You need insurance to drive a motorhome in the UK. However, the amount you pay will alter depending on the value of your motorhome, where you keep it, any security features it has, and the number of additional drivers that are covered.
Your personalised motorhome insurance policy will be determined by your specific requirements. There are three primary types of motorhome insurance:
This is the bare minimum level of insurance required to drive on UK roads. It will only pay for the cost of compensating other people for injuries or damage to them or their property caused by your actions.
This type of insurance provides the same level of protection as third party, but it may also cover you if your motorhome is stolen, damaged, or destroyed by fire.
This includes all of the coverage provided by a third-party, fire and theft policy, but also covers you if your motorhome is damaged or destroyed as a result of something you did.
As well as the above, some specialist motorhome policies offer extra coverage for things like European road trips. Some providers may provide this as an optional add-on to an existing policy for an additional charge.
The following are often included as standard with certain policies:
Yes, insuring your motorhome is a legal requirement. The only way you can avoid it is if you declare your motorhome as being officially off road. This can be done by contacting the DVLA and applying for a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN). Of course, if you do that you won’t be able to drive it!
Insurance premiums for motorhomes vary considerably. if you’re thinking of buying a motorhome and want to get an idea of how much it will cost to insure, our handy guide will help.
Please bear in mind that these are just example quotes for an average driver and motorhome. Your premium might be higher or lower, depending on your circumstances.
Based on our research, the typical cost of motorhome insurance in the UK is around £350 for an average 40-year-old driver with a motorhome valued at £40,000.
Just like car insurance premiums, motorhome insurance premiums increase with the value of the vehicle. A more expensive motorhome presents a greater risk to the insurer if it gets stolen or damaged because more expensive vehicles cost more to replace or repair.
Installing security features on your vehicle may cost extra, but they can lower your motorhome insurance premiums.
As an example, a three-year-old motorhome with a factory-fitted alarm would cost around £350 to insure for our average driver.
However, if you add a wheel clamp to make the vehicle more secure the premium will reduce by around £10.
Adding a tracking device is another way to lower your premiums. For example, putting a Cobra tracking system on your motorhome could lower the premium by around £30 per annum.
Where you keep your motorhome has an enormous impact on your insurance premiums because the risk of theft varies according to the location.
Our analysis found that insurance is around 15 per cent cheaper if you park your motorhome in a locked private garage at your home.
If you store your motorhome at an official storage site, your insurance premiums vary depending on the location.
This reflects the experience the insurer has with that particular site (any previous thefts and so on).
For our average driver, the best value motorhome insurance was when their motorhome was stored at their own home in a locked garage.
Adding additional drivers to your insurance policy typically increases the premium, which goes up in increments with each additional driver.
Our average driver would pay up to £40 extra per driver. However, the additional cost will vary depending on the value of your motorhome, your annual mileage, the driving record of the additional driver, and so on.
Most insurers will allow you to add a maximum of four additional drivers, a few insurance companies will permit up to six.
When we researched the cost of insuring a motorhome, we took an average from several motorhome insurance quotes so that we could give you an approximate idea of how much you would need to pay for a policy.
The best motorhome insurance for your needs may cost more or less than the amounts given for our average driver.
This will depend on your profile, the model and age of your motorhome, the type of policy you want, when you buy your insurance, etc. It’s worth noting that careful driving will allow you to build up your No Claims Discount (NCD) and reduce the premium.
Unless otherwise noted, the estimates given are for a motorhome driven by a 40-year-old main driver with a good driving history and five years of car NCD, with a factory-fitted security system on the vehicle, which is kept at home.
The information in this article is provided purely as an initial guide. To get an exact quote, you will need to contact an insurer or run your details through a motorhome insurance comparison site.
