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Hobby caravans are available in smaller sizes down to about 14ft as are Knaus, I cant see anybody having problems with them.

Unfortunately the falling £ will have made them less attractive to buy in Germany & personally import.

Lets put the record straight. There are Travellers and Tinkers. A Traveller is an upper crust Gypsy, and wouldnt be seen dead in a Hobby. They have caravans specially made to their design. From my dealings with them in the past, they are nice people, and honest. Tinkers are the lowest of the low, and cause all the poroblems.

A

Quote: Originally posted by mendip on 02/1/2009

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As to insurance, the CC refused to insure my van as it's 8ft wide.

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And unless you tow it with a commercial vehicle with an unladen weight greater than 3500 kg it is illegal to tow on the roads of the UK. You should appreciate that unless you tow it with a commercial vehicle that you are driving uninsured  as you car insurers will refuse to pay any claims which might occur when you are towing.

We've never had any problems with sites or insurance (CC) with our Hobby.  I know of a couple of sites that refuse Hobby (and other German) vans but to be honest they are not the sort of site i would want to stay on anyway.

The van itself is great - single axle & 2.3m wide so no problems there and was a bargain when bought new in Belgium three years ago (wouldn't be so good with the exchange rate now though!)

And for use in Europe the door's on the right side!!

We've had three Hobby vans - one 2.5m wide and two 2.3m wide. The 2.5m wide van was stored in France and never used in UK (we tow with SUV 5.0L V8 and could pull vans almost twice the weight but the law in UK does not permit us to do so here - but don't ask me why.)  The other two 2.3m wide vans - with doors on the 'wrong side' - were both used in UK and on the continent and we have never been refused at any site nor at any storage facility in the UK or on the continent. Insurance was available for both at competitive prices from several insures and we chose the CC.

Travellers, like most of us, are not anxious to live full-time in a 2.3m wide van and it is the 2.5m vans which they favour for obvious reasons. It is for this reason that the 2.5m wide van is difficult to insure. The 2.3m wide Hobby vans still get stolen but probably to be sold on quickly just as thousands of UK built vans get stolen.

There is one problem with using a Hobby 2.3m wide or 2.5m wide, single or twin axle van in the UK (or any van with the door on the 'wrong 'side') and that is in connection with the fire regulations of some local authorities which does not allow the awnings of on caravans to be within a certain distance of each other. Sites with minimal pitch widths will sometimes be affected and be very reluctant to admit a van with an awning for this reason. No awning - no problem. No van on the adjacent site - no problem.

Quote: Originally posted by Patches on 01/9/2008

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I know of at least one site that will not accept them, nor LMC, Tabbart etc., the usual suspects.

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Only speculation on my part, but would a site that allowed illegally towed vehicles (8ft wide caravans towed by a vehicle with a GCV < 3500kg) to use the site be in breach of their licence conditions - or maybe it would affect the site insurance?

Cheers
Andrew

Quote: Originally posted by mendip on 02/1/2009

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I've not a had a problem with my Hobby except with trying to find a towcar to pull it with.

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I tow with a Nissan Patrol that ,along with the twin-cab Navara, Landcruiser Amazon and Discovery 3 are about as heavy as I've seen (about 3200kg GVW) - but I can't tow a wide bodied Hobby legally.

What do you tow it with?  I must admit, I'd quite like an 8ft wide van - but don't know of any passenger towcar sold in the UK with a GVW over 3500kg. 

Cheers
Andrew

Quote: Originally posted by Patches on 01/9/2008

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  I can't understand it myself...travellers are not going to pay pitch fees of up to £30 a night to use a proper site, are they?  

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