Caravan Insurance for a van stored in France

adieletedey

Hi, we normally insure with Towergate for our caravan that is stored in France on the site we stay at  However, the underwriter has changed to Aviva and they say we have to tow it back to the UK for 8 weeks.  Loads of UK based people do this in France - any help please. 

DullGreyGuy

Why not ask the others in France doing it? 

Its going to be slightly awkward because you are presumably resident in the UK so most EU insurers won't have a licence to sell you insurance but the asset is in the EU and most UK insurers will have an issue with that too. 

Have you tried the likes of the Caravan Club?

adieletedey

Hi, thanks for the reply. Others are just replying that they didn't know about the change and it's a problem. I think it's to do with Import duty not being paid if it's permanently stored post Brexit.

pitmanslad

Hi. I am having the same problem. No insurance companies seem interested. I have just come from our local broker who is looking into the problem for me. I will let you know if they are successful. Please let me know if you find a provider.

actup

Hi, we find ourselves in a similar position to adieletedey.  Towergate have declined to renew insurance on our touring van which is stored in France close to the campsite we use. Given the number of brokers I have already called unsuccessfully, I think that we might be the first of many with this problem. Can anyone recommend a broker who can help?

jimbo6977

After 6 months in France, all "motor" vehicles including trailers of any description over 500kg need a registration document (carte grise - neither card nor grey, but then a log book is not a log or a book). The only people I know who offer insurance, albeit for cars, despite these prescriptions, are Stuart Collins brokers, but they do not explicitly offer caravan cover so it might be beyond their purview, so please don't be rude to/about them if they're not able to help. 

Lavender29

I have contacted Towergate as our insurance is due end of May and asked for clarification as to whether we have to take our caravan stored in France and doesn’t go to the UK can still be insured. No one seems to be able to give a clear answer. Why would anyone be travelling 100s of miles there and back to the UK, and paying UK storage, with their caravan if there is no real reason! Towergate can’t half heartedly mention this and then not answer questions. There is nothing to clarify on their website. A pal has just received his renewal documents and he said he had to ring them up if storing a van in France and they only asked him the address  of the storage he leaves the van in France. He did but still no definite answer to bringing the van back home. Documents have arrived and nothing in these to state return to the UK. 
He now does not trust this company at all and feels let down their lack of clarity and lack of support. He also doesn’t know whether to research insurance through Dutch, Italian and German sites as he knows people who have chosen this option. 

Has anyone else has their renewal documents through? 

ScotDave

My caravan has been in France for about 10 years, being stored in a secure gardiennage who tow it to a nearby site for our visits in spring and autumn.  Incidentally no one has ever suggested that a carte gris was needed. For all of that time it has been insured with Towergate. They have confirmed that they will not renew my policy (due soon) and cannot offer any cover with an alternative supplier.
i know of a fellow camper who has arranged cover with a French insurer but I think had to pretend that he lived in France at the storage address.
I would be grateful if anyone could offer any advice or practical suggestions 

Scot_39

You cannot lie to an insurer.  It invalidates potentially all cover at best they can dispute and cut claims.

We are no longer EU citizens - change inevitable.

If you ae not allowed in France iirc more than 6m - why expect your car or caravan to be so - might be a simplistic take on it.

How do folk with second properties only part occupied insure them.  UK or French cover ? 
(Standard UK home cover normally has 30d or 60d empty limits).

Lavender29

After Brexit nothing changed and Towergate still insured vans in France so why the change now? There is no clarity and no explanation and I’ve spoken to them and my pal has, plus many other customers I’m sure, and they still will not give a definitive answer as to whether I have to return my van home for a period of time or not. They must be aware that customers are concerned about this so why not put a statement clarifying this on their website?  They apparently are now part of Aviva and not Ageas which is probably the reason, yet Aviva is a huge company who are surely experienced in dealing with more complicated insurance details, although this insurance has not been complicated previously!
Hopefully someone may share an insurance company they have switched to without asking me to take my van home for a certain length of time. 

peterjones262

Hi Everyone, literally just came
off phone with Towergate having been asked to email them to confirm our storage details in France. Their new underwriter won’t cover caravans stored in Europe. To renew the policy I would have had to falsely state the caravan is stored at a UK address for a ‘reasonable’ period of time each year. Our policy will now lapse next month. I’m going to contact others on the campsite to see how they are dealing with it. Worse case scenario is a large increase of uninsured caravans on campsites in France this summer 😳