Get up to 27.5% off a new quote!

As a buyer of any touring caravan or motorhome from the 2013 Swift, Sprite, Sterling,  Autocruise, Bessacarr or Escape ranges, you have the protection of a Tracker Retrieve security system.

Caravan Guard recognise the security the Tracker Retrieve provides to these models with a huge 25% insurance discount for caravans and 27.5% discount for motorhomes.

To claim your insurance discount, please call 01422 396 769 quoting “Swift Tracker Discount” or get an instant quote online

Get 27.5% off a motorhome insurance quote by clicking here

Get 25% off a touring caravan insurance quote by clicking here

Just make sure you select tracking device during the quote and tick ‘Club Member’ discount to get your full discount. Quotes are valid for up to 3 months.

Discounts made up of our approved tracking device discounts for caravans and motorhomes plus club discounts, which are also available to various other organisations and can only be claimed once per policy term. Discounts are correct at the time of publication (May 2013) but may be subject to change. Subject to terms and conditions, cover level and underwriting criteria. Tracker Retrieve Battery Powered fitted to all 2013 Swift Group caravans is a Caravan Guard approved device for caravan insurance or motorhome insurance. Device must have an active subscription for the duration of the policy. Minimum premiums apply. Caravan Guard Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Carrying at least 2 self-test breathalyser kits is still a legal requirement for motorists in France, however, the previously proposed fines of £9.50 for non-compliance have now been delayed indefinitely.

The fines had been postponed previously from November 2012 to March 2013 following a shortage of breathalyser kits, but now the French Minister of Interior has announced that the fines will be delayed again with no future date set for enforcement.

Neil Greig, IAM director of policy and research, said: “The law for carrying breathalysers will no longer be enforced through fines, but in order to comply with the law we still recommend that you keep a breathalyser kit in the car whenever you’re travelling to or through France.”

Click here to read more on the issue.

We would like to say a huge thank you and congratulations to all Caravan Guard staff who braved the elements to take part in this year’s Overgate Hospice charity run on Sunday 14^th April.

A total of 450 runners took part in the event held in Elland, West Yorkshire, close to Caravan Guard headquarters.

With two challenging routes to choose from and a 5 or 10k distance to cover, each runner showed grit, determination and maybe even a few tears to reach the finish line in good time.

Here you can take a look at some of the pictures taken on the day

After contending with strong winds throughout the day, the fastest 10k runner crossed the finish line in just over 36 minutes!

The final tally is currently being calculated but Overgate Hospice hope to have raised over £15,000, which is a amazing amount for what really is a very deserving cause.

We’ll be announcing the grand total very soon so watch this space!

We’ve just seen March 13 plate registrations for new motorhomes. Figures not surprisingly show that sales of new caravans and motorhomes have slowed in recent years however, there were some positive signs of recovery in certain months of 2012 with sales topping same month figures from 2011.

Regardless of the current economic climate many owners often have a set pattern of how long they keep their ‘vans. Why not let us know how often you splash the cash and change your caravan or motorhome? Maybe you like to keep up with the Jones’ and swap every year or perhaps you’ve already got the caravan or motorhome of your dreams. Vote on the left today and then why not add a comment below telling us about your buying habits.

The results are now in and we are reassured to see that almost half (48%) of the caravanners surveyed have had Tyron bands fitted to their towing outfit.

It’s also good to see that another 26% see the importance of such a safety feature and are now considering having them fitted.

For the 16% of caravanners who we surveyed that had never heard of Tyron bands and the 10% who believe that they don’t need them, we urge you to read our recent article explaining how they can help you stay in control and avoid an accident in the event of a blowout. Better to be safe than sorry!

Plus, you’ll also benefit from a 5% discount off your caravan insurance when you have them fitted.

Independent financial research experts have announced their 2013 Star Ratings for caravan insurance and we’re pleased to announce that Caravan Guard have retained the maximum 5 Star Rating.

Caravan Guard Director Sally Wilby had to this to say of the 5 Star Rating,

“We’re delighted to maintain our 5 Star Rating. As a company we pride ourselves on not taking our customers for granted and aim to continually improve the features and benefits of our insurance policies to continue to meet our customers’ needs. This 5 Star Rating is testament to the recent improvements we made to the cover, which combined with our latest prices for 2013 means we are offering our best ever value insurance policy this year.”

The Defaqto Star rating runs from 1 Star, which provides the minimum level of features for a customer wanting a basic caravan insurance policy, to 5 Star, for a policy which has one of the widest ranges of features.

It’s important to remember though that the Defaqto Star Rating doesn’t take into account a company’s customer service or claims handling ability, so ensure you opt for a company with a good customer service reputation and a policy underwritten by a large, trusted insurance company.

To find out more about our 5 star cover visit http://www.caravanguard.co.uk/touring-caravan-insurance

As you may already know we recently ran a competition to win a Kindle Fire HD via our Caravan Guard facebook page. We had an overwhelming repsonse to the competition, with over 2000 people entering, but unfortunately there could be only one winner….

Diane from Merseyside!

The Kindle was posted out by special delivery on saturday so should be with Diane tomorrow (Tuesday the 18th).

We’d just like to say thanks to everybody who entered and all those that have been commenting and sharing stuff with us on facebook. If you don’t already like us on facebook then why not visit our page today? We’ll be running regular competitions and sharing lots of caravan and motorhoming related stuff which we think you’ll enjoy.

www.facebook.com/caravanguard

Double Paralympic Champion Hannah Cockcroft delighted staff at our Halifax HQ by dropping in for photos and to talk about her Paralympic success.

The wheelchair racer, who stormed to Gold medals in her 100m and 200m T34 races and has been sponsored by Caravan Guard insurance for the last 4 years, has been enjoying the national limelight with appearances on the popular Channel 4 panel show “8 out of 10 cats” amongst others.

In the video interview with Caravan Guard above, Hannah says it was her emotional homecoming to Halifax which really struck a chord,

“The support has been absolutely amazing, especially when I did my homecoming in the Piece Hall – we’d had one in Leeds before that, we’d had the London parade, we’d had all these different things to celebrate how we’d done – and then we came back to the Piece Hall and I’d never seen it so full, there were thousands of people in there, it was incredible. …That moment was the only time in the entire year that I got emotional.”

Watch the full video above or visit the Caravan Guard YouTube channel

Do you prefer the rugged beauty of the Scottish Highlands, the beautiful beaches of South Wales or the traditonal English countryside of Yorkshire? We want to know where is your absolute favoruite place to visit in the UK, and yes you can only pick one I’m afraid!

Vote in this month’s community poll below and we’ll announce the results in the next e-magazine (if you aren’t a Freedom e-magazine subscriber then you can sign up using the form to the right).

We’d also love to hear about the specific places you like to visit so please feel free to comment below once you’ve voted.

Happy camping!

Well the votes from our poll have been counted and the majority of our readers think that touring caravan MOT’s are a good idea!

206 of the 357 people voted in favour of MOTs, although that works out around 58% – so opinion was definitely divided.

As we reported in September, the European Commission has put forward proposals for changes to Periodic Roadworthiness Testing which includes the introduction of MOT style tests for caravans 4 years old and over. This could be adopted into UK legislation by December 2013.

We’ll be sending your feedback and poll results to the industry’s trade body, the National Caravan Council. We want to thank everybody who voted and/or commented!

We’ll keep people informed on if and when this proposal is adopted in the UK.

This month’s poll

We’re running a bit more of a light hearted poll this month that we’d love you to vote in too:

Where is your favourite place to visit  whilst touring in the UK?