Check the fine print on your RV insurance cover
Decode RV insurance fine print: Is your content truly covered?
Every time we take out an insurance policy, we are encouraged to read the pages upon pages of fine print in the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), but how many of us actually read it?
An Australian family learned this lesson the hard way this week when they lost everything — car and caravan — in a fire
While their Nissan Patrol vehicle and $95,000 caravan were insured, the contents of the van were only covered to the value of $1000. They estimate the total cost of all the goods they lost in the fire — including personal effects and jewellery — was in excess of $50,000.
This will shock a lot of RV owners people travelling around the country. It’s easy to assume that all the regular personal items that we take on holidays with us such a smart phones, cameras, bikes and sporting equipment — even prescription glasses and hearing aids — will be covered by our caravan insurance, but a look at the PD statements of some RV insurance companies reveals a different story.
Here's what we found.
CIL Insurance
CIL Insurance has been a leading provider of caravan and RV insurance in Australia since 1962. Its motorhomes insurance policy states:
“The most we will pay for loss or damage in any one incident to all contents is $1000 in total if you only have the ‘Included contents cover’.”
And there are also fixed limits that apply to certain contents items as set out in the table below:
| Items they limit | Fixed limit |
| Cash, smart cards, phone cards, documents able to be cashed or traded, vouchers, tickets or money orders | Limited to $200 in total |
| Bicycles, scooters, electric bikes and motorised wheelchairs | Limited to $1000 in total |
| Fishing equipment | Limited to $500 in total |
| Watches, pieces of jewellery, items made of or containing gold or silver, binoculars and photographic equipment | Limited to $2000 in total (when the ‘Included contents cover’ plus optional ‘Increased contents cover’ shown on your schedule is over this amount) |
| All other contents items or types of items | Limited to $3000 for each contents item or type of item (when the ‘Included contents cover’ plus optional ‘Increased contents cover’ shown on your schedule is over this amount) |
You can choose to increase your contents cover by purchasing the optional cover ‘Increased contents cover’.
To find out more: Caravan Insurance Quotes Online — CIL Insurance
YOUi
If you take out a Comprehensive or Third Party, Fire and Theft insurance policy with YOUi, you can purchase an optional caravan contents upgrade.
This will cover, loss or damage to the contents of your caravan or annex as a result of an insured event. The most it will pay for each item is the lesser of its replacement cost or $1000.
What is not covered?
- Business items: these must be covered separately under the Optional Cover: Business Items.
- Mobile phones and jewellery
To find out more: Caravan, Camper & Trailer Insurance Quotes Online — Youi
NRMA
The NRMA PDS states that on-site caravan or touring caravan insurance automatically provides cover up to a total of $1000 for all contents.
You can add optional cover to your policy to increase the total amount insured for caravan contents. Depending on the type of contents you claim for, NRMA may pay up to the agreed value, but it won’t pay more than $1000 for any one item.
| Items they limit | Fixed limit |
| Carpets and household goods | Up to $1000 |
| Clothing and personal belongings | Up to $1000 |
| Entertainment systems, stereos and televisions | Up to $1000 |
| Furniture and furnishings | Up to $1000 |
| CDs, DVDs, tapes, records, game cartridges and discs of any sort | Up to $1000 |
| Furs, curios, works of art and items containing gold or silver (other than jewellery, medals or coins) | Up to $500 |
| Jewellery and watches | Up to $1000 |
| Tools, including those which you or your family use in a trade or profession | Up to $1000 |
Here’s a list of the items that NRMA doesn’t insure:
- Mobile phones, pagers, electronic organisers and GPS navigation units
- Computers, their software and equipment and any files stored on a computer
- Goods kept for sale, distribution, on display, exhibition or on consignment
- Animals
- Any illegal items, including illegal firearms and illegally stored firearms per item
- Bicycles, tricycles, or scooters
- Bonds or negotiable instruments
- Cameras and video cameras and their equipment and accessories
- Cash, coins or banknotes
- Credit cards or financial transaction cards
- Deeds, documents or manuscripts
- Fishing, surfing, sail-boarding, waterskiing or any other sporting equipment
- Fittings
- Loose or unset gemstones
- Motor vehicles of any description, including motorised trailers and caravans, aircraft or aerial devices and the equipment for any of them
- Ride-on vehicles — for example motorised golf buggies or carts, mobility scooters and ride on lawnmowers
- Boats and watercraft including non-motorised surf skis — for example, a paddle board
- Plants, other than pot plants
- Grass, rocks and soil on your site
- Spectacles, contact or corneal lenses or hearing aids
- Stamp or medal collections
- Stock used in a business, trade or profession
To find out more: Caravan insurance quotes — NRMA Insurance
RACV
The RACV PDS states that “If contents are lost or damaged as a result of an incident listed on page seven under the heading ‘Cover for loss or damage’: we will provide automatic cover up to a total of $1000 for contents that are inside your:
- On-site caravan, or
- Touring caravan, or
- Annexe (except a canvas, vinyl or fabric annexe)”
What is covered under contents?
RACV will cover contents owned by you or a family member including but not limited to:
- Carpets and household goods
- CDs, DVDs, tapes, records, game cartridges and discs of any sort up to $1000 in total
- Clothing and personal belongings
- Entertainment systems, stereos and televisions
- Furniture and furnishings
- Furs, curios, works of art and items containing gold or silver (other than jewellery, medals or coins) up to $500 in total
- Jewellery and watches up to $1000 in total
- Tools, including those which you or your family use in a trade or profession up to $1000 in total
The most RACV will pay for any one item is $1000.
What is not covered under contents? Similarly to the NRMA, there’s a long list, but it includes:
- Bicycles, tricycles, or scooters
- Cameras and video cameras and their equipment and accessories
- Cash, coins or banknotes
- Computers, their software and equipment and any files stored on the computer
- Credit cards or financial transaction cards
- Fishing, surfing, sail-boarding, waterskiing or any other sporting equipment
- Mobile phones, pagers or electronic organisers and GPS navigation units
- Spectacles, contact or corneal lenses or hearing aids
To find out more: Caravan Insurance Victoria - Caravan Insurance quotes — RACV
Food for thought
So, check your insurance policy limits and read the fine print of your PDS to make sure the contents of your RV are covered before you next head out on a road trip. It could be a couple of hours well spent now that could give you some peace of mind and save some financial heartache in the event of a tragic accident.
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