Static Caravan Insurance con

Pastmaster

I have been asked to sign a new contract by the caravan site on which my static caravan is sited.
It states that if I buy my own insurance from another insurance company apart from the one which they recommend I will have to pay a £35 plus vat for the site to check that I am indeed insured. This seems to be the same on other sites too. Surely this is a bit of restrictive practice - discouraging caravan owners from seeking a better deal (and no commission for the site!) elsewhere.
Why can't simply showing the current policy be enough. Does anybody have experience in this?

emmell

On our site you also have to pay an admin fee if you don't use their recommended insurer,
we tried getting alternative quotes but by the time you have added the admin fee it usually works out about the same. I suppose if you challenge them they may say take your static elsewhere, which is very difficult. Static park owners have us by the short and curlys.
It's not easy to protest when you have a 37' box that you can't pack up and take away.
ML.

Astaroth

It is often the same with your buildings insurance and mortgage provider.

In both cases it is to ensure that if there is a total loss (eg big fire) that their interests are covered. With a building and mortgage provider their interest is obvious, you owe them money for the building. What the interest is in static caravans I am less sure as I know next to nothing about them but I imagine it is damage to the site itself and other peoples caravans on the site (ie 3rd party liability)

sammy_loves_danny

The parks will ask you do this so that they know that you are adequately insured, on a park you need at least £2m public liability etc.

It is a wide spread practise now, to charge an admin fee, across holiday parks/caravan parks as advised by the BH&HPA (The British Holiday & Home Parks Association)

gunmaker

We ditched our sited caravan in 2004 as we were fed up with being ripped off by the site owner.

We bought the caravan in 1998 when the site fee was £800 per year. By 2004 it had risen to £2000.

I'm not saying all site owners rip off their tenants but a lot of them do.