ok here goes,
we bought our first caravan 10 days ago privately and towed it the 150 miles home with no problems ,although its a 1997 model its in very good condition.
i tried to insure it this week ,only to be told that it was registered as a cat b right off in 2002 ,im a vehicle inspector/mot tester by trade and i have been right through the caravan and cant fault it beyond normal wear and tare.nor can i see any signs of repair.
my question is ,can i still use it and will anybody insure it.
Provided it is in good mechanical state you can use it. While being towed it will be covered by your comprehensive car insurance for third party risks only(car remains comp insured as normal). However caravan will not be covered for damage while being towed or sited & not for fire & theft either.
It's required to tell you car insurance that you have fitted towbar to your car but your premium will not rise.
There is no legal requirement in the UK to separately insure a caravan or trailer because car insurance allows min insurance requirements for caravan, ie third party cover while being towed on the road.
Cat b does mean caravan should not have been put back on the road so Cris will not issue new docs allowing it to be insured so possibly it is uninsurable. Presumably scenario was that caravan was sold for salvage & then repaired, possibly by competant diy'er?
However as there is no mot & no legally required, ie DVLA registration for caravans in the UK all that is required is that caravan as it stands now is roadworthy & provided it is then it is legal to tow & use as normal.
i have read that as well ,but this happened 13 years ago and we have only had it 10 days, i have also been told there is no obligation to insure a caravan or register it with cris, am hopeing someone will know how we stand legally.
stewart
If you mean legally with seller as regards refund then it is difficult as you bought privately as much less protection than from trader. For private sale, all seller must do is not misrepresent goods as something that they are not. so it would depend how advert was worded.
Problem here is that providing caravan is roadworthy then you cannot argue it is not as it is quite legal to tow on road. Seller can claim he was unaware caravan was cat b as updating details on caravan when buying it is not a legal requirement.
edit, just read your last post. If you are happy then all good.
Quote: Originally posted by Enos1968 on 05/12/2015
That's all well and good Yes it is coverd on your car insurance while on the car WHAT HAPPENS IF IT COMES OFF ? YOU HAVE NO INSURANCE
I cheked with my insurer and if the van became detached third party cover is still effective under the car ins policy.
saxo1
If caravan is being towed you are covered in an accident for third party damage caused by the caravan whatever the eventual outcome, a caravan detaching itself is an accident so you are covered.
If you check the small print on your caravan policy you will notice it does not include third party cover while towing as covered by car insurance & you cannot insure twice on one item.
You can actually insure anything as many times as you like with as many different companies as you like.
What you mustn't do is seek to profit from an accident. So,for example, if you insured equally with two different companies you could only claim for half the amount of damage from each.
DaveS1