Motorhome and campervan awnings- poll feedback

Our members gave us feedback on a recent poll from our last newsletter with regards to awnings for their motorhome or campervan.

Thank you for sharing your responses with us. All answers and comments are greatly appreciated. Here is a round up of what you said: 

Porch awnings and full awnings are equally popular, followed by sun canopies. Although the vast majority of you have an awning of one size or another, 12% of the people who responded have decided not to have one. Some of the reasons were:

"Weight of it stored and no need to use one"
"Tried one out and thought it was a complete waste of time. Too much effort to erect, pack away and when it was wet, it was a disaster."
"Too much faffing about and gets ruined in bad weather. Adds unwanted weight."
"I don’t see the point. If I wanted a tent, I wouldn’t have bought a motorhome."

Some of you were concerned about how the weather could affect the use:

"Expense, awkward to use, liable to take off in the wind"
"We had a free standing awning for our motorcaravan. Difficult to put up with no guttering on the van (like caravans have) to help when erecting awning. Seemed more bother than it was worth."

A large number of you chose to have an awning for your motorhome or campervan because you needed more space for extra seating and a table. Only 5% of the people who responded have some bedding in their awning, whereas 26% of you used the awning to place a cooking appliance.

 

Awnings can be an expensive item to purchase with nearly 4% of you spending more than £1,500 on an awning for your motorhome or campervan. 13% of the people who responded spent between £1,000 and £1,500, 27% of you spent £500 to £1000, with another 27% spending between £100 and £500. 

Therefore, it makes sense to check whether your awning is insured in case of damage or theft. If you are insured with the Club’s Motorhome Insurance policy and if the awnings are part of the vehicle and were fitted at point of sale then they are automatically covered already. If the awning has been added on later, then it is seen as a 'personal effect' with a maximum cover limit of £1,500.

We were pleased to see that 45% of you already know that your motorhome insurance covers awnings, but over 48% of the respondents were not sure. Now is the time to check this out with your insurance provider, as it could be an expensive omission if anything was to go wrong with your awning.

For the 6% of you that know that your motorhome insurance doesn't cover awnings, and you have an awning that you would like to get cover for, do check out our Motorhome Insurance to see if we can insure your motorhome including awnings, as we would hate you to be out of pocket.

For any campervan owners that have their vehicle insured with a car insurance policy, do check if it has an awning cover as our research indicates that many do not.

Image: Trewethett Farm Club Campsite, Cornwall, photo by Club member Derek Droscher

Here is a selection of excellent awning advice from your fellow Club members:

"Do a trial run erecting the awning before going to a site. It saves putting it up for the first time in front of an audience. Check if there is a YouTube video showing tips."

"Out of the 2 awnings we have, we tend to use the smaller, less expensive non drive away one the most. The larger drive away awning is great if staying on a site for more than 4 days, and when friends and family visit."

"Always use your storm straps even if only using the canopy awning. The last thing you want on a windy night is having to come outside to hold your awning down!!"

"In my experience, a tailgate awning is an excellent investment."

"Keep your weather eyes open."

"If the conditions are sunny and dry, then an awning is not required. Just enjoy the outdoor living. But to get the best out of the autumn/spring breaks then our awning makes life with two dogs so much easier when the weather is a bit wetter and colder."

Image: Meathop Fell Club Campsite, photo by Club member Cathy Thompson

And the final words from our insurance team:

"The most common cause of damage to an awning is bad weather – in particular storms and high winds such as Storm Noa in April of this year. If awnings are left up in such conditions there is a high risk of damage to both the awning itself and possibly to your or another person’s outfit or to could leave you open to a public liability claim if you injure another person. Best practice is to dismantle the awning if you are likely to leave the outfit unattended for any period of time – even during summer months. In particular if weather warnings have been issued for storm and high winds and it is possible to do so safely you should make every effort to dismantle the awning well ahead of the weather event. What starts out as a glorious sunny day can change into a hail storm whilst you are out, in record speed. In the event of severe weather it is not uncommon for awnings to be uprooted and torn off the awning rails. Often they can be lifted above the outfit roof and end up on the opposite side to where they were pitched – risking additional damage to the outfit itself. Sourcing replacement awnings can be time consuming and expensive so our best advice is always to dismantle and pack away when not likely to be used for a period of time."

And remember to check out our Club Shop where you can receive discounts on a number of accessories for your awnings.

First published in May 2023.