If you bought a holiday caravan to try out the lifestyle and now want to upgrade, or maybe you’re looking for something a bit bigger, then here’s our guide to upgrading your static caravan.
In partnership with holiday caravan manufacturer, Willerby, we look at all the things to consider when you’re looking to upgrade.
Three reasons for upgrading your static caravan
- New decor and a change of style or manufacturer
- To upsize for more room and to holiday with the family, or to downsize for one or two people
- Your static caravan is too old and has exceeded your holiday park’s age limits. Many parks ask owners to upgrade their static caravan after 15 years to keep their park looking good.
First steps to upgrading your static caravan
Speak to your holiday park owner before upgrading your static caravan – some larger parks will have a sales team and might even have show homes on display. Many also have partnerships with dealerships or directly with a holiday caravan manufacturer.
Or you could visit a manufacturer’s showground – Willerby has showgrounds in Hull, Southport and Livingston in Scotland.
There are also static caravan dealerships and you’ll find holiday caravans and lodges on display at some of the major caravan shows, such as the February Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show at the NEC in Birmingham, and the Caravan, Motorhome, and The Great Holiday Home Show, in Harrogate.
Part exchanging your static caravan
Holiday park owners want their parks to look attractive to potential buyers and their competitors so will be keen for owners to upgrade. One way to do this is by part-exchanging your static caravan through your park. You could get a better deal than by trying to sell it privately – when selling it privately you’d have to check your park’s license agreement before putting it up for sale too.
Paying for an upgrade
If you own your existing caravan and have some savings you can simply pay for it upfront. Alternatively, you might wish to take out a small loan, depending on how much the difference in the cost of the upgraded caravan or lodge is.
There is also the option to take out a finance agreement, also known as a hire purchase agreement, which means you’ll own the static caravan or lodge at the end of the agreement term. You’ll need to pay an initial deposit and agree on the monthly repayments and length of the agreement. This can be from one to 10 years. After you’ve made all the repayments, including any interest, or if you pay an early settlement figure, you’ll become the owner of the holiday caravan or lodge. Until this time the finance company owns the static caravan.
These finance agreements can be arranged by your park or a dealership, or you can arrange your own. They’re always subject to credit checks and other status requirements.
Siting your new static caravan or lodge
Always check that your new static caravan or lodge will fit onto your existing plot if you want to stay in the same location.
Holiday caravans must be no less than five metres apart so if your upgraded caravan is slightly bigger it might not be possible to keep your plot or you might have to choose a different static caravan of the same size as your existing one.
If you want to move to a different plot or park, consider the insurance implications of this, as it might increase the sums insured value of your caravan, if it’s in a more desirable location, or at more risk of being damaged.
If you’re upgrading from a static caravan to a holiday lodge your existing plot might again not be big enough, so speak to your park owner to see if there are any bigger plots available for your new lodge or if an area of the park is being redeveloped. If you’re buying or part-exchanging through your park they’ll be able to help you with this.
Also consider the siting and connection costs and check who will be expected to pay for these – you or the park?
If you buy your upgraded static caravan or lodge from a dealership there will be delivery costs to pay.
Your park should arrange the siting and connection but make sure you speak to them about this and if they’ll move all your belongings from your existing caravan into the new one, or store them somewhere if you have to wait to take delivery of your new caravan or lodge.
Insuring your upgraded static caravan or lodge
You’ll need to inform your static caravan insurance company or holiday lodge insurance provider about your new holiday home so they can update the policy and make sure the sums insured value of your new home is adequately insured. If you’ve bought your upgraded static caravan using finance, then the finance company will often insist on you having fully comprehensive static caravan insurance.
You’ll need to factor in the cost of holiday caravan insurance, plus any admin fee for making changes to your insurance policy, into your upgrading budget, as well as any extra furnishings, decking or accessories that you might need for your new holiday home.
If you’re not ready for upgrading your static caravan to a new one you could read our tips to spruce up your static caravan and give it a bit of a makeover, or we have 10 top tips to modernise your static caravan.
Over to you…
If you’ve recently upgraded your static caravan have you got any tips to share? We’d love to hear them – simply comment in the box below.
