buying a home, some compromises had to be made.

Whether you should get a campervan or a motorhome will depend of course on your personal circumstances and what you want to get out of your van ownership.

What are the main differences?

If you want to take a deep dive into what exactly defines a campervan and a motorhome, take a look at our article What is the Difference Between a Campervan and a Motorhome?

Campervan advantages and disadvantages

Campervans are generally smaller and have fewer home comforts than their motorhome cousins. They are built within a van body either as a conversion from a commercial van, or factory-built by the van manufacturer.

Smaller campervans, known as micro-campers, use a car or small delivery van as a base vehicle and sleep two. These are easy to park and have lower fuel consumption but may not suit longer touring holidays.

Van conversions are the type of vehicle most people associate with the term campervan.

They typically have enough comforts to use on camping trips and touring with the benefit of easier parking and day-to-day use than bigger motorhome counterparts. However, limited gear storage and the lack of inbuilt toilet and shower facilities will not suit everyone.

Motorhome advantages and disadvantages

Motorhomes are longer and often wider and are designed to provide a comfortable and spacious environment including built-in washing and toilet facilities.

Motorhomes range in size from 2-4 berth long panel van conversions to American RVs with slideout sides and separate rooms. The typical type of motorhome you’ll see in the UK has a coach-built body mounted on a truck chassis and cab, with berths for 2-6 people.

They are more spacious with a finish and facilities aimed at comfortable living for longer touring and campsite stays. Their larger size brings less flexibility with driving and parking and may require a driving licence for heavier vehicles.

Let’s look at these pros and cons of campervans and motorhomes in more detail.

Driving

If you are not used to driving a larger vehicle, driving a motorhome or campervan can take some getting used to.

Road handling

These vehicles are heavier than cars and this affects their handling on the road, steering, accelerating, and braking.

Motorhomes, being larger than campervans, can often be a less finessed drive in built-up areas but comfortable on the open road. Campervans will often handle well in traffic, similar to driving a large SUV or estate car, and are often suitable as a daily drive vehicle.

Power steering can make a big difference for both types. Without it, each vehicle can feel, unsurprisingly, like the truck or commercial van it is built on. Similarly, an automatic transmission can make for a smoother ride at lower speeds. Some motoring purists (not me) will always prefer a manual gearshift.

Take as many test drives as you can get away with to really appreciate what each vehicle is likely to feel like.

Visibility

Visibility is more limited than a car with windows all around, so mirrors become even more important. On the other hand, a high driving position on the road allows you a much better view of the traffic and the scenery.

Arguably campervans often have better visibility than motorhomes, as they often have a rear window which can be seen through the rear-view mirror. Some coach-built motorhome designs have a body which is wider than the cab, reducing visibility further.

Driving licence

The standard UK driving license category B lets you drive a vehicle up to 3,500kg in MAM (maximum authorised mass), and tow a trailer up to 750kg (provided the combined MAM is under 3,500kg).

Most campervans and many motorhomes are under 3,500kg so you are covered. Even so, it is important to check the specifics of the vehicle and your driving licence before you buy.

To drive a vehicle between 3,500kg and 7,500kg you will need to have a C1 licence. The good news is for UK drivers who passed their driving test before 1997, the C1 category is automatically included.

If you passed your test from 1997 onwards you will have been given category B licence only. To drive larger motorhomes you will need to pass the theory and practical category C1 driving tests.

Parking

When considering the pros and cons of motorhomes and campervans, parking is an obvious issue.

Motorhomes are generally larger vehicles than campervans, and parking them is a distinct disadvantage.

On a campsite, no problem. Campsite pitches are designed with motorhomes in mind, and all but the largest RVs are able to be comfortably parked.

The footprint of a regular short-wheelbase campervan is similar to a large car and will fit standard parking spaces, albeit sometimes a little snugly. Van conversions of medium and long-wheelbase panel vans are a different matter. You may find yourself parking in the outer reaches of supermarkets car parks across two spaces.

Visiting the supermarket or town centre in a motorhome can cause parking issues. You may have to find generous street parking spaces nearby and walk to your intended destination rather than stubbornly squeezing in.

Height restrictions

Remember there are three dimensions that matter with any campervan or motorhome. As well as length and width, the height is critical when parking. Many a leisure vehicle driver has fallen foul of an overhead height restriction barrier.

Speaking from personal experience, I once forgot that using the bike rack on the back of our van increased the height, and hit a height barrier at an outdoor car park in Staffordshire. Luckily there was no damage to the van, only superficial damage to the bikes, and a mildly bruised ego.

Motorhomes will very often exceed the common two-metre height limit in outdoor and multi-storey car parks, further reducing your parking options.

Camping

These vehicles are, obviously, designed for camping. Let’s look at the pros and cons of campervans and motorhomes when setting up and staying at campsites.

Getting set up

Setting up camp in a motorhome is easy.

After parking and levelling, you need only plug into the electric hookup and perhaps water supply, and you’re done. You may want to set up an awning or annexe for extra space, but these are very much optional.

Campervans are a little more work to get set up at a campsite.

They will commonly have a day mode and night mode setup. Day mode for using the living space as a sitting room and kitchen, and night mode converting seating into beds. Longer wheelbase vans often have a fixed bed which makes things a little easier.

If you have a lot of gear or more than two people you will likely have to use a drive-away awning to store excess gear so that you can set up beds. Pop-top roofs give more head height for living and cooking, and very often have a pull-down bed too.

Sleeping

Of critical importance is how many berths your need.

Campervans are usually designed to sleep 2-4 people. Motorhomes can range from 2-6 berths, depending on the particular design. Giant RVs can often sleep up to 8.

Motorhome beds are designed for home-from-home comfort. They will usually have a fixed double bed or two singles towards the rear, with sprung mattresses.

Additional beds can be above the cab or in the living area, requiring some setting up. Beds made up from seat cushions in the living area are not always comfortable for adults, but for small children they are cosy.

Campervan beds can range from rudimentary ones where you might feel a seatbelt buckle in the wrong place, to sprung bases and super-soft mattresses with memory foam mattress toppers.

Washing and toilet facilities

Inbuilt washrooms typically contain a shower, mini washbasin, and a toilet that can be turned out of the way. They save the need for a late evening dash to the campsite ablution block and are handy when travelling too.

The downside of built-in toilets is that they need to be emptied. The more they are used, the more often a trip to the waste disposal is necessary.

Campervans without toilet/shower arrangements don’t have the waste disposal problem but require a toileting solution when not on a campsite with facilities.

We pack a portable chemical toilet (Porta Potti 335 portable toilet) for longer stays and always carry our fold-up camping toilet (Carplife Bivvy Loo) for on-the-road and overnight use.

To some, campervans feel like camping in a metal tent contrasting with motorhomes that seem like a posh caravan with a motor.

The type of camping experience that suits you will ultimately guide your decision.

Motorhome storage

As with parking when in use, storage is an important factor in the pros and cons of campervans versus motorhomes.

Security

An important consideration when we purchased our campervan was parking at home.

Our previous house did not have a driveway and we weren’t keen to leave an expensive motorhome parked on the street. This put us off buying a van until we moved to a house with a suitable driveway.

Although the van is parked on our property we have taken various security precautions to protect it from theft (not telling which).

Winter months

Motorhomes which are not used over the colder months are vulnerable to damage from moisture and freezing. Many motorhome owners will winterise their motorhome to keep it safe while it is not in use.

If your campervan is your daily drive and used regularly then winter storage is less of a problem. Emptying fresh and grey water tanks is still essential to avoid expensive damage from freezing.

Offsite storage

Larger motorhomes may simply not fit inside the property or a garage. Many motorhome owners store their vehicles in offsite storage facilities. These can usually be found in rural areas where the farmer has dedicated open storage or undercover storage for caravans and motorhomes.

Money

At last, we come to the big one – how much is all of this going to cost you?

Purchase price

Motorhomes and campervans are expensive assets.

A recent model used motorhome will set you back a minimum of £20-£25,000, and the price goes up to well over £100,000. Large American RVs can be as much as £250,000, but to be fair they are like a proper house on wheels.

Campervans are usually a cheaper option. A new conversion on a recent model or new base van will not give much change out of £30,000, but older vans can be picked up more cheaply.

Factory-built campervans such as the VW California and Mercedes Marco Polo start from around the £60,000 price point and go up depending on the options selected.

You also have the option of creating your own campervan. Buy a base van and pay a converter to fit it out or do it yourself and get specialists to do the tricky bits.

A DIY campervan means that you get to select just how much you are prepared to spend. You can even improve the van in stages, spreading out the cost.

Insurance

Oddly enough, insuring a motorhome or campervan is often cheaper than insuring a normal car. Like all insurance, it pays to shop around. Always pay close attention to the level of cover, exclusions, and excesses involved.

Service and repairs

The cost of servicing, repairs, and spare parts can be more expensive than regular cars.

Servicing costs can be higher as you are servicing a commercial vehicle. On the repairs and maintenance side, there is a lot more to break or wear out. Just consider the facilities for cooking, sleeping, bathroom, water, gas, electrics, and so on.

Campervans will often have lower servicing and repair costs than motorhomes. They are smaller vehicles with fewer additions, but it will depend on your vehicle including any warranty requirements.

Fuel costs

Motorhomes are heavier and will generally cost more to run than campervans.

All this depends on the fuel type, engine efficiency, and load that you are carrying. Pay close attention to the manufacturers’ figures and add at least 20% for real-world conditions.

Tax and MOT

Road tax, or VED (Vehicle Excise Duty), applies to motorhomes and campervans just as it does with cars.

The VED system has had several changes over the last decade. Costs will vary depending on the age of the vehicle, fuel type, and emissions. Additionally, a vehicle with an original list price over £40,000 will attract an additional £325 per year for five years.

VED rates were due to change from March 2020 to be in line with commercial vehicle rates. This would have been a very expensive change. Fortunately, this proposal has now been scrapped.

Try before you buy

I highly recommend hiring both a motorhome and a campervan to properly experience what will suit you. We did this on numerous holidays over several years and learned a lot.

How easy was it to drive? Did you sleep well? How was cooking a meal on a two-burner stove? What was it like to drive? What were the best and worst aspects?

Hiring first before you make a very expensive purchase may just save you from making a costly mistake.

You can hire campervans and motorhomes from commercial hire companies, or from private owners. Read about this in more detail in our Guide to Campervan Hire in the UK.

Should you buy a campervan or motorhome?

Now that you’ve gone through the major pros and cons of campervans and motorhomes, there’s a good chance that you know which way you’ll go.

Whether you choose a campervan or motorhome for your camping life, we hope that you’ll enjoy the freedom and flexibility as much as we do.

Tags Campervans, Money, Motorhomes, Security

Camping

What is the Difference Between a Campervan and a Motorhome?

Post author By Own The Outdoors
Post date 23rd November 2020

What exactly is the difference between a campervan and a motorhome? Seems obvious, or is it? We take a detailed look to try and answer the question once and for all.

The terms campervan and motorhome seem to be often used interchangeably. They are after all both leisure vehicles that provide transport and accommodation in one.

We’ve been to motorhome dealers and hire firms that refer to all of their vehicles as “motorhomes”, but go on to talk about the features of their amazing “campers” or “campervans”.

Let’s get down to it and have a red-hot go at nailing down the issue of how to tell the difference between a campervan and a motorhome.

Contents

Definitions of campervan and motorhome

A sleek modern motorhome (by Brent Mikkelsen on Unsplash)

Let’s start with some definitions.

Before we examine their differences in more detail, we’ll set out a formal description of the terms “campervan” and “motorhome” as they are generally used in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and various other countries.

What is a Campervan?

A campervan is a van that has been fitted out to be a camping vehicle. Campervans are built using a panel van body as a base, not only the chassis. They typically contain one or more fold-out or pop-up beds, gear storage areas, and often have basic kitchen facilities like a gas stove, sink, and fridge.

There is usually no separation between the driving cab and the living area, and most campervans do not have a built-in shower or toilet.

What is a Motorhome?

A motorhome is designed to be a fully self-contained travelling and living vehicle. They are usually manufactured using a truck or bus chassis as a base with a custom-made body attached (coach-built). Some motorhomes keep the cab intact, and others do not.

Motorhomes have kitchen and bathroom facilities, and some have fixed beds. A motorhome is usually longer than a campervan and is more likely to contain home comforts such as airconditioning and television.

Motorhome and Campervan differences

Now we’ve defined them, let’s compare the features that are typical of each type of leisure vehicle.

Feature	Campervan	Motorhome
Base vehicle	Van or MPV car	Van, truck, or bus
Body type	Panel van or car body	Custom-made body
Length	Up to 6 metres	5 to 12 metres
Separate cab	No	Sometimes
Side door	Usually sliding	Usually hinged
Berths	2-4	2-8
Pop-top roof	Yes, but not always	No
Folding bed	Usually	Sometimes
Fixed bed	Sometimes	Often
Storage cupboards	Yes	Yes
Cooking facilities	Usually	Yes
Gas tank	Usually	Yes
Fridge	Often	Yes
Sink	Often	Yes
Water tank	Often	Yes
Waste-water tank	Often	Yes
Storage cupboards	Yes	Yes
Shower/toilet	Not usually	Yes
Electric hookup	Often	Yes
Airconditioning	No	Often
TV/DVD	Sometimes	Often

Using this table will help you decide the campervan versus motorhome question for most vehicles. But, there is some overlap so it’s a question of looking at the whole picture.

Are we there yet?

No, we’re not quite there yet.

Like most rules, there are exceptions. Our definition isn’t perfect by any means, so let’s take a look at what some of those exceptions are.

Low-profile motorhomes

In recent years a very popular type of motorhome in the UK and Europe is what is known as a “low-profile coach-built motorhome”.

These have a slimline roof and sleek proportions which resemble a long-wheelbase campervan.

In our humble opinion, these vehicles have a foot in both camps. They have a custom-built body but the proportions of a larger campervan.

Long-wheelbase panel van conversions

Similarly, some campers are built using a long-wheelbase panel van body, but with motorhome comforts such as a shower/toilet room and fixed bed.

They could be a campervan but also a motorhome. Maybe both?

Other examples

A few more examples of hard-to-categorise campervans/motorhomes:

A short wheelbase van with a washroom. Does that make it a motorhome?

A bus kitted out with beds, kitchen, bathroom, storage, and so on, uses the original bus body. Is it therefore considered a motorhome?

A long wheelbase, high roof panel van with the kitchen installed laterally, blocking access to the driving cab. Campervan or motorhome?

What about an old ambulance carefully converted to a very comfortable camping vehicle?

A four-wheel drive with a kitchen in the back and a pop-up roof bed on top. Is that a campervan, motorhome, or just a car?

A fifth-wheeler motorhome that detaches from the cab. Is it even a motorhome?

Exactly how each of these vehicles fits the category of motorhome or campervan is debatable.

What are Class A, B, and C motorhomes?

The description and differences we’ve set out above relate to the types of motorhomes and campervans commonly found in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe (albeit by local names).

The motorhome classes A, B, and C are derived from the North American RV market.

RV stands for Recreational Vehicle, and is a generic term that includes motorhomes of all types and sizes. It is most associated with the very large bus-size vehicles which often have slide-out sections to widen the interior space when camped.

In the US and Canada the motorhome world is quite different, with very large and often luxurious motorhomes up to 45 feet long a much more common sight.

The best known of these is the Winnebago brand, although they also make a range of smaller vans too and started out making campervans.

The US motorhome classification system

Class A: The largest and longest RVs, with the most comforts and highest price.
Class B: What we would refer to as a campervan in the UK or a camper in the US/Canada.
Class B+: A larger version of Class B, often with a shower/toilet room.
Class C: Motorhomes larger than classes B/B+ with a coach-built body and a semi-integrated cab.

These class descriptions are sometimes referred to by UK dealers, but inconsistently.

The exception to this is Class A or A-Class motorhomes, which is the term used for the large and long end of the market.

Does the campervan/motorhome difference matter?

No, not really.

In this article, we are just talking about terminology. The terms are frequently used interchangeably, or a campervans are simply seen as small motorhomes.

Some motorhome owners would be horrified to have their vehicle called a campervan, and similarly, some campervanners see themselves as driving something very distinctive from (and way cooler than) motorhomes.

Exactly what your holiday-home-on-wheels is referred to doesn’t make any practical difference, however, there are definite advantages and disadvantages of owning a campervan over a motorhome and vice versa. We discuss this in detail in our article Pros and Cons of Campervans and Motorhomes: Which Should You Buy?

Where the difference between motorhomes and campervans may be thought to matter are for DVLA road tax, driving licence, and insurance purposes.

(But they don’t really).

DVLA – road tax

Road tax, or its proper name Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), is charged to the vehicle owner.

The terms motorhome and campervan are not used by the DVLA. Instead, these vehicles are called “motor caravans”.

To be a motor caravan a vehicle must meet certain criteria which include sleeping accommodation, sleeping, cooking, storage, and seating facilities. As such, some more basic campervans don’t qualify.

The VED rates are set according to weight and engine size, and when the vehicle was first registered. It doesn’t matter whether the vehicle is considered to be a campervan or a motorhome.

Driving licences

Again, the motorhome/campervan distinction is not directly related to driving licences.

The type of driving license you need to drive a motorhome or campervan depends on the vehicle’s Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM).

You can drive a campervan or motorhome up to 3,500kg on a standard Category B licence. Larger motorhomes will require a Category C1 (3.5-7.5 tonnes) or Category C (over 7.5 tonnes) licence.

Insurance

Insurance on campervans and motorhomes is generally cheaper than standard car and commercial van insurance. If you convert a van into a campervan you need to register as a motor caravan to qualify for motorhome insurance.

Ferry and train transport

Fares are generally cheaper for personal use vehicles such as campervans and motorhomes than for commercial vehicles. As with insurance, it is important to have a change in status registered with the DVLA.

Tags Campervans, Motorhomes, Security

Camping

How to Winterise a Motorhome: Store Your Campervan Safely for Winter

Post author By Own The Outdoors
Post date 18th November 2020

Many Canadians and Americans in colder states winterise (or winterize) their motorhome, car, boat, or swimming pool routinely every year. In the UK we tend to think about it less, but there are good reasons to give your motorhome some TLC before winter sets in.

Winter is coming. What does that mean for you and your motorhome? Are you still going to be going away or will you be storing it away for the winter season?

Whether or not you want to store your motorhome or campervan away for winter will depend upon how much of a fair weather camper you are and if you only use your van for trips away.

In our case, our campervan is our family car and gets used on a daily basis. Not for trips away sadly, mostly just like a regular car.

Unlike a regular car though, our campervan has features we want to make sure we take care of, to make sure it stays in tip top condition.

Many of us will have sunk a lot of money into our home away from home and want to be sure we are following the right steps to look after it over the harsh winter months.

Contents

Winterising your motorhome

If you are planning to hang up your keys for a few months and leave the trips until the warmer weather returns, there are some steps you can take to ensure your campervan or motorhome stays safe and in excellent condition until the spring.

The main winter threats to your motorhome or campervan are:

Condensation
Water pipe damage
Vermin damage
Theft

Condensation

Condensation occurs when warm air cools and becomes liquid. This liquid is usually only small droplets but they will find the coldest place they can and form a film or pool there.

Condensation can cause damp if left unchecked and will make upholstery musty.

Ventilation

Some easy steps to take to keep good ventilation in your campervan or motorhome and to avoid condensation:

Make sure your fridge is off and propped open.
Open all cupboards to allow air flow.
Move any fabric items away from the glass windows. Having these propped up in the middle of the van is best. Consider removing fabric items altogether and keeping them nice and dry in the house.

Heat

Some campervan and motorhome owners opt to gently heat their motorhomes instead. If you have access to electricity you can purchase a small oil heater and leave it running on a low heat, just to keep the temperature from becoming too cold on the inside.

These heaters are typically low wattage, so cheap to run and have a thermostatic cut off for safety.

Moisture absorption

This approach removes moisture from the air before it settles as condensation.

An easy method is to use a tray of cat litter. It works a treat at absorbing any damp in the air.

Cat litter can also be used in a sock placed in cupboards for the same effect.

Water pipe damage

A critical issue in winterising your motorhome is to remove any water.

This one is pretty straightforward. If you have left your fresh or grey water tanks containing water then the water is liable to freeze if the weather is cold enough.

Before you put your campervan or motorhome away for the winter double check the water tanks are empty.

If you miss this step and the water does freeze and expand, you could be looking at an expensive repair bill to fix your water pipes or tanks.

Empty all clean and waste water tanks.
Leave taps open to allow for expansion.

Go for a short drive with drainage points still open to move along all the excess water and make sure the tanks are completely empty.

Vermin damage

It wasn’t winter-related for our van, but vermin are a real problem for campervans and motorhomes.

When the temperature drops, these little pests will be looking for shelter and food.

For us it seemed, “food” was the cable housing on several sensor wires on the underside of our van. Some type of vermin – rat, mouse or squirrel – went to town and caused no end of expensive damage.

This threat is greater in winter as vermin will double down on finding the essentials. Don’t let your campervan or motorhome become a home for rodents! Include pest control in your plans to winterise your motorhome.

You may also have the same nasty surprise we did, that this damage wasn’t covered by our campervan insurance.

Tips to keep vermin at bay

Here are our top tips to prevent pests from making themselves comfortable in your motorhome over the winter:

Soak some sponges or cotton wool pads with peppermint oil and leave in various spots around the campervan or motorhome. Make sure to include the engine bay.
Buy and set some mouse traps or baits just in case. These ones from the Big Cheese have worked a treat for us.
Pestbye Sonic Repellent. This set of two means you can have one in the habitation area and one in the engine bay. They are battery operated so you can set and forget.
Protect exposed wiring. We have since used this anti-rodent insulation tape and The Big Cheese Anti-Rodent Lacquer anti-rodent spray to stop future damage.

Don’t underestimate how destructive vermin can be, and how they can squeeze through tiny spaces. The more preventive measures you take, the better.

It is also worth noting that vermin such as rats and mice, like warm, cosy places. If you heat your van to stop it from freezing then it becomes more inviting for pests so vermin protection is even more critical.

Theft

Sadly campervans and motorhome theft is up year on year. You have to do what you can to keep your vehicle safe.

If it is sitting immobile and untouched for many months on end, it could become more of a target for thieves.

Campervan security is a year-round issue, but worth taking stock when you take steps to winterise your motorhome or campervan.

Here are our tips on how to deter thieves from stealing your motorhome or campervan while it’s sitting idle on your drive:

Make sure you have a decent Thatcham alarm fitted.
Consider fitting a tracker.
Install security lights on the driveway or storage area.
Install a security camera like the Ring Spotlight Cam near the campervan or motorhome.
Disconnect the batteries.
If you have a campervan which has seats that spin round, consider leaving them in the backwards position to make driving away difficult.

There are various security devices you can use on your vehicle to make it immobile or at least will delay a thief and deter them from having a go at stealing it.

Types of immobilising security devices

Wheel clamps
Steering wheel locks
Clamp claws
Ghost immobilisers
Campervan or motorhome covers

Campervan winter covers

If you don’t plan to use your motorhome or campervan at all over the winter months, consider buying a cover to protect it.

Using a cover on your motorhome or camper will stop damaging frost from getting to the vehicle. An additional benefit is that it acts as an anti-theft measure by making it harder for opportunists to get inside.

If you’ve read other posts on Own The Outdoors, you’ll know we love Kampa as a brand. Kampa manufactures this excellent motorhome cover which is breathable (to avoid condensation), lightweight and easy to use.

Insurance pitfalls

We’ve already mentioned vermin as a key exclusion clause on many campervan insurance policies, but there are some other traps to be aware of.

Some campervan insurance policies will not pay out for damage caused by water freezing in any fixed heating appliance or loss or damage caused by water escaping when the campervan or motorhome is not in use.

This does not apply to all policies, check your small print for details.

Be careful that you don’t invalidate your insurance policy by keeping the campervan or motorhome anywhere other than where you stated when you took out the policy.

If you plan to store your campervan or motorhome at an alternative storage location for the winter, make sure you inform your insurance company so they can update their records. This may mean an additional cost if the new location is considered higher risk than your usual storage location.

Campervan winter driving top tips

If you are planning on going out and about in your campervan or motorhome this winter, follow these top tips to help keep you safe on the road:

Make sure you check the engine oil and the levels are correct.
Check the windscreen washer fluid has enough antifreeze content.
Consider getting winter tyres for greater protection on ice and snow. Always check the pressure tyres are set correctly.
Make sure you always carry extra warm layers just in case of a breakdown or road closure.
Always have some water available on board, and a few snacks.
Make sure the motorhome or campervan is warm enough to open the doors and windows. Damage can occur if a door or window is frozen shut. Allow thawing a little before opening.
Same as above with windscreen wipers. Make sure they have thawed enough to use and are not frozen to the windscreen. Never use hot water to thaw your windscreen as it can crack.
Make sure you keep the fuel topped up, just in case.
Turn the engine over every couple of weeks if you can.
If you can move the campervan or motorhome slightly it means it is not always resting on the same circle of tyre and will save on wear and tear.

Tags Campervans, Motorhomes

Camping

Campervan Hire in the UK: The Ultimate Guide

Post author By Own The Outdoors
Post date 12th November 2020

There is nothing better than enjoying the outdoors in a campervan. Hiring one is a great way to get out and appreciate landscapes, activities, and people in the UK and further afield.

I remember the first time we hired a campervan. It was in Perth, Western Australia.

The van was a long wheel-base Mercedes Sprinter van conversion. Containing an internal toilet and shower, it was more of a motorhome than a traditional camper.

There was an abundance of similarly-equipped vans for rent there, and they were designed to suit the terrain in that part of the world. The more adventurous could choose the off-road 4 wheel drive versions, but we were comfy campers, happy to stick to the sealed roads.

From that first trip, we were hooked. We loved the freedom of the open road – turning up at some random site for the night in the middle of nowhere, just adventuring.

Over time we have become campervan owners ourselves. We can’t stress enough though the importance of hiring a campervan first before rushing off to purchase one. We have hired many vehicles over the years to really double down on what vehicle suits our family needs best.

It’s easy to become seduced by pictures online of beautiful landscapes and the ability to tour where you like, but first, try before you buy. You might just surprise yourself with what you discover are must-haves and no-ways.

Contents

Campervan hire – needs and options

The first step in hiring a campervan is identifying what your requirements are.

Answer these questions to help you decide what vehicle to hire.

Budget and timescale: Flexibility on either or both will give you more choices.
Seatbelted seats: How many people need to travel in the vehicle with you? Most vehicles will offer 5 seatbelted positions but there are vehicles like the VW California Ocean that only have 4 seatbelted positions.
Berths: How many people will be sleeping in the vehicle? Campervans typically berth two to four people but larger motorhomes can accommodate anything from four to eight.
Kitchen: Do you need to have cooking facilities and a fridge on board? Most campervans offer this built-in but specialist vehicles such as the VW California Beach or a Landrover with an ikamper do not.
Bathroom: Do you need a shower and toilet available or will you be camping at a site with an amenities block?
Parking: Will you need to park at supermarkets or town centres? Bear in mind the limitations of parking a longer and wider vehicle.
Equipment: Many hire vehicles with a kitchen come with basic food prep and dining equipment, but you may have to hire or take bedding, an awning, and any other camping equipment.
Off-road: Do you plan to do any wild camping or drive on remote beaches? A 4WD camper may be what you need.
The UK or Europe: Taking a vehicle across the Channel or the Irish Sea may incur extra hire and insurance costs.

What’s the difference between a campervan and a motorhome?

There is a certain amount of overlap between campervans and motorhomes, but it is useful as a hirer to understand the basic differences.

In brief, a campervan is typically a 4/5-seater, 2/4-berth vehicle which has been built from a commercial van body. Campervans can have a short- or long-wheelbase and can come in different heights too. A short-wheelbase van is about the same length as a standard estate car.

Campervans often have a pop-up roof bed, and there is no divide between the cab and the living quarters.

A motorhome is usually a wider and longer vehicle than a campervan, and is built on a bus or truck chassis.

Motorhomes are designed to be completely self-contained with all facilities on board including a kitchen, shower, and toilet. There is usually a clear separation between the driving cab and living quarters.

How to hire a campervan or motorhome

There are a couple of ways you can hire a campervan. You can either hire from a campervan or motorhome hire company with their own fleet, or from a private owner.

The best way to hire privately is by using a peer-to-peer private campervan hire website.

We have done both and so can offer insights on the pros and cons of each.

Campervan hire companies

This would be the usual starting point for someone looking to hire a campervan or motorhome. A quick Google search will help find companies local to where you live or where you want to hire from.

Pros

High-quality modern vehicle.
Well maintained.
Help on hand if required on the road.
Replacement vehicle supplied should it be necessary.
Choice of campervans available.

Cons

More expensive per night than private campervan hire.
Stricter rules for collection and drop off.
High liability threshold unless excess insurance taken out.
Often have minimum hire periods.
Less gear supplied with the vehicle.

Peer-to-peer private hire websites

These are a new breed of websites which allow a campervan or motorhome owner to list their vehicle for hire. The platforms act in much the same way as Airbnb does for holiday properties.

Pros

Often cheaper daily hire fee than a traditional hire company.
More camping equipment supplied with the hire.
Often more accessories available to hire additionally.
Often more flexible with minimum hire periods.
Wide range of unique campervans to appeal to all tastes.

Cons

No back-up vehicle should yours break down or you encounter problems.
You may be reliant on your own breakdown company should you need help.
A big responsibility in using someone’s personal property.

Campervan Hire Costs in the UK

Typical costs you can expect to pay when hiring a campervan are:

Per night fee – there is often a two or three-night minimum.
Additional driver fee.
Damage deposit – refundable when the van is returned in good condition.
European travel surcharge.
Motorhome hire excess insurance (optional).
Additional equipment hire.
Pet surcharge.

Sample costs for hiring a VW campervan

Here are some sample costs as a guide as to what it will cost to hire a similar VW campervan from a hire company and privately.

The prices shown are a guide only, and will vary according to the campervan model, additional requirements, and time of year.

Cost	Campervan Hire Company	Private Campervan Rental
Per-night hire	£120	£100
Non-refundable booking deposit	50% of total booking	50% of total booking
European surcharge	£184	European travel often included
Additional Driver (one off fee)	£66	Usually included
Pet surcharge (one off fee)	£50	Included at owner’s discretion
Excess	£1,000	£1,000

What do you need to hire a campervan?

Typical requirements for hiring a campervan are:

A UK driving license, held for a minimum of 2 years. You’ll likely be asked to share your license information from the DVLA.
Another form of ID which proves your address.
Aged from 25-70 years of age.
A credit/debit card to pay the booking deposit to reserve the vehicle (often 30-50% of total booking cost).
A credit/debit card to secure the refundable damage deposit – an imprint of typically £750-£1,000.

Hiring a campervan through a campervan hire company

Luckily for us, there are a few reputable campervan hire companies locally to where we live. We made an appointment with a well-known one, to have a look at their fleet.

Having hired vans before, we knew what sort of vehicle we were looking for. Their campervans were only a couple of years old at most. All were beautifully clean and maintained. We made our selection and got our booking confirmed.

Hire period considerations

When hiring a campervan, one practical consideration is deciding exactly how long you are going to need it for. This isn’t just how long your trip away is going to be. You also need to factor in getting your van packed and unpacked again.

Packing and unpacking

With our first UK campervan hire, we filled our family car to the brim and drove the 20 minutes to the hire location. From there it took a good hour to get everything in, kids and all and get away.

The hire company we used offered secured parking for our family car so we could leave it at their premises for the duration of our holiday which meant we could pack and unpack the van on site.

It did mean we were limited to what we could bring with us to what we could ram into our family car. It would have been preferable to have driven the campervan back to our home and packed it there.

That would have meant the hire period would need to be longer though at both ends of the trip to achieve this. The cost overall would be an extra day as we would have wanted to pack the van and get away early in the morning.

Cleaning

Also, make sure you understand whether you are to clean the campervan on return as well, as this will take extra time.

Office hours

Most hires commence and end during office hours which limits how many miles can you get in on your first and last day of travel. This isn’t important to everyone but to us, with two small children, it did.

Hiring from a private campervan website

We found a private van owner close to our home on a private hire rental company website.

They had a VW conversion, very similar in spec to what we had been thinking about buying for ourselves. A perfect try-before-you-buy scenario. Better still it was available for a 10-day hire over the school holidays.

The hirer was very flexible about allowing us to view the van in advance, he offered to deliver it to our house for us and offered us extra equipment we could hire in addition to the inventory that came with the van.

We weren’t charged for the extra time we had the van to allow us to comprehensively pack and be ready for our grand tour.

As there wasn’t a rental booked directly after ours, he was also generous on the return time which was helpful as we needed time to unpack and clean the van before returning it.

The key benefits we experienced were; a more reasonable cost per night for the hire than through the campervan hire company, an opportunity to hire equipment we didn’t own ourselves, to improve the experience and greater flexibility with timings.

It definitely helped us with the decision on what campervan we should ultimately buy.

Campervan and Motorhome Insurance

You might be wondering how the insurance works when hiring a campervan or motorhome.

Hire companies cover the first-named driver with a fully comprehensive insurance policy for the duration of the hire. This is included in the per-night hire cost.

If you add an additional driver to the hire agreement, then this is extended to them too but costs and additional fee.

The security deposit you pay on hiring a campervan or motorhome is usually anything from £500-£1000. The hire company will take an imprint of your credit card to ensure against loss or damage.

Extent of cover

You need to be aware though that the insurance often only covers damage to the hire vehicle and third parties, but not your property or passengers. Make sure you read the small print when you receive the rental agreement.

Just in case, it is worth having your own travel insurance to ensure medical and personal belonging costs are covered.

You are liable for any damage which occurs to the campervan whilst you are hiring it. This is true if someone backs into you in a car park or opens their car door into the side of the vehicle and leaves a dent. Not your fault but the liability falls with you as the hirer of the vehicle.

One way to protect yourself is to take out motorhome hire excess insurance which reduces your liability down to as little as £150 should the worst happen.

Always double-check the clauses and make sure you are aware of what is covered and what exclusions apply.

Private campervan hire insurance

If you hire a campervan or motorhome through a private hire website, you can rest assured insurance is part of the arrangement.

Depending on which platform and even which campervan or motorhome you hire will depend on the individual insurance conditions. There is always insurance available or included so you can hire away, worry-free.

Are you licensed to drive a campervan?

An ordinary UK drivers license permits the holder to drive a vehicle up to 3,500kg Maximum Authorised Mass with up to 8 passenger seats and driver. You can tow a trailer of up to 750kg in addition to this.

Many campervans and motorhomes are “plated down” to 3,500kg to allow for the vehicle to be driven with an ordinary car driving licence.

Should you hire a SWB or LWB campervan?

The first time we hired a campervan in the UK we hired a converted VW transporter from a local hire company. We opted for a long-wheelbase vehicle as that mirrored what we had hired previously and felt that, as a family of four, we would need the extra space.

It was a bonus to have the extra internal space (around 30cm more than a SWB van) but we had to weigh up whether the extra space on the inside was worth the limitations of being in a long-wheelbase vehicle.

The first thing we found was parking in any car park was a potential problem. Most spaces allow for 5m vehicle length only.

A VW Transporter SWB base van is 4,892cm and a VW Transporter LWB 5,292cm

Standard parking bays in the UK are 2.8m wide by 4.8m long.

This is true whether you find yourself in a supermarket car park, a multi-storey car park, or a town-centre council car park.

The only place we found we might get lucky was parked on the street but the chances of finding a parking space big enough to fit a long wheel base in high season in a tourist town are slim.

Whether you hire a motorhome, long-wheelbase or short-wheelbase campervan comes down to your own needs; how many passengers, berths, facilities on board and parking limitations.

I’m pleased we hired that long-wheelbase vehicle as our first campervan hire in the UK.

The UK isn’t the same as Australia in terms of roads, parking spaces, or campsites and so it highlighted to us the limitations of driving and parking a larger vehicle and how that was something that in the end was not negotiable. Short-wheelbase all the way for us.

What additional equipment do you need for your campervan hire?

Each campervan hire company will provide you with an inventory list of equipment they provide. This will vary from company to company.

They will usually provide electric hook up cables, a full gas bottle and full, clean water tank.

Typically you will need to provide:

Bedding.
Kitchen equipment, plates, pots and pans, cutlery.
Basic food items.
Clothing.
Towels.

Some hirers do offer some of these items for an extra fee.

Do you need to take an awning/tent?

For us as a family of four, it’s a yes every time. Kids come with plenty of clobber, including car seats which need to be stashed somewhere when you’re sleeping in the van.

If you are using the van as a touring vehicle during the day, it is handy to offload the equipment you don’t need during the day, so you have more space to eat lunch, get changed for the beach or play games.

It doesn’t need to be a “proper” awning that connects to the van; any extra tent space is handy. It can also double as an emergency location for your portable toilet so you don’t need to stumble to the amenities block in the night or if you have little kids who just can’t wait.

Having extra sleeping options is no bad thing as you never know what the great British weather will throw at you.

On a recent trip to Cornwall, we were faced with gale force winds over two days which meant we were worried about having the roof up. Following a rainy midnight effort to get the pop-top roof down safely, two of us needed somewhere else to sleep. Thank goodness for our extra tent space!

Tags Campervans, Hire, Motorhomes

Camping

Campervan Kitchen Essentials: The Best Cooking Gadgets for Your Van

Post author By Own The Outdoors
Post date 11th November 2020

In this article, we look at what we consider to be our campervan’s kitchen essentials. The campervan kitchen gadgets and cooking equipment that we always pack or live permanently in our van.

One of the absolute best things to do as campervan or motorhome owner is to have the freedom and flexibility to make a cup of tea or even a full-blown meal out in the wild should you want to.

For camping trips or day trips, having access to a couple of gas rings and a fridge is a game-changer.

But what are the kitchen essentials you need in your campervan to really own the outdoors?

We’ve listed below from our own experience and research, exactly what are must-haves in your campervan kitchen cupboards.

Contents

Campervan cooking equipment – what to carry?

Space is at a premium in a campervan or motorhome.

On the other hand, you’ve chosen this style or camping because – let’s face it – camping on wheels is way more comfortable and easy than camping in tents.

So there is always that trade-off between having options to make your travel comfortable and easy, against having to store and carry yet more gear.

What exactly should you be packing? Let’s take a look at the six main types of campervan kitchen equipment that we recommend every van owner considers as essential gear.

Kitchen essential #1 – pots and pans

Ideally the pots and pans you choose for your campervan or motorhome should be stackable and not too big or heavy.

We recommend a set of three, four, of five pans, depending how much cooking you’re likely to do.

We have these Tefal Ingenio pans, a set of three saucepans and one frying pan with one removable handle for everything. They tick all the boxes for us:

Affordable price.
Made from stainless steel.
Contain a durable non-stick coating.
Stackable for easy campervan storage.
Oven safe.
Can be used on all hob types excluding induction.
Dishwasher safe (if you want to put them in the dishwasher for a thorough washing when you get home).

Note that this pan set doesn’t come with any lids, however, Tefal does sell one specific to this set. We haven’t found this to be a big problem as we use a melamine plate as a lid and this works very well.

RidgeMonkey XL

Not exactly a pot or pan, but can act as a quasi frying pan, omelette maker, or sandwich toaster. It’s our favourite campervan kitchen gadget.

The RidgeMonkey XL comprises two hinged square pans of diecast aluminium with two magnetic handles. They come apart and can be used separately. Very clever and versatile.

Can be used on all hob types except for induction.

Kitchen essential #2 – Kettle

According to the UK Tea and Infusions Association, we Brits drink approximately 100 million cups of tea each day between us. Wow, we sure do like a hot beverage!

No surprise then that having a kettle in some form or another is an essential item in our campervan kitchen.

The choice of kettles to supply your campervan with comes down to the following:

A whistling kettle – used on the hob or camping stove.

A travel electric kettle – either with a 12V plug or UK power plug and used via an inverter or when connected to EHU.

Deciding which of these you choose hangs on whether speed is an issue. For a speedy cup of tea, you’ll be hard pressed to outperform a standard travel electric kettle. A 12V electric kettle will keep you waiting the longest with a reported 20 minutes time length to reach boiling point.

Whistling kettle

We have opted for a whistling kettle to stock our campervan, as we didn’t want to risk draining the leisure batteries too much if not on EHU and the wait time for a cup of tea is a shorter 6-8 minutes.

We can also use the kettle on our separate camping stove or a campfire.

Camping electric kettle

A standard travel electric kettle whilst smaller than a regular kettle is still quite chunky and we felt it seemed a bit cheaty for camping. We like to keep the experience a bit more camping-like in feel.

That said, I can see why people use a travel kettle and we might well make the change one day. The key benefits we can see for a travel kettle over a whistling kettle are:

Having hot water available for a hand wash, washing up or to be used as an ingredient in something you’re cooking is very handy.

Using up a whole gas ring to get that hot water isn’t always convenient and then you need a clear surface to move the hot kettle onto.

Electricity is easier to source and replenish than gas.

Best whistling kettles for campervans

We have this Kampa Billy Whistling Kettle. We love it because it is:

Small.
Lightweight.
1l capacity.
Takes 6-8 minutes to boil from cold on our campervan gas stove.

We are big fans of Kampa Dometic as a brand and highly rate the Kampa products we use. Brilliant design and innovation at an affordable price.

If the Kampa whistling kettle is a bit chunky for your campervan or motorhome kitchen cupboard, then this Outwell collapsible kettle is a fantastic alternative.

The Outwell collapsible kettle features:

Silicone and stainless steel body.
14.5 x 16.5cm in size.
Tiny pack size when collapsed – 4.5 x 16.5cm.
1.5L volume capacity.
Collapsible (obviously).
Can be used on any hob (except induction).
BPA free.
Dishwasher safe.

Outwell is another camping brand we love, again brilliant design and manufacture. It is a little more expensive than the Kampa Billy Whistling Kettle but does have the benefits of larger volume capacity and small pack size.

Best travel electric kettle

If speed is your game, we recommend the Kampa Squash Collapsible Electric Kettle. It’s a travel kettle and runs on a lean 1000W.

Features:

Silicon body (food grade, high temperature resistant).
17 x 13 x 17.5cm when in use.
17 x 13 x 13 when folded.
800ml capacity.
1000W.
3-4 minute boil time.

Tips:

Boil this kettle four or five times before you plan to make a cup of tea with it, to remove the silicon taste.
Rinse with cold water once finished with it before collapsing. Should be cool enough to pack away after five minutes.

Kitchen essential #3 – cooking utensils

I don’t know about you, but there is a fine line between saving space and not having the tools you need to make the job easy and efficiently.

I’d rather come well armed than be left floundering.

Our inventory could no doubt be slimmed down but we do use everything in this list:

This Sabatier knife set makes easy work of any food prep task. We personally make decent knives a must-have, it makes life so much easier.
It’s not safe to leave sharp knives un-sheathed in a drawer. We got these knife guards to protect us from nasty knife/drawer related accidents.
A good old fashioned three wooden spoon set.
Oxo Good Grips Silicone Utensil Set – Great to keep your pans looking their best.
Oxo Good Grips swivel peeler and can opener – we love the OXO Good Grips products, can’t get enough of them.
Heavy-duty kitchen scissors with a guard.
Joseph Joseph ‘Chop2Pot’ folding chopping board.
Corkscrew – vital!
Joseph Joseph space-saving grater – could they BE any cleverer?
Wine stoppers. Keep that wine fresh and safe from spilling.

Kitchen essential #4 – crockery

Best crockery to use in a campervan

There are a few types of material to consider in selecting crockery for campervan use.

These are:

Ceramic/Earthenware/Bone China.
Melamine – Plastic composite.
Corelle – Glass composite.
Enamel.
Bamboo.

We have chosen melamine to furnish our campervan with crockery. Our set has dinner and side plates, and small and large bowls so we have plenty to go round and not constantly washing up!

We selected melamine because it is:

Lightweight.
Durable and virtually unbreakable.
Easy to clean and dishwasher safe.

I should specify and say we don’t use melamine for our mugs. We stick with ceramic as tea always tastes better out of a proper ceramic or china mug.

This melamine dinner set mimics our kitchen dinner set and adds a touch of class to the campervan kitchen.

Corelle dinner wear

Corelle is made of vitrelle tempered glass. This is created by bonding three glass layers.

Corelle, like Melamine, is very suitable for campervans due to its durability.

The main benefits of Corelle are:

Won’t fade, stain, or chip.
Lightweight.
Slimline.
Microwave, oven and dishwasher safe.
BPA free.
Feels like bone china.

Corelle ticks all the boxes. You get the durability of plastic, without the BPA and without the breakage. Brilliant.

It’s a little more expensive than melamine but worth investing the extra cost given all the benefits.

We’re adding this funky set to our wish list.

Enamel crockery

I have to admit, enamel plates are not my first choice, they do feel very basic. That said, they are extremely durable, practical and affordable so should not be overlooked as an option.

These ones from Falcon are a good buy.

Ceramic/bone china crockery

Not the most practical choice as a crockery solution for a campervan but still an option.

Ceramic or bone china is heavy and very likely to chip or break completely. Unless you have your crockery firmly wedged, there is a chance it could fall out when opening the door if there has been movement during transit. For the feel of bone china, consider using Corelle instead.

Bamboo crockery

Bamboo is another lightweight durable option which has the added benefit of being sustainable and eco friendly too. Also BPA free, dishwasher safe and affordable, bamboo crockery is a definite consideration for a kitchen cupboard.

This set from Vango adds a nice splash of colour to the kitchen cupboards.

Kitchen essential #5 – cutlery set

There’s no magic in selecting a cutlery set. We like to have one that is suitably dissimilar to the set we keep in the house so it is easily identifiable.

We don’t go cheap on cutlery as we want our alfresco dining experience to be as enjoyable as possible. We’re not fans of easily bendable forks and sharp edged spoons.

We would recommend a 24 piece set at least (6x 4-piece) otherwise you’re constantly washing up.

We’ve also added a few extra teaspoons as they are constantly used for cups of tea!

Kitchen essential #6 – glassware

Much like drinking tea out of plastic, we’re really also not keen on drinking wine or any other drink out of plastic.

We keep a few short glass tumblers for cold drinks. We don’t bother keeping actual wine glasses in the van, they take up too much room and are liable to break.

Stubby Holders

This is the Aussie influence in us. We love a good stubby holder – keeps the beer cold and your hand warm. We keep a ready supply of stubby holders in our campervan.

Our glass tumblers also fit inside the stubby holder meaning we can have a hot toddy without our hands getting scalded.

Other handy bits to keep in your campervan kitchen

Cork or silicone mats. Have a stash. They are lightweight and easily transportable. If you’ve got hot pans needing to put down, have a couple within reach
Tea towels. Pack ideally four. It can be hard to get wet linens dry again and you are washing up probably three times a day.
Pot holders. A must-have to handle boiling pots and pans from the camping stove.
Non-slip matting – I can’t stress how much of this stuff we use around the campervan. It’s brilliant. Stops the contents of the cupboards moving and great for when the campervan is in motion too, means you can leave things out on the kitchen top and they won’t slide. We also layer it between plates/glassware to stop rattling and movement.

Even more kitchen essentials?

We’ve enjoyed digging through our campervan kitchen to find the equipment that we’ve found to be indispensable. We hope this list is useful for you too.

If you have any other gear that you consider to be essential in your campervan kitchen then do let us know – we’d love to hear from you.

Tags Campervans, Motorhomes, Planning

Camping

Campervan and Motorhome Insurance: Best Providers for 2020/21

Post author By Own The Outdoors
Post date 10th November 2020

Insurance for your campervan or motorhome is not as straightforward as car insurance. We compare the UK’s leading specialist leisure vehicle insurers, and what makes each of them different.

One of the key questions we had to consider when deciding whether we would invest in a campervan was how much it would cost to insure.

How much more expensive would it be to insure a campervan compared to our standard family car?

As it turned out, we were paying more for our standard family car insurance than we have ended up paying per year for our more valuable VW campervan.

Why is this? Our campervan was considerably more expensive to buy than our previous family car and it has loads of really cool kit built in to it. Wouldn’t that lend it to being more expensive to insure?

Apparently not. The reason seems to be that because a campervan or motorhome is used as a leisure vehicle it falls into a lower risk category.

I can’t speak for all campervan and motorhome owners, but our campervan is like another member of the family and we are extremely careful with it. These vehicles aren’t built for speed, but for practicality and comfort.

Not many boy racers are going to invest the tens of thousands it costs to buy one.

This is all good news for insurance companies, and van owners too.

Contents

Campervan insurance: best price or best cover?

Every campervan owner’s particular requirements for insurance is going to differ.

For us, it isn’t just about the best price. Price comes into it but really we are looking for the best overall cover.

How much risk a person is prepared to leave themselves open to is a purely personal choice. We are fairly risk averse and would rather be well covered rather than skimp on the details.

For the previous 12 months we have been insured with Comfort Insurance. We chose them as the cover seemed quite robust and it came in at a palatable £314.71. They were recommended by other campervan owners too which was reassuring.

Rats, squirrels, and other vermin

We did have a reason to claim on the insurance during this last 12 months which it turned out fell under an exclusion clause. That was a very unhappy and expensive discovery.

Our lovely VW California Ocean suffered damage to the wiring due to rats or squirrels having a good chew on some vital components. That damage cost us a lot unfortunately and it has left us mindful of policy exclusions so we don’t fall foul of coverage again.

Our vermin experience might never happen again, especially after we took extra measures to protect us, but it has left us with an appetite to shop around and find the best campervan insurance we can get in the UK.

We called the UK’s most popular campervan insurance providers to drill down and learn what their campervan insurance cover includes and what it will cost us to buy. Read on to see what we found out.

How much is campervan insurance?

The table below compares eight of the most popular campervan insurance providers in the UK.

We asked for quotes based on a 2018 VW California Ocean.

Insurance Company	Premium Cost	Accidental Damage Excess	Underwriter
Comfort Insurance	£297.09	£200	Aviva
LV	£320.55	£400	LV
Lifesure	£305.01	£300	AXA
Saga	£328.99	£300	Acromas
Adrian Flux	£386.81	£550	Markerstudy
AIB	£352.10	£200	Aviva
Caravan & Motorhome Club	£303.93	£250	AXA
NFU	£442.48	£250	NFU

The criteria we provided for these quotes was:

VW California Ocean 2018 (199cc diesel engine)
Vehicle value – £55,000
2 drivers, each with 20+ years driving experience
One low-value claim in the last 5 years (not related to this vehicle)
9+ years no claims bonus
Social, Domestic and Pleasure use only (no commuting or business use)
8,000 miles per year mileage
No tracker
Thatcham category 1 alarm
Includes no claims protection, where offered

These prices are specific to our quotation criteria but give you a guide of what you can expect to pay.

Campervan insurers in detail

So which insurer offers the best campervan insurance in the UK?

The answer will vary, depending on your own requirements.

Here we look in further detail at what each of the eight top campervan insurers offers in their campervan insurance policy wording.

Comfort Insurance

Excess: £200.

Internal accidental damage: Yes, as long as not caused by an electrical fault.

Personal belongings: £5,000 maximum. £400 per single item (no excess).

European travel: Nine months, max 180 days of consecutive travel.

Courtesy car: Seven days included as long as vehicle in for repairs. No replacement in the event of a total loss.

Death/Serious Injury: £15,000.

Third party property, injury or death: Maximum of £20,000,000.

Legal cover: Yes, up to £100,000 included.

Vermin exclusion: Yes.

LV Campervan Insurance

Excess: £400

Internal accidental damage: Yes, but only up to £1,000 to include personal belongings.

Personal belongings: Up to £1,000. Cutlery and clothing are included. Very restrictive on what they will cover. No camping equipment cover or effects that could be covered under home insurance.

European travel: 180 days.

Courtesy car: No, can add this feature for £19.90 or £29.90 extra depending on vehicle size.

Death/Serious Injury: £10,000.

Third party property, injury or death: Maximum of £20,000,000.

Legal cover: Not included. £100,000 of cover costs £25.99 extra.

Vermin exclusion: Yes.

Lifesure Campervan Insurance

Excess: £300.

Internal accidental damage: Yes.

Personal belongings: £3,500 maximum. £25 excess to claim for tents and awnings – no maximum value set. Single item claims £500 max aside from this.

European travel: 270 days per year.

Courtesy car: Yes, subject to availability.

Death/Serious Injury: £15,000 / £10,000.

Third party property, injury or death: Maximum of £20,000,000.

Legal cover: Not included. Can be added for £28.00 extra.

Vermin exclusion: Yes.

Note that Lifesure are an insurance broker and add a £27.50 brokers fee to the price.

Saga Motorhome Insurance

Excess: £300 accidental damage / £100 fire and theft.

Internal accidental damage: Yes.

Personal belongings: £1,500 maximum. £1,500 tents and awnings. Camping equipment £500 maximum, £100 per single item.

European travel: 12 months.

Courtesy car: Yes, if in for repair.

Death/Serious Injury: £5,000 or increase to £50,000 for £13 extra.

Third party property, injury or death: Maximum of £20,000,000.

Legal cover: Not included. £100,000 cover £27.99 extra.

Vermin exclusion: No.

Adrian Flux Campervan Insurance

Excess: £550. Excess reimbursement to £1,000 per annum for £52 extra.

Internal accidental damage: Yes.

Personal belongings: £2,000, with no single item maximum. £1,000 awning and gas bottle cover.

European travel: 180 days total.

Courtesy car: After an accident, but not theft or write-off.

Death/Serious Injury: £2,000 death/serious injury, or increase to £22,000 for £17 extra.

Third party property, injury or death: Maximum of £20,000,000.

Legal cover: Includes up to £100,000.

Vermin exclusion: Yes.

All vehicles over £45,000 value must have a tracker fitted.

AIB Campervan Insurance

Excess: £200.

Internal accidental damage: Yes, up to the value of the personal belongings cover.

Personal belongings: Up to a maximum of £5,000. £400-£500 per one item.

European travel: 270 days total but maximum 180 days consecutive.

Courtesy car: No, but can add on for £35 extra.

Death/Serious Injury: £5,000.

Third party property, injury or death: Maximum of £20,000,000.

Legal cover: Yes, cover for up to £100,000 included.

Vermin exclusion: Yes.

The premium quoted in the above table has been discounted by 12%, for membership to various camping clubs. These include the VW California Club, Wild Camping, Camping & Caravan Club, and Caravan and Motorhome Club.

Caravan and Motorhome Club Insurance

Excess: £250

Internal accidental damage: No.

Personal belongings: £5,000 contents cover, £1,500 awning and toilet tent (£25 excess) and £500 per single item after that.

European travel: 12 months.

Courtesy car: Yes.

Death/Serious Injury: £15,000 / £10,000

Third party property, injury or death: Maximum of £20,000,000.

Legal cover: Up to £10,000 included, or can extend this to £100,000 for £29.99 extra.

Vermin exclusion: Yes.

Membership of the Caravan and Motorhome Club carries a 5% extra discount (not applied in the example above).

The Caravan and Motorhome Club state that they will offer new customers a quote £25 cheaper than any renewal policy – excluding additional legal cover.

NFU Campervan Insurance

Excess: £250 damage / £150 theft.

Internal accidental damage: Covered up to a maximum of the personal belongings cover.

Personal belongings: £250 included, can extend this to £1,000 for an extra £10.

European travel: Unlimited.

Courtesy car: Yes.

Death/Serious Injury: £15,000 / £5,000.

Third party property, injury or death: Maximum of £20,000,000.

Legal cover: Up to £100,000 included.

Vermin exclusion: Yes.

NFU offers Mutual Assist RAC Cover as standard with this policy. This can be upgraded to a higher level of cover for an additional fee should it be needed.

The included Mutual Assist cover gives you roadside assistance a quarter of a mile or more from your home, one hour of roadside assistance and recovery to a garage within 20 miles if the campervan is not repairable.

Exclusions – when campervan insurance might leave you out of pocket

With any insurance policy it is always prudent to read the small print. Looking at the price and your excess payment is not enough.

Be aware of what the maximum cover is for personal belongings and injury and when you are not covered, even though you thought you might be.

Typical campervan insurance exclusions

You are responsible for the first part of the claim (the excess).
Loss or damage of your motorhome if it has been left unattended with the keys in the ignition.
Loss or damage resulting from any window, roof opening or removable roof panel being left open or unlocked.
Any loss or damage to your motorhome if it is being used for a purpose not described on your Certificate of Motor Insurance.
Loss or damage arising from your motorhome being driven by someone other than the named driver(s) on the Certificate of Motor Insurance.
Damage arising from wear and tear.
Any consequence as a result of war or terrorism – except where cover must be provided under the Road Traffic Act.
Loss of vehicle value following a repair
Loss or damage to the motorhome caused by an Earthquake, riot or civil commotion outside of Great Britain, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
Damage due to radioactive contamination, pollution, or contamination.
Loss or damage deliberately caused to your car by anyone insured under your policy.
Loss or damage to the motorhome caused by insects, pets, or vermin. Vermin and insects are defined as rats, mice, squirrels, owls, pigeons, foxes, bees, wasps, and hornets.

Related article: Campervan Security – The Ultimate Guide

Extra charges made by campervan insurance providers

Be aware that some insurers charge for amendments. For example you could expect to pay:

Policy cancellation – £40 (although there is usually a 14 day cooling-off period from date of purchase).
Change vehicle or driver – £15.
Incorrect information amendment – £15.

Car insurance legal cover, is it worth it?

Typically the extra legal cover will set you back between £25-30 on top of your annual policy cost. Is this extra cost worth paying for?

What is car insurance legal cover?

In a nutshell, car insurance legal cover will pay for legal expenses you may incur in the event of an accident that wasn’t your fault.

This cover pays out for legal costs involved in for claiming compensation for losses you have suffered that aren’t covered by your insurance. These are referred to as uninsured losses.

Uninsured losses can include personal injury (to yourself or passengers), damage to your vehicle or possessions if you don’t have a comprehensive insurance policy, loss of earnings, and any insurance excess you’ve had to pay out.

It is important to understand that legal cover only covers solicitors fees and costs, typically up to £100,000, not the compensation payments for the losses.

Just as a side note, some insurers will only allow a claim to be made under their motor legal protection policy if there is a 50% chance or better likelihood of success of the recovery of those losses, so once again do read the small print and be aware of what you’re actually entitled to.

A nice perk is many of the legal cover policies offer access to a helpline which you can call for any legal issue, not necessarily motor-related. Check with your insurer if this is included.

Alternative protection from uninsured losses

What if you decide to pocket the £25-£30 extra fee for legal cover? Are you completely without protection?

This needs consideration, especially as it has been estimated that there are over on e million uninsured drivers on our roads in the UK.

The good news is that in the UK there exists an organisation called the MIB. They are a non-profit organisation set up by motor insurers to protect motorists in the UK from financial losses resulting from an accident with an uninsured or untraced driver.

The Road Traffic Act 1988 requires that every insurer that underwrites compulsory motor Insurance must be a member of the MIB and must contribute to their funding. Every car insurance premium, therefore, contains a contribution to MIB.

Claiming under MIB

If you are hit by an uninsured driver, or an untraced driver you can claim through the MIB. There is no guarantee that they will refund your losses but they have a claims process any victim is entitled to apply to.

Without legal cover, however, you’ll be doing the MIB paperwork and follow-ups yourself unless you pay for a solicitor yourself.

The process they follow is:

establishing the facts
confirming the identity of those involved
obtaining independent reports from motor engineers or witnesses
obtaining a police report
contacting other bodies such as the DVLA, your insurer or a foreign bureau.

If there is a claim for personal injury they will need to see any copies of medical records from your GP and any hospital you attended after the accident or any other independent medical report.

They undertake to resolve claims within a three month time period.

If you would like to have more certainty about your protection, it’s best to fork out the £25-30 and take out the legal cover that campervan insurers offer. Belts and braces.

Campervan and motorhome insurance FAQ

What are the different types of campervan insurance?

Campervan or motorhome insurance is similar in nature to car insurance but you do legally need specific campervan or motorhome insurance to cover your motorhome.

There are three types of cover you can buy – fully comprehensive, third-party fire and theft, and third-party only.

Fully comprehensive

A fully comprehensive policy covers you against accidental damage. These policies always cover for external damage and depending on the policy, internal damage. Also included is damage from fire (though not always from using your cooker), theft, and malicious damage (vandalism). It also covers you for damage or injury you cause to a third party.

Third-party fire and theft

With this type of policy, you lose the accidental damage cover and the malicious damage cover. You are still covered for fire and theft of your own vehicle and damage or injury to another person.

Third-party only

A third-party only insurance policy offers cover for damage or injury to a third party only. Not all insurers will offer this lesser level of insurance.

Given that motorhomes are usually high-value vehicles it makes the most sense to stick with fully comprehensive insurance. Repairs are often expensive and there is always a risk of accidents.

Will campervan insurance cover all models of campervan?

Yes, most insurers will cover all types of campervan. Factory-built camper vans tend to come in cheaper than conversions.

There has also been an increase in the theft of Ford campervans meaning some insurers will not offer insurance for those makes or may charge a higher premium.

Campervan insurance – are your belongings covered?

The main differences between car and campervan or motorhome insurance is all the gear you have on board. Some of it removable, some of it fixed.

As this is motorhome and camping equipment and awnings are usually packed in the van for a trip you would want to find cover that will protect you for the loss or damage of all that kit.

Check your home contents insurance: portable items such as mobile phones, iPads, documents, jewellery and wallets are often included in that policy.

For this reason, campervan insurance will often not cover these items and will instead focus on the personal belongings which make this a campervan or motorhome.

Some insurers do not include tools and equipment and you may find that camping equipment falls under this category, so you have no cover for your kit at all.

It is definitely worth asking all the questions and understanding what exactly is covered.

Is your campervan insured inside and out?

It’s a yes and no answer to this question.

If you have fully comprehensive insurance, which you most likely will, then external damage to your vehicle or a third party is always covered.

What is murkier though is whether internal damage is also covered. This comes down to the individual insurance policy and what they offer. We have explored the pros and cons cover of each of the eight insurers contacted by us in more detail above.

Internal damage, even if covered, often has exclusions or limitations. Always check the policy details carefully.

Can you travel to Europe on your campervan insurance?

Nearly all insurers extend their cover to Europe for several months of the year and in some cases, the whole 12 months of the policy period.

There is often a maximum consecutive number of days requirement, for example 180 days.

How do campervan insurers decide how much to pay out for a total loss?

The loss adjusters appointed by the campervan insurers will refer to the Glass’s Guide – which is a real-time guide of vehicle values used throughout the motor industry.

If your policy is for a new motorhome or campervan, many insurers will offer a new motorhome replacement clause to their policy for the first 24 months from the vehicle’s registration date.

This means you receive a brand new motorhome in the event of a total loss.

Conclusion – which campervan insurance will we buy?

I started this article feeling a bit anti-Comfort Insurance based on our rat/squirrel damage and Comfort’s vermin exclusion clause.

Having spoken to so many other insurers, however, I’ve come round to favouring them again. As I said at the start, our decision is not based on price alone – the overall cover has got to be good.

Comfort Insurance and AIB are both underwritten by Aviva yet the cover offered differs slightly and there is a big difference in the price of each policy.

Both Lifesure and the Caravan and Motorhome Club insurance are underwritten by AXA but their cover differs slightly with Lifesure offering internal damage cover but no legal cover and the CAMC offering the opposite. Both are similarly priced but Lifesure has an additional broker’s fee to pay.

In an ideal scenario, we would like:

Low policy premium price
Excess £300 or lower
Internal and external damage included
European travel included
Vermin/Pet/Insect damage included
Legal cover included

This is asking a lot, I appreciate. If you look through the details of what the various insurers offer though you can see Comfort Insurance ticks the boxes on five out of six of these points.

We can concede the 6th point as we have taken measures to prevent us from being attacked again.

Coming in second would be Saga. They do have a requirement that one of the named drivers has to be over 50, but we meet that criteria.

They also offer five out of the six ideal scenario points, they don’t include legal cover which is what has swung it for us. Adding the extra amount the Saga policy costs on top of the extra legal cover, in total we are looking at an additional £59.89 over going with Comfort Insurance.

Conclusion – It’ll be a renewal with Comfort Insurance for us!

Related article: Excess Insurance for Campervan Hire

Tags Campervans, Insurance, Money, Motorhomes

Camping

Electric Hook Up: How to Use a Campsite Power Supply

Post author By Own The Outdoors
Post date 31st October 2020

Using the electric hook up supplied on powered campsites lets you charge up your leisure battery and run higher-wattage devices such as kettles, toasters, and hairdryers. Or does it?

Most campervans and motorhomes have a 12V leisure battery onboard which will offer enough power to run a small fridge, mobile phones and LED lights for a couple of days.

Going away for a longer period means you’ll most likely want to hook up to a campsite’s electrical supply.

Read on to learn what equipment you’ll need, best practices when using electricity in your motorhome or campervan and to understand how much power you use when you’re on-site

Contents

How does electric hook up work?

Campsites in the UK and Europe commonly offer both powered and unpowered pitches.

To juice or not to juice

Campers may choose to be close to nature and not use electrical power at all, be smugly self-sufficient with the 12V leisure battery in their caravan or motorhome, or take advantage of the 230V mains power supply provided by the campsite.

This article is about the latter type – campers who want to plug into the campsite electric hook up supply.

If you plug into the mains power supply it will provide power at 240V like household electricity (230V/220V in Europe). This will power appliances and will also recharge most camping vehicle leisure batteries.

Powered pitches

The parts of the campsite with powered pitches (electric hook up) will have power supply bollards dotted around the area for campers to plug into.

Each power bollard (or EHU post) usually has one to four power connection points, although sometimes up to eight. One connection for each pitch.

Your designated power supply point may be on or next to your pitch, or it could be one or two pitches away from yours, requiring a long cable to reach it.

How much power is supplied?

Electric current capacity is measured in Amps (A). It is fairly typical for most campsites in the UK to offer either 16A or 10A on electric hook up pitches.

In Europe, this figure can be much less in some locations, offering only 5A or 6A connections.

In practical terms, this means that the power supply at the bollard produces an electrical current that can power at any one time to a maximum of 16A (or 10A or 5/6A). As the power supply user, you need to make sure your total usage does not exceed this amount.

The campsite won’t be geared up for every electric hook up pitch to use the maximum supply all at once. How much power each camper uses, especially at busy times, will potentially affect all other campers on the site.

Too many appliances drawing power at once can cause the power to trip, either locally on the bollard (cutting power to your neighbours) or potentially the whole campsite!

Electric hook up kit – what do you need?

The electric hook up gear you will need will depend on what your power usage requirements are.

To plug in your motorhome or campervan to use power in the vehicle at a UK campsite may only require a single cable. There are a few other possibilities to consider, however.

These are the main types of camping electric hook up kit.

Campsite mains hook up cable

The hook up cable (or extension lead) is the main cable you’ll need to get power to your vehicle or camping unit. You must have one of these to use a campsite’s power supply.

The mains cable will have a 3-pin electric hookup male end socket to plug into the power bollard. The other end depends on whether you are camping in a tent or a vehicle.

The cables are usually brightly coloured for visibility, to stop them being trip hazards or accidentally damaged by campsite lawnmowers.

Tent vs vehicle camping

For tent camping, the mains cable will have one or more UK plug sockets and perhaps USB points at the “tent end”.

Mains cables for campervans, motorhomes, and caravans have a 3-pin campsite female end socket to plug into the van’s external electric point.

Cable dimensions

Power supply bollards can be spaced far apart, but a cable length of 25 metres will give you enough reach between your unit and the power supply at most UK and European campsites. For this reason, we would recommend going for a full 20-25m cable if you have the carrying capacity.

Your supply cable will need to conform to standard BS EN 60309-2. This specifies a PVC/PVC flexible cable with three cores, each core ideally being 2.5mm. Hook up cables are therefore fatter than your standard domestic power cords.

Cable care and storage

Your mains cable should ideally be kept in a bag or on a reel when stored and transported to protect it from damage. Make sure your cable is uncoiled before connecting the power as a coiled cable can overheat.

2 way splitter Y connector

A powered pitch at a campsite will usually come with a single power supply access point. Should you wish to run more than one power cable, you will need a 2 way (or 3 way) mains hook up lead splitter.

This is an adapter which plugs directly into the power supply bollard and turns one power access point into two (or three).

We use a Y splitter if we are using our mobile mains roller power unit as well as our 25m campsite extension lead. We will only do this if we are running power to our drive-away awning in addition to our campervan.

Mobile mains roller power unit

Vango Voltaic Roll Away power cable reel

This secondary power unit is only brought along on our trip if we have the drive-away awning with us.

We use it to power lights, mobile phone charging and in cold weather a camping heater inside the awning. It has two handy USB points for charging phones, three covered three-pin sockets and a light.

This type of unit is suitable for use in a tent or awning where power will be used separately from a vehicle power supply.

UK mains electric hook up adapter

These adapters enable a campervan or motorhome user to connect their vehicle to a UK domestic 13A three-pin socket.

This is useful for testing equipment before leaving for a journey or charging the leisure battery.

It is also handy when staying at a friend or family member’s home and gives you a way of powering your internal lights, fridge, and phones without draining your leisure battery. You can also use other 230/240V electrical appliances.

The adapter connects to your extension cable cable, creating a cable with a three-pin plug, ready to plug into a domestic socket.

Definitely worth always carrying an adapter with your power extension cable so that you have the option to use a regular plug socket.

European mains lead hook up adapter

If you are travelling in Europe it would be wise to carry a two-pin European mains adaptor lead.

Electric hook up on the continent can be a mixed bag. Many sites have the three-pin camping power system as we have in the UK, some sites offer only a two-pin power supply. If this is the case you will need to use your European mains adapter to plug your extension cable into the campsite power.

The adapter will also let you plug in to a European domestic power point if this is an option.

Reverse Polarity Tester and Polarity Reverse Adapter

Martindale CP501 Classic Check Plug 240V Socket Tester

On European sites, there is a risk that some electric hook up posts have reverse polarity wiring.

A Reverse Polarity Tester will tell you if this is the case, and a Polarity Reverse Adapter will correct it.

When camping in Europe it seems a no-brainer to carry an RP tester and adapter. For a small outlay, it will give you extra peace of mind.

Worldwide Travel Adapter with 2 USB ports

We drive a VW California Ocean. As it is a German-made vehicle, one of the plug sockets built into the campervan is a two-pin European socket which connects to the leisure battery.

The travel adapter is similar to the type you would take away on holiday. It has four international plug options which cover over 150 countries, including the UK. It gives us the facility to charge mobile phones or tablets whilst either on the road or camped up.

We move the travel adapter when we are on-site to our single three-pin UK plug socket in the kitchen area. This gives us greater use of the socket because the travel adapter also has two USB points for charging phones or other electronic devices.

There is a blue light on the top of the adapter which is illuminated when the adapter is receiving power. This usefully acts as a nightlight, and tucked around the side of the kitchen it is not too intrusive.

Using electric hook up – best practice

Doing anything involving electricity is potentially dangerous. It is important to use campsite power carefully and treat it with respect. Not only for safety but to protect your camping vehicle and equipment.

Ideally your van should have a switched Residual Current Device (RCD) to protect you from a potential electric shock or fire by switching off the power in the event of a fault.

Connecting to electric hook up

Check your RCD/isolator switch is in the OFF position in your campervan/motorhome.
Uncoil your mains extension cable fully to prevent it from overheating.
Connect the mains cable to your van.
Connect the mains cable to the campsite power supply bollard. This may be a push and click mechanism or a push, rotate, and click mechanism.
Switch the van RCD/isolator to the ON position.
If camping in mainland Europe, check for reverse polarity before using any appliances.

Disconnecting from electric hook up

Switch the van RCD/isolator switch to the OFF position.
Disconnect the cable from the power supply bollard. Depending on the connection type, there may be a release button.
Carefully disconnect the cable from your campervan or motorhome.
Store all cables carefully, on a reel or coiled in unkinked loops. Ideally, keep your extension cable in a cable bag.

What is Reverse Polarity?

Reverse polarity exists when the live and neutral wiring has been reversed in a plug socket. This can and does happen on some European campsites.

For UK-wired vehicles, this can cause a safety issue. Power is travelling down the neutral wire rather than the live wire. This means that an appliance will work, but live power will continue to flow to it even when it is switched off.

A polarity tester (readily available for under £10) will tell you how the electric hook up is wired. Plug the tester into your van plug socket, or directly into the EHU bollard if you have the right cables. It will indicate the polarity setup with lights.

If the polarity is reversed, you should attach a Polarity Reverse Adapter to your hook up cable so that the power flowing to the van is the correct way round.

Note that you should only use the Polarity Reverse Adapter if it is definitely needed. Otherwise, you will have inadvertently created reverse polarity in your van!

How many Amps are you using?

In our house, we give power usage some thought but definitely aren’t perfect. We try not to leave lights on, don’t re-boil the kettle when it’s still hot, and remember (sometimes) to shut down computers overnight.

Until researching this topic in detail, I wasn’t really aware of just how much power is used by our day to day appliances.

Power usage by domestic appliances

Home appliances can be power-hungry, and many are definitely not suitable for use on a campsite or a leisure battery.

Home Appliance	Watts	Amps
Kettle	2,500	10.8
Dishwasher	1,500	6.5
Oven	2,150	9.3
Toaster	2,200	9.6
Microwave	1,000-1,500	4.3 – 6.5
Hair dryer	1,500	6.5
Flat screen TV	100	0.4
Iron	2,000	8.7

Typical power consumption shown. Varies for different appliance models.

Due to the high wattage used by these domestic appliances, it is not advisable to bring them onto a campsite. Instead, a low-wattage, camping friendly, version should be used.

Converting Amps and Watts

Appliances in Amps

To convert an appliance’s Watts to Amps, divide the Watts by the Voltage:

Current (A) = Power (W) / Voltage (V)

For example, an electric kettle rated as 2,500 Watts: 2,500W / 230V = 10.8A

Campsite power in Watts

It may be useful to think of your total campsite power in Watts, as this is the power unit which will be shown on your appliances.

Simply multiply the Amps by the Voltage:

Power (W) = Voltage (V) x Current (A)

16A site: 230V x 16A = 3,680W or 3.68Kw

10A campsite: 230V x 10A = 2,300W or 2.3Kw

6A campsite: 230V x 6A = 1,380W or 1.38Kw

As you can see, an average household electric kettle will draw more power than a 10A campsite supply! Leave it at home, and instead get an electric kettle designed for camping.

Power usage by camping-specific appliances

Low-wattage appliances designed specifically for camping are readily available from outdoors suppliers.

Camping appliances draw far less power than their domestic counterparts.

Camping Appliance	Watts	Amps
Kettle	1,000	4.34
Toaster	750	3.26
Microwave	800	3.7
Iron	1,000	4.34
Hairdryer	1,000	4.34
Fan heater	750	3.3
Mobile phone charger	6	0.03
Camping fridge	72	0.31

Typical power consumption shown. Varies for different appliance models.

Electric hook up top 5 safety tips

Remember electricity and water DO NOT mix, even when camping. Keep your plugs dry and sockets covered.
Do not keep your cables wrapped in polythene. It is likely condensation will appear which should be avoided.
Be mindful of how much power you are drawing at any one time. If you exceed the Amperage allowance for your pitch, you could trip the MCB switch and the power will go off. Some sites charge for reconnection.
Keep your cables in good order and stored safely. Make sure the PVC cord is not split or showing any other signs of damage. Any doubts, discontinue use and seek advice from an electrician.
Get the electrics in your camping unit tested regularly to ensure everything is in good working order.

Tags Campervans, Motorhomes

Camping

Rent Out Your Campervan: How to Make Money From Van Hire

Post author By Own The Outdoors
Post date 28th October 2020

A campervan is a significant financial investment. To rent out your campervan when you aren’t using it is a way of recouping some of the costs. But is it a good idea?

An oft-quoted statistic says that on average campervan and motorhome owners only use their leisure vehicles four times a year.

How accurate this figure is, is anyone’s guess. I know in our case, we use our campervan as our daily ride so it doesn’t sit there idle on the drive when not on overnight trips away.

Until recently I hadn’t thought about renting out our campervan when we aren’t using it and benefitting from a useful additional income stream. It’s a topic which has been coming up more and more lately, most likely due to the increase in staycationing over going on holiday overseas.

We have a second car, so are we missing a trick here? Should we be thinking about arranging to rent out our campervan and recouping some of the costs it brings?

What are the benefits? What are the pitfalls?

Read on to find out whether renting out your motorhome or campervan is for you.

Contents

How do I rent out my motorhome or campervan?

There are a couple of ways to do this.

DIY approach

Put on your marketing hat and promote your van yourself. For example:

Take some pictures and share them on your social media profiles, letting people you know that your campervan or motorhome is for hire.
Create a website around the hire. It’s quite a lot of work and expense though. How will you get eyes on it?
Pay for advertising in a local publication or website.

The self-managed approach to rent out your campervan is labour intensive but could be relatively cheap.

Peer-to-peer rental platform

An easier approach to rent out your campervan is to use a specialist peer-to-peer website.

The new breed of peer-to-peer sharing platforms such as example Airbnb and FatLlama allow owners to share their assets for a rental fee. Both these sites have spotted a huge gap in the market for owners and hirers to find each other.

Not a surprise then that this private asset renting concept has come to the world of leisure vehicles. Yes, there are now a number of rental platform for campervans, caravans and motorhomes serving the UK.

Campervan and motorhome peer-to-peer rental platforms

There are a few strong players in the private campervan hire space right now so we’ve checked out each one to discover what money we could potentially make and how much risk we carry as campervan owners.

The case for using one of these platforms is strong. They are well established, have a presence in several countries and have large audiences to market your vehicle to.

The process is quick and easy allowing the campervan or motorhome owner to list their van and any additional hire equipment either for a nominal fee or a revenue share. Each platform treats this process slightly differently.

It’s a comfort too to have someone act as a mediator between vehicle owner and the hirer and they will usually take care of the payment process and hold the security deposit.

Here are the most established and trusted providers on the market right now. This table demonstrates what you can expect to pay for and earn using these services:

Private campervan rental websites

Platform	Costs to Vehicle Owner
Yescapa	Service fee: 15% of hire charge. Yescapa adds 15% to the price you set for your vehicle so you come away with what you feel your van is worth per night. The additional 15% is taken as a service fee.
Camplify	Service fee: 8% (+VAT) of hire charge. This is a straight revenue share. You get 92% (less VAT) of the booking revenue.
Camptoo	Service fee: 15% of hire charge. Camptoo adds 15% to the price you set for your vehicle so you come away with what you feel your van is worth per night. The additional 15% is taken as a service fee.
Goboony	Service fee: 15% of hire charge. Goboony adds 15% to the price you set for your vehicle so you come away with what you feel your van is worth per night. The additional 15% is taken as a service fee.
Quirky Campers	Service fee: 18% (+VAT) of hire charge. This is a straight revenue share. You get 82% (less VAT) of the booking revenue.

Details are a guide only. Figures correct at the date of publication.

Other websites

There are a few other campervan and motorhome private hire websites available for UK audiences, but we have included only sites we would consider using ourselves.

During our research, we discovered some sites that obscure their service fees or do not supply clear contact details. These have not been included.

Private hire platform fees

Publishing, marketing, customer service, and insurance does not come for free. It is a fair deal, therefore, that these private hire platforms add on service fees or take a percentage of the per-night rental fee to cover their running costs.

The benefits of using one of these services outweighs the costs in our opinion.

Listing your van

As a campervan owner, each platform will require you to provide a range of documentation to be allowed to list. This can include:

V5 Certificate to prove ownership of the campervan or motorhome.
Proof of insurance – even if you are using day insurance through the website.
Latest MOT certificate.
Insurance and MOT expiry dates – the platform keeps these stored and makes sure you keep the info updated.
Personal identification documents.
Bank details for receipt of payment of hire revenue.

It would also be prudent to have a gas and electricity safety inspection and a habitation check.

You’ll also need some cracking photos to showcase all the selling points of why someone would want to hire your campervan or motorhome.

The various hire platforms all have a similar process for vetting hirers. For the recommended platforms, all checks are made in advance of the hire and the hirers have provided all the necessary documentation to adhere to the insurance specifications.

How much money could I make renting out my campervan or motorhome?

There is no clear answer to how much money you can earn because it depends on a range of factors:

The age of the vehicle.
The spec of the vehicle.
How many seatbelted positions it has.
How many sleeping berths it has.
Time of year, you can ask for more during peak seasons.
Where it is located – are you based near to airports/train stations, major road networks?
How many weeks per year you can rent it out.

For example, a VW conversion campervan, 5 years old, four-berths.
A typical listing suggests a range of £95 to £120 per night.
Multiply that by 7 for a one-week hire = £665 to £840 per week.

Nice. Just a one week hire would cover a lot of annual costs. That said, we’ve yet to cover what could be the biggest stumbling block – insurance. Just what risks am I taking to hire out my campervan?

Campervan and motorhome hire insurance – the options

If you rent out your vehicle commercially (as in you receive money in exchange for loaning the vehicle) it is a legal requirement that you have adequate insurance to cover both parties in the event of injury or damage.

Most domestic insurance policies do not cover commercial rentals or even non-commercial loans to a third party. To be properly covered you’ll need one of two types of insurance:

Either

A specific annual policy which allows for commercial hirers called “Self Drive Hire” insurance, or

Short term motorhome insurance which is known as “Day Insurance”, which is a pay per trip, per day insurance policy.

Self Drive Hire insurance

This annual policy will cost you considerably more than your standard motorhome or campervan insurance policy but does allow for unlimited commercial hires over the year.

If, as the van owner, you have an annual Self Drive Hire policy, you could easily build in an additional few pounds per night into your nightly hire rate to absorb some of the extra cost you have incurred.

Self Drive Hire policies are not very common but there are a small number of specialist brokers who deal with it. Two firms we have spoken with are Alan Boswell Independent Insurance Brokers and Gallagher.

Some brokers will require you to have 12 months hiring experience before they will offer you an annual policy, so you may have to go the Day Insurance route for the first year before you can pursue this option.

If you plan to hire your vehicle out for many weeks of a year, having a Self Drive Hire policy to insure your campervan or motorhome, may work out to be the most cost-effective way to get covered.

What is the average cost of self drive hire insurance?

This wholly depends on the value of your vehicle. Alan Boswell advise for example:

Value of Vehicle	Annual Cost	Excess
Up to £35,000	£1,400	£500
£35,000 – £45,000	£1,650	£750
£45,000+	£1,900	£1,250

Details are a guide only. Figures correct at the date of publication.

Self drive hire insurance – policy wording

Typical terms you can find in your Self Drive Hire policy can include:

Fully comprehensive cover.
Includes drivers aged 25-79.
No Hidden Costs – Unlimited hires, Unlimited mileage.
Cover included for theft by hirer and cooking and heating risks (subject to 25% owner co-insurance).
Free comprehensive cover for own use of vehicles.
EU cover included.

Policy requirements include:

Category S5 Tracker may be required for vehicles over £50,000 in value.
£1000 excess (although this rises according to the value of the vehicle).

Exclusions – read the small print!

The above example has several exclusions which may be a cause for concern:

A 25% co-insurance clause for theft or damage resulting in the use of the cooker. In other words, you will not be covered for a quarter of the loss if the hirer’s Full English fry-up gets out of control and destroys your van.
You are liable for 100% of the theft if the keys have been left in the ignition.
If a hirer pays you in cash for the hire, this invalidates the insurance. You must have a traceable payment by card or electronic transfer.

As the van owner, the liability for any damage or theft falls entirely on you.

Campervan and Motorhome Day Insurance

Day Insurance is the type of insurance you’ll most commonly see used on the private campervan rental websites.

It is insurance which covers the hirer per day for the length of a trip.

People use Day Insurance for all kinds of reasons, including teaching someone to drive in their car, borrowing a van to move something big, or loaning a vehicle to friends or family visiting from overseas.

You purchase extra cover through Day Insurance to insure your vehicle for each specified day you are allowing someone else to drive it.

How to take out Day Insurance

Unlike Self Drive Hire insurance, Day Insurance can be purchased directly by anyone.

For ease, many of the campervan rental websites have negotiated a Day Insurance arrangement directly with Allianz (the only insurer that seems to deal directly with the platforms) or they guide you to providers such as Dayinsure, Tempcover, or Sky Insurance.

One benefit of buying through a platform is they have more control over the claims process if they have a bespoke arrangement with a day insurer. Less hassle for you should a claim arise.

Day Insurance driver conditions

Like with any insurance, there are criteria a hirer must adhere to, to qualify.

These requirements are typically:

The driver must be between 25-69 years old
Have at least 2 years of driving experience
No more than 6 points on their license

A booking using Day Insurance can need a 5-day booking window to ensure all the necessary documents are in place before the hire. A Self Drive Hire policy has a little more flexibility.

If a hirer does not meet these requirements, cover may still be offered but the per price per day would increase.

What does Day Insurance cost for campervan hire?

Platform	Guide cost	Who pays?
Yescapa	£24/day	The hirer
Camptoo	£21.28	Vehicle owner
Camplify	£7/£11/£17/day + 12% IPT (depends on vehicle value)	Vehicle owner
Goboony	£20	The hirer

Prices are a guide only and are subject to change

Security Deposit

Typically the security deposit is set at £1,000 and the campervan rental platform will take an imprint of this amount on the hirer’s credit card and the start of the hire.

£1,000 is a hefty liability to carry so the hirer can also take out an excess reduction policy to bring this liability down to £500.

Match deposit to excess

It is advisable for the vehicle owner to set the security deposit to the excess amount stated by the insurer to ensure they are not personally out of pocket in the event of an accident.

The majority of the hire platforms look after the security deposit and give the campervan or motorhome owner the opportunity to block the return of the money to the hirer in the event of discovering damage.

Dispute resolution

If you do decide to list your campervan for hire with one of these platforms, make sure you ask the question to understand what role they will play in resolving disputes and what your claim window will be.

Who pays the hire insurance?

Who pays the insurance is an interesting topic. There is some argument that if the hirer pays for the insurance then they take more care of the vehicle.

On the other hand, if the hirer pays it could mean you have to charge less per night for your vehicle to make the cost to the hirer viable. Perhaps it doesn’t matter who pays as it all evens itself out in the end.

As well as insurance, there are other considerations to take into account when you decide whether to rent out your campervan such as what you include in the van hire price.

Breakdown cover

Hiring out your van comes with responsibilities to your hirer. You do need to have breakdown cover with the RAC or similar to protect your vehicle and the campervan renters.

Imagine your van conks out in the middle of nowhere, far from your address, you are going to need to think about how to get it home again and back on the road.

What about the people who have hired your vehicle? With their transport and accommodation out of commission, they are truly stuck.

Breakdown cover features

Breakdown cover will allow for a broken-down vehicle to be towed to a garage of your choice or the nearest one to where the breakdown has occurred.

It will outline exactly how they will assist if a breakdown happens for example how they look after the renters. This may involve a per night amount paid out to look after the renters of the vehicle to ensure they can arrive at another destination and or accommodation paid for for a few nights until matters are resolved.

The majority of the platforms will include breakdown cover with any Day Insurance they sell you. Be sure to ask what the process is in the event of a breakdown.

Often, only one tow is included, so think carefully about where you would like the vehicle to be taken to. Some policies may charge one or other party for the cost of the tow depending on why the breakdown has occurred.

This could be as much as £200 paid for either by the campervan owner if it is deemed the vehicle hasn’t been properly maintained or by the hirer if it is deemed the breakdown has happened through misuse.

It may be worth supplying your own breakdown cover if it offers more protection overall than the one supplied by the rental platform. Definitely worth checking what is and isn’t included and if any extra costs are likely in the event of a breakdown.

What should you supply with your campervan?

Most campervan and motorhome owners have a large collection of additional equipment they use alongside their vehicle.

It is entirely up to you whether you would want to loan these items out to hirers. The positives are that you can charge extra for additional equipment and they may enjoy your van better with all the right kit.

These can be charged for on a per night or a whole trip basis per item.

Chargeable equipment examples

Drive away awning/tent/annex
Bike rack
Bikes
Scooters
Projector or other tech
Table and chairs
Bedding/Towels
Inflatable beds/furniture

Other services

Other services you may wish to charge extra for are:

Collection/Delivery to train station or airport
Per hour charge on top of agreed rental
Mileage over an agreed amount

Non-chargeable equipment

Most hirers would expect kitchen equipment such as pots, pans, plates, utensils and cutlery and a full gas bottle to be included with the campervan or motorhome hire.

For a belts-and-braces approach, a first aid kit, fire extinguisher, and a carbon monoxide alarm should also be supplied.

European vehicle requirements

If you are allowing your vehicle to be driven to mainland Europe, it is a legal requirement that the vehicle should contain items such as a fluorescent jacket, a warning triangle and 2 breathalyser kits.

Consumables

Some van owners like to go the extra mile and leave the hirers a small number of consumables like tea, coffee, sugar, milk and a few cleaning supplies.

Parking

Hirers will probably arrive at the rental location in their own vehicle so it would be desirable for them to leave their vehicle parked at the collection point.

If this is not something you can offer, it is definitely worth pointing this out up-front so they can make other arrangements.

Campervan hire demand

Right now in 2020, campervan and motorhome hire has never been more in demand. One platform informed me their business has increased 250-300% on the same period from the previous year.

Another platform told me they don’t have enough vehicles to meet the current demand, and it’s well past high summer.

Campervans and motorhomes have already been booked for next summer in readiness for the expected summer uplift.

Thanks to the Covid-19 crisis, staycations have become the top choice for holidaymakers with thousands cancelling their overseas trips in favour of staying closer to home.

Camping, campervanning, or caravanning is a more affordable holiday than a self-catering property or a hotel, adding to its popularity. This is true particularly in times of recession making it an appealing option to those who just want to get away for a few nights.

If you have read this article and would like to explore the idea further, the common message from all the platforms is there is high demand and not enough campervan supply so if you are looking to make money from your campervan or motorhome, there has never been a better time.

To hire or not to hire? Are we going to do it?

We’ve done all the research into Self Drive Hire insurance policies, what the platforms cost to market our vehicle, and what our earnings could be and our decision is – drumroll please – no, we are not going to rent out our campervan.

Our VW California Ocean falls into the top pricing bracket for insurance so it will be an expensive endeavour for us to get the necessary cover.

The idea of a potential £750 week in hire revenue is definitely appealing. But when assessing the risk and hassle of accidental damage or theft, how upset and inconvenienced we would be, and how much the insurance would cost, the answer for us at this time with the campervan we own is a definite no. It simply doesn’t add up for us.

Perhaps if we owned a less valuable campervan or motorhome and we didn’t have such an emotional attachment to it, this could be a good side business to earn a secondary income.

If that is your situation then go for it. There has never been more demand and there is money out there to be made.

Tags Campervans, Hire, Money, Motorhomes

Camping

Excess Insurance for Campervan Hire: The Complete Guide

Post author By Own The Outdoors
Post date 27th October 2020

About to rent a campervan or motorhome? Taking out an excess insurance policy for your campervan hire may just save you a nasty financial shock.

You’re dreaming of getting away from it all, hitting the road, getting out in the countryside. Who can blame you? There is something really invigorating about being out in the fresh air, surrounded by green space and wildlife.

As much as it is preferable to focus on the itinerary of your upcoming trip, other necessities must also be considered before you hit the road.

Let’s face it, the topic of campervan rental excess insurance is likely to be met with a groan. Granted, it’s not exciting but neither is a damage bill in your name for £1,000 or more. That’s likely to be met with an even bigger groan.

All campervan and motorhome hire must come with a level of insurance, but what that cover includes will vary.

What you can do as a campervan hirer is make sure you are fully covered, belts and braces, before you sign your rental agreement.

Contents

What is campervan rental excess insurance?

Excess insurance is an insurance policy that you can take out on top of the insurance policy that is part of your campervan hire. It pays for some or all of the insurance excess in the event of a claim.

Excess insurance on a campervan or motorhome hire reduces your personal financial liability from whatever the agreed security deposit amount is (often £1,000) to as little as £150, depending on the provider

Jargon note: excess insurance can be known by different names, including Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and liability insurance.

Standard motorhome hire insurance

It would be nice to have one policy that takes care of all the risk, but sadly that’s not how it works.

Whether you are hiring a campervan or motorhome from a commercial hire firm or renting from a private owner, having adequate insurance in place is essential.

Insurers gauge the risks of hire and clearly outline what they are and aren’t prepared to cover, based on the perceived risk profile.

The risk of damage to a hire vehicle is greater than one you own. Accidental damage can occur as a result of a lack of familiarity with the dimensions and handling of a vehicle on and off the road.

Outside of driver-caused damage are vandalism, theft, and lack of care from other drivers. Unfortunately, these are circumstances largely out of your control.

Campervan hire insurance exclusions

Certain kinds of damage or expense are often excluded from standard vehicle hire insurance policies. This is because they are particularly vulnerable to damage or loss. These can include:

Windscreen
Tyres
Roof
Underbody
Internal damage
Misfuelling
Loss of keys

Excess insurance will cover you up to the agreed security deposit amount on your rental agreement. The campervan hire insurance policy provided with the hire will cover any additional cost over that amount, subject to any exclusions.

Why buy campervan rental excess insurance?

The main benefit in choosing to purchase campervan rental insurance is to reduce your personal financial risk should the worst happen.

As previously mentioned, it might not be as a result of you the hirer that damage occurs. Just as often, vehicle damage occurs via a third party.

From a liability perspective, the buck stops with you, the hirer.

Insurance excess amounts are commonly set at £1,000 to £2,000 for hiring a campervan or motorhome; they are expensive and luxury vehicles.

Damage repairs to these specialist vehicles can be very costly. Suddenly, the cost of your holiday just doubled.

By factoring in a small extra ‘security’ amount to your hire, you can reduce this liability to as little as £150 depending on the provider. £150 is much easier to swallow than £1,000 for sure.

You’ll need to buy an excess reduction policy specifically tailored to campervans or motorhomes. This is because motorhome hire carries a different risk profile than standard car hire.

Campervan rental excess insurance providers

The following table lists the leading providers of campervan excess reduction insurance policies in the UK.

We’ve included guide prices are and the reduced excess amounts. The criteria we selected for the premium quotations were:

Drivers – 2
Region – UK/Europe
Vehicle – Motorhome/campervan
Length of trip – 7 days

Motorhome hire excess insurance premiums

Excess Insurer	Premium Cost	Policy Excess
iCarHireInsurance*	£72.98	£0
RAC*	£72.98	£0
Questor Insurance	£56.92	£350
RentalCover	£106.56 (motorhome) £91.33 (campervan)	£0
WorldWide Insurance	£63.00	£350
InsureCarHire	£11.64	£500

* iCarHireInsurance and RAC motorhome and campervan excess cover is provided by Halo Insurance. Campervan and Motorhome cover is offered as an upgrade to the annual policy for car hire excess. For close to the cost of a one-off hire policy you can get annual multi-trip and standard car hire within Europe included, making these policies great value.

Some of the private campervan rental websites or motorhome hire companies will have excess reduction policies as an added option to purchase when you sign your rental agreement.

Ask for the details of their policy and compare with one of the market leaders in the above table. How does the cover compare? Is the pricing competitive?

What is covered under a campervan rental excess insurance policy?

The following points are common in these types of policies. Always familiarise yourself with the small print to know exactly what you are and are not covered for.

Typical coverage features

Cover up to £2,500 to cover the security deposit amount on the rental agreement
Includes cover for windscreens, tyres, roof and underbody damage.
Loss of use
Towing fees
Vehicles up to £75,000 in value
Hire agreements up to 45 days in length
Loss of keys
Misfuelling
Covers vehicles with a maximum of 9 seats

Common exclusions

Not valid if a hire has already commenced
The first £350 of a claim (the excess on this policy – although £0 excess policies are available)
Interior damage
Third party death, injury or property damage
Off road trails or safari
Breaches of the rental agreement

Eligibility

To be eligible to take out campervan rental excess insurance cover in the UK, you typically have to meet the following criteria:

Between 21-84 years of age.
Hold a valid driving licence for the country in which you are travelling.
A resident of the UK or an EEA country at the time of policy purchase.

Should you take out excess insurance for campervan hire?

At the end of the day, campervan hire excess insurance offers you, as a hirer, peace of mind. If something unexpected and costly happens, you’re covered.

It is yet another expense to add to your trip budget but it is often worth having for your trip so the unforeseen doesn’t spoil what should be a fantastic holiday.

Further reading:
Private Campervan Hire (How to Rent Someone Else’s Campervan)

Tags Campervans, Insurance, Money, Motorhomes

Camping

Campervan Security: The Ultimate Guide

Post author By Own The Outdoors
Post date 13th October 2020

Security isn’t usually the first thing you think about when looking to buy your first campervan or motorhome. Unfortunately, protecting your campervan from thieves and opportunists is a reality that should not be ignored by any campervan or motorhome owner.

My VW campervan is my pride and joy. I love the feeling of slipping behind the wheel, ready to hit the open road for another adventure. Even if the adventure is just grocery shopping. I would be devastated if it was stolen or broken into.

Fortunately, there are many things you can do to reduce the chances of being targeted by thieves and make it harder for them if they try.

To help protect your prized home on wheels, we’ve set out a detailed guide on practical steps you can take and anti-theft devices for campervans.

Contents

Don’t panic!

Statistically speaking, it is unlikely that anything will happen to you or your campervan on your next journey.

The mere fact that you are reading this article shows that your mind is in the right place. This in itself will help reduce the risks further.

As the saying goes, prevention is the best cure. Taking sensible precautions and keeping your wits about you will go a long way towards protecting your van, its contents, and yourselves.

This guide has lots of ideas for campervan security for you to consider. We hope that you find it useful in helping you to make good choices that suit your situation and make you feel well prepared.

Campervan security at home

Having your campervan stolen or broken into on a trip away may be why you are reading this article. Campervan security, however, definitely begins at home.

According to the latest Home Office statistics on vehicle theft, over 100,000 vehicles were stolen in England and Wales during the year to March 2020. Of these, 73% occurred when at home.

Protecting your campervan or motorhome from theft when not being used for touring is essential. The steps to protect your campervan at home are the same as those that police forces around the country recommend for protecting any vehicle.

Remove temptations and easy targets

Don’t make it easy for thieves! There are very basic (and cost-free) things you can do to make sure you don’t unwittingly lend them a helping hand.

Keys

Never leave your keys in your campervan without you in it, even for a moment. This includes de-icing in your drive, buying fuel, or popping into a shop. Your insurer will likely not pay out if your van is stolen with keys in it.

Keep your car keys out of sight in your house and not near unlocked doors or open windows. Even during daylight hours, they may be a temptation for opportunistic thieves.

Keyless fobs

If you have keyless entry, store your key fobs in a signal-blocking pouch (Faraday pouch) or metal box. This stops thieves using signal amplifiers to unlock your van. Standard key fobs which you have to press a button to unlock/lock are not at risk with these devices.

Doors and windows

It sounds obvious, but close and lock windows and roof lights, and lock the doors. Nearly half of all thefts from vehicles involved an unlocked car door. Get in the habit of always trying the door after locking your van.

Valuables

Don’t keep any valuables in your campervan. Store any other gear away out of sight in drawers, cupboards, and storage areas. This includes tempting-looking backpacks or bags, even if they are empty.

Blinds and curtains

Close blinds and curtains in your van. Potential thieves may hesitate if they think someone is sleeping inside.

Swivelling seats

If you have a swivelling driver’s seat, turn it to face the rear. Use a padlock to make it difficult to turn back around to the driving position.

Environmental deterrents for parking/storage at home

Physical barriers should be used if you have them and seriously considered if you don’t. After all, you’ve probably invested upwards of £50,000 on your campervan or motorhome.

Off-street parking

Park on your driveway or in your garage wherever possible. If you have to park on the street, choose a well-lit spot.

Security lights

Use light as a deterrent – burglars hate being visible. Security lights with a movement sensor can cause a hasty exit. Or install dusk to dawn lighting to keep the area lit overnight.

Security cameras

Visible home security cameras pointing to the parked vehicle are a deterrent as well as potential evidence for the police if theft is attempted.

Driveway design

Physical barriers such as locked gates and driveway security posts may stop your van from being removed from your property.

Gravel driveways are noisy in the dead of night and may put off a thief from approaching.

Anti-theft devices for campervans

These security solutions apply for all types of vehicles, not just campervans and motorhomes. Car security is a competitive area with a lot of choices. Have a good look around at what is available and get quotes for the best fully-installed prices.

Before spending any serious money on security, though, make sure to check with your insurer. They may have requirements for accredited security products. There are two main accreditation schemes for vehicle security systems and devices in the UK.

Thatcham Research – the motor insurance industry research centre, which tests and approves vehicle alarms, immobilisers, trackers, and mechanical security products.
Sold Secure – owned by the Master Locksmiths Association. Sold Secure grades security products as Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Diamond level.

Campervan alarms and immobilisers – essential kit

Your base starting point for a campervan security system should be to have a modern, industry-standard, Thatcham-accredited alarm system and immobiliser.

Alarm systems are designed to attract attention and make the would-be thief run off when triggered. Vehicle alarms typically use a piercing siren, car horn, and flashing vehicle lights. Alarms are usually set off by a locked door being tampered with, noise from glass breaking, or excessive vehicle movement.

Since 1988 all new cars and vans must have Engine immobilisers fitted. A vehicle immobiliser stops the vehicle from being hot-wired. I.e. bypassing the ignition switch to start the engine. The immobiliser is activated when the key is removed. It is deactivated when a correctly coded key is inserted into the ignition switch.

Does my campervan have an immobiliser or alarm?

Factory-built campervans like the VW California and Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo come with built-in approved alarms and immobilisers. You should check your manual for the precise specifications.

Van conversions will often come with an alarm and immobiliser factory fitted in the base van. Not all vans will have an alarm, however, and pre-1998 vans may not have an immobiliser.

A van converter may install a new alarm or modify the original van alarm system to suit its new use as a camping vehicle.

If you are having a van converted, make sure that alarms are on your checklist of features.

If your van does not have an alarm or immobiliser it is worth considering having these retrofitted. As well as improving your campervan’s security and your peace of mind, this may also reduce your insurance premiums.

Security Tip: Check your vehicle manual for how to temporarily disable the motion sensors. This is so you can lock and alarm your van at night when you are sleeping in it, and when transporting it on a ferry or train.

Ghost immobilisers – hidden PIN code

These fitted immobilisers set up a “pin code” sequence using vehicle control buttons such as on the steering wheel. The pin sequence must be input before the vehicle will start.

A ghost immobiliser is not visible (unsurprisingly). It makes it nearly impossible for a thief to drive your camper or motorhome, even with the original car key.

Trackers – get your stolen campervan back

Vehicle tracking systems are designed to locate and help recover stolen vehicles. They use one or both GPS/GSM (satellite location using the mobile phone network) and VHF (Very High-Frequency transmissions) technologies.

Follow your van’s every move with a tracker

Insurance companies will often require trackers on motorhomes and campervans over a certain value. In any case, they are a good investment for a prized and expensive vehicle. Especially one which has more sentimental value than the average family car.

Trackers come with different levels of capability. These range from simply giving the location of the vehicle to being able to cut the ignition remotely when the car goes below a certain speed setting for example at traffic lights.

Only 30% of stolen vehicles are reunited with their owners. This rises to over 90% for vehicles that are fitted with trackers. The majority of those are returned within 24 hours of being stolen.

Dashcams

Having a dashcam fitted to your campervan can provide evidence to police and insurance companies in the event of an accident. It therefore offers protection if it wasn’t your fault. Not so good if you were the guilty driver.

These devices are becoming very commonplace, especially with the rise of deliberate minor accident claims – so-called “Crash for Cash” incidents.

As an anti-theft security device, however, a standard dashcam gives only limited protection. Arguably the visible presence of a dashcam may put a thief off having a go. It won’t of course actually prevent theft or burglary.

When left in parking mode they can record activity close to your van. If a thief attempts to break into your campervan a dashcam may record them approaching. This depends on the field of view, the quality of the picture, and whether your dashcam has night vision (if it is dark).

Dual aspect dashcams

Some dashcams have dual aspect cameras facing the road in front as well as the vehicle interior.

The inward-facing camera may capture a break-in. Provided it is left in parking mode and has a decent view of the habitation area.

If you are in your van you may not want the camera recording your every snore. Night-time entry is rare but not unknown, so keeping the cameras rolling is a trade-off between security and your privacy.

Mechanical security devices to prevent campervan theft

Electronic sophistication is well and good but sometimes a bright-yellow-painted inconveniently-placed chunk of locked metal is enough to deter thieves. Here’s a quick rundown of portable vehicle immobilising devices designed to protect your campervan.

Safety Tip: store your removable security devices securely when driving to stop them from becoming a dangerous flying object in the event of an accident or sudden braking.

Steering wheel locks

Steering wheel locks are a very effective visual deterrent. Often sporting bright yellow or red livery, they are designed to be noticed at a glance and will put off many would-be thieves.

Steering wheel locks for campervans and motorhomes come in various designs. These include the traditional bar with hooks, a steering wheel to brake pedal lock, and hard shell enclosed lock. Without a key, they can’t be removed without a great deal of noise and effort.

Security Tip: store your steering wheel lock key separately from your car key. If your car keys are stolen the thief will still have to get past the steering lock.

Clutch locks and pedal clamps

These devices lock together or encase the brake and clutch, or brake and accelerator pedals. This simply stops the camper or motorhome from being driven.

Like steering wheel locks, they are designed to stop a vehicle from being driven even with the car key present. Some recent model vans require the brake pedal to be depressed to start the engine – a pedal lock will prevent this.

There are a number of pedal clamp models on the market, each with a particular approach to the problem.

Wheel clamps

A commonly used option to immobilise a campervan or motorhome is a wheel clamp.

Motorhome wheel clamps, also known as wheel boots or parking boots, are just like the ones your friendly local parking warden uses. Except that you have the key.

Useful for securing campervans, motorhomes, and caravans at home or on-site. They are also great for locking your trailer which remains on your campsite pitch while you are out for the day.

Gearstick locks

The last but not least of our suite of lockable physical immobilisers are gearstick to handbrake locks.

Gear locks connect and lock the handbrake and gear lever together, rendering it impossible to drive without removal. Like our other options, gear locks are very difficult to remove without the key.

A benefit of gear locks over other physical deterrents is that they are smaller and can be folded for storage in your campervan glovebox. This is, of course, subject to glovebox dimensions and how many bags of sweets are already crammed in there.

Stopping break-ins and theft of gear

Okay, we’ve tackled how to immobilise your campervan to stop it from being stolen. Next, let’s consider protecting your van and camping accessories and your belongings.

Wheel security

With the advent of expensive alloy rims wheel theft is making a comeback. This is particularly with larger alloys that have thinner tyres which are more easily scratched on the kerbing.

Anti-theft locking wheel nuts are the practical solution and really a necessity for any van owner. They work by replacing one wheel nut on each wheel with a special wheel nut that requires a “key” in the form of a wheel nut socket with the matching key pattern.

Many recent-model vans come with manufacturer-supplied locking wheel nuts. Even these come with some level of risk as there may only be a small number of different lock nut keys for each manufacturer, allowing the organised wheel thief to carry a set.

Removal tools

Mechanics use locking wheel nut removal tools to remove wheels when the keys are lost. These tools do take time to remove each wheel.

High security locking wheel nuts are available on the market to overcome these weaknesses. These are designed with a hard outer casing which spins and can’t be undone with standard removal tools.

A determined thief will eventually succeed given time and the right specialist tools, but it won’t be worth the risk for most.

Don’t forget the spare wheel

Spare wheels on vans are particularly vulnerable to theft, and spare wheel theft is on the rise.

Campervan spares are usually stored underneath the rear of the van, with some attached to the rear door or roof.

If wheel nuts are used to hold the spare in place, then locking wheel nuts can be used to secure the spare.

Alternatively, there are specialist spare wheel locks such as the spare saver for underslung spare wheels on late model VW campervans.

Campervan and motorhome safes

Safes are an excellent feature to protect valuables and documents from theft.

Most campervan and motorhome burglaries are over in under a minute, as the thieves grab whatever they can find quickly. A locked safe box in a campervan will be just too time consuming to bother with for most burglars.

Some factory fitted or high-end van conversions come with the option of a built-in safe, and there are numerous retro-fitted safes on the market.

The best campervan safes are bolted to the campervan chassis. Some models even come with a monetary guarantee that they can’t be broken into.

Door security

Most campervans, whether factory-built or conversions, will have a locking procedure to lock the doors from inside when camping.

Simply using the key fob will also set the alarm, resulting in a rude awakening for you and the whole campsite when you roll over in your sleep. Check your van manual, or ask your converter, to see how it is done.

Your campervan will have factory-fitted door locks, obviously, but it is possible to enhance campervan security with additional door locks.

There are a wide range of door lock enhancements for motorhomes and caravans. Some of which may also be used for campervans, however, if you’re looking for additional locks for your campervan it is worth looking at locks designed for commercial vans.

There are three main types of commercial van locks.

Deadlocks – just like deadlocks on houses, you use a key to lock these from outside as an extra lock. They drive a bolt into the structure of the van, and can only be opened with a key.
Slam locks operate automatically when the door is closed. They do pose a risk of locking your keys in your campervan, so are perhaps better left to delivery vans.
Van door locks are highly visible locks bolted on the rear or side doors. These are commonly seen on commercial vans. They are a visual deterrent but may not be to everyone’s taste.

Cab door security bar

Fiamma produces the Duo-Safe Pro telescopic door bar. This device prevents motorhome or campervan cab doors from being opened by connecting both doors together when you are sleeping in the vehicle.

The Duo-Safe is a simple and clever idea. It can be removed quickly and doesn’t need you to drill holes in your precious van.

Campervan window security

Campervan factory-fitted windows in the driver and passenger doors, windscreen, and rear window will be made of toughened safety glass and are difficult and noisy to break. Side windows may be more vulnerable.

Swing-out style habitation windows and roof lights often found on motorhomes and caravans are potentially vulnerable to forcing open outwards, and their plastic construction can be a further weakness.

Sliding glass windows commonly found on campervans are more secure than swing-out windows, but can still potentially be forced open.

A range of window security devices for campervans can be retro-fitted. These include:

Window catch locks

Window catches are a potential weak point, depending on their design. There are various window catch locks that can be retrofitted to strengthen the security of motorhome windows, such as the UK-made Lock M Out.

Window restrictors

Child window restrictors limit how far windows can be opened. Restrictors are a solution designed for homes but may work in some campervans. They consist of a short steel cable connecting the window frame and van body and are opened with a key.

Security film

A brazen thief may try to smash a window to enter your van. Installing window security film on the outside of your van windows can make this much harder, even if they use a hammer. It is important that the film is fitted externally so that you can still break a window from inside to escape in the event of an accident or fire.

Window alarms

Individual window alarms sound, loudly, when the window is hit, broken, or opened. They are relatively cheap to buy and easy to install. Although they won’t stop a window from being breached, they are visible from outside and act as a deterrent, and if the alarm goes off then hopefully the intruder will flee.

Securing the environment in and around your campervan

Preventing a crime from happening in the first place is the best security outcome of all. Criminals are not keen on being seen or heard. If you can disrupt this then they may just leave you alone.

Dogs

If you have a dog, you have a hairy security guard for your campsite. Their keen hearing will pick up the noise of anyone outside well before you may notice, and set off their barking alarm.

Dog warning stickers, and a dog drinking bowl and chain outside your van, will hopefully give even the stupidest criminals a reason to leave before trying.

Sensor lights

A waterproof sensor light that switches on when someone approaches or exits from your van will light up the area outside. As well as putting off a burglar, these can be handy for going outside at night in a dark campsite.

Exterior motion sensor chimes

Like sensor lights, these devices detect any movement within their perimeter range. They can be set to make a doorbell chime sound, or let rip with a loud siren.

Interior motion sensor alarms

When you are away from your van, a motion-sensor alarm inside your van can be tripped if somehow a thief evades all your other layers of security.

Interior security cameras

Again for use when you are not in your van, motion-triggered or always-on cameras will give you some comfort and evidence should a break-in occur. There are a range of 12V powered cameras available, including some which work on mobile phone networks. These can alert you and provide live footage if something happens.

Campervan security when travelling

Keeping your van and its contents secure when away on a trip is arguably more important than when at home. When away from home your van is your home, and losses, or the theft of the campervan itself, is more than just inconvenient.

Imagine coming back to site after a day of cycling or walking to find your van missing? Then having to report the incident to local police, possibly in another language, then figure out what to do next given most of your possessions have disappeared. It doesn’t bear thinking about.

Chances are high that you won’t be a target of crime on your van travels, but by planning in advance you can reduce your risk further or at least minimise the damage if something does happen.

Pre-trip preparation

When you are planning a trip away in your campervan make sure that you think about security along with what beach gear and how many pairs of pants you are packing.

Have your insurance details handy, including insurance company contact phone numbers for any countries you are visiting to report any incidents.
Take printed copies of important documents (including passports) as well as photos and/or notes stored on your phone.
Think hard about taking anything valuable. If you really don’t need something on your trip, leave it at home.
Mark any expensive items that you do decide to take. Use a UV pen to write your postcode so that you can be reunited with your lost gear.
Set up the locator apps on your smartphones and tablets (“Find My” on Apple iPhones and iPads, and “Find My Device” on Android devices).

Tips on campervan security when away from home

Here are our best campervan anti-theft ideas for when you are out touring and adventuring in your van.

On the road

Keep your doors locked when driving.
Choose parking spaces in busy, well-lit areas.
Ensure that the alarm’s movement sensor is switched back on from camping/transport mode when you leave the van parked up.
Don’t ignore your gut feeling. If you are uneasy about a parking spot, it may be best to look for an alternative.
Be extra vigilant at Aires and similar roadside overnight parking areas, as they have been known to be targets for crime, particularly near cities.
Lock up and take your keys with you when paying for fuel.

Staying at campsites

Always store tempting items out of view.
Close curtains and blinds when away from the van so that thieves don’t know whether there is anyone inside.
Lock the van when you are away from it – even just using the site amenities.
Lock the van when you are inside for the night. Make sure you set the alarm to camping mode and don’t just lock up with the key fob.
Be aware of the security features of your campsite. Does it have an exit barrier? Is it well-lit? Is there a warden on duty overnight?
Look at your surroundings when choosing a pitch – perhaps reconsider the secluded spot next to the wood as it may provide cover and easy escape for thieves.
Don’t leave valuable kit outside overnight. Lock up outdoors gear such as kayaks, paddleboards, and bikes to your van, a tree, or post. Dry clothes, towels, and wetsuits inside your annexe overnight.

Personal safety – gas attacks

Our guide to campervan security wouldn’t be complete without mentioning a subject which comes up from time to time in news reports or on social media – “gas attacks” on motorhomes or campervans, usually occurring on the continent.

The victims have apparently been incapacitated by some kind of gas which has been piped into their van while sleeping and then robbed while unconscious.

Our research came up with no evidence of any proven cases of a gas being used in a motorhome robbery, and plenty of commentary including opinions from professional associations of anaesthetists, that this is nothing more than an urban myth.

The assumption that some sort of gas must have been used seems to come from the disbelief that the victims slept so soundly that they didn’t hear the thieves enter their van and help themselves to cameras, wallets, credit cards, phones, laptops, etc.

Carbon monoxide gas

One kind of gas which is a genuine threat to campervan owners is carbon monoxide (CO).

This colourless, odourless gas forms when carbon-type fuels, such as camping gas and solid fuel barbeques, are burned with low oxygen levels. Carbon monoxide is highly poisonous and can be deadly in a confined space like a campervan.

A CO alarm is an essential piece of kit for any camper. They are relatively cheap and the installed battery usually has a life of 5+ years. If you don’t have one, get one!

Conclusion: choose carefully, think holistically

Unfortunately, protecting your campervan from thieves and opportunists is a reality that should not be ignored by any campervan or motorhome owner.

By identifying your needs and using a layered approach, doing careful research when buying security products, and using common-sense precautions, you can significantly reduce your risks of campervan theft.

Tags Campervans, Motorhomes, Security