Fulltimers with toads on trailers - advice please

[Speve]

I am thinking of buying a trailer and car combination. My daughter is wheelchair bound and so cycling is not an option. Walking is obviously an option for shorter distances (provided it is not to hilly). Public transport can be unreliable and often not able to accept a wheelchair (taxis even rarer and charge much greater prices for wheelchair users)

I don’t think you would regret it it’s such a boost being able to just use the car when you want and not have to pack everything away to go and do a bit of shopping also we do a lot of birding and can get to lots of places a motorhome wouldn’t

 

[TonyEmm]

Thank you for your helpful reply.

Re insurance: it’s the fulltiming aspect that affects things here. Fulltiming insurance for a van is around 2 to 3 times more than for ‘normal’ leisure use, so I was interested to see by how much fulltimers premiums were increased if towing a car.

Don’t quote me but I’d guess that’s mileage related? In my experience, it costs less to insure a MoHo that does 3 or 4000 miles a year than one that only does 500... It’s down to how the underwriters consider the risk. Maybe if you’re doing 20 or 30,000, your premium may go up a bit but compare that with someone who jumps into a MoHo only once or twice a year? Your experience counts in your favour!
Put yourself in the underwriters shoes. Is a car being towed more at risk than a car being driven? I think not....

 

[TonyEmm]

We have had a Brian James A Max twin axle trailer for 8years that carries our Hyundai i10. It is easy to load and unload the car - especially if there are two of you - so one can give directions (saves leaning out the window to see where the wheels are going) Strapping down is easy once you learn how the ratchets have to be threaded. On our travels through Belgium, Austria, Germany & Switzerland we have found almost every site charges for the trailer, even though the trailer is stored on your pitch. Just occasionally the rules state you must leave the trailer in a separate car parking area. To reduce the size of the trailer we had ours built with a folding towbar that locks in a vertical position. This reduces the length of the trailer on the pitch and also helps with security.
in Switzerland the trailer needs its own vignette for the motorways, which is stuck on the trailer.
A motor mover would be a great idea as sometimes we do find ours quite hard to manually move around.
Make sure you’re looking your best on arrival at your Campsite as people love to watch you load and unload the car. Think they are secretly hoping it will all go wrong!! A bit like watching Formula 1 and waiting for the crashes!

That’s folk for you! . I was an offshore sailor for MANY years and I could guarantee an audience when coming into marinas. A few might be looking to learn a trick or two but most would be waiting for you to f*ck it up so they can have a laugh at your expense!
There’s no better laugh than a £40000 yacht coming together with a £10,000,000 superyacht! Would the onlookers assist? Generally, I doubt it!

getting back on topic, using a trailer Is so much less expensive if you choose to change your car, and you’re legal everywhere!

 

[maz]

I doubt it. maz is very easy going. Your comment was just not relevant and you don't know the circumstances.

Thanks, Karl. More a case of being buzzed by a gnat than a nerve being struck.

 

[Ivory55]

A question. Would you need a small low jack in case of a puncture for changing the wheel on the trailer, as the chassis would be quite low ? Just asking, not anti towing

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[maz]

Don’t quote me but I’d guess that’s mileage related? In my experience, it costs less to insure a MoHo that does 3 or 4000 miles a year than one that only does 500... It’s down to how the underwriters consider the risk. Maybe if you’re doing 20 or 30,000, your premium may go up a bit but compare that with someone who jumps into a MoHo only once or twice a year? Your experience counts in your favour!
Put yourself in the underwriters shoes. Is a car being towed more at risk than a car being driven? I think not....

No, it’s not mileage related. Fulltiming insurance is now ‘unlimited mileage’ (you don’t get any say in the matter) but even when there were mileage bands I still got clobbered with high premiums.

There are only 2 or 3 insurers that offer ‘proper’ fulltiming insurance and AFAIK they are all underwritten by the same company Aviva. Their main argument for charging such high premiums is that the van could be parked up anywhere, by which they seem to think that fulltimers have a penchant for dodgy areas. My argument to them to give fulltimers a reduced premium compared to ‘leisure’ use is that the van is occupied every night and therefore is extremely unlikely to be stolen. Somehow they never seem to buy it.

 

[Stumbleweed]

We use a Woodford twin axle trailer to carry our everyday car rather than buy an extra vehicle to tow behind the van. Trailer is 700kg unladen and can carry 2100kg. Last time we used it was about 2.3t with the Citroen C5 we had then. Camper is on a 6.7t Iveco chassis and roughly 5t unladen with GTW of 10t. No problem to tow, but quick it isn't.

Car has a towbar for moving/parking the empty trailer.

Van 'lives' on a storage site, trailer fits beside the driveway.

Camper van insurance covers the trailer while attached, new-for-old trailer policy is less than £100 a year, car insurance does the rest.

This setup lets us do the American thing - treat the van as a mobile hotel, park it up for a spell then do day trips in the car. In this way we only load/unload the trailer once or twice a week

 

[62272]

No, it’s not mileage related. Fulltiming insurance is now ‘unlimited mileage’ (you don’t get any say in the matter) but even when there were mileage bands I still got clobbered with high premiums.

There are only 2 or 3 insurers that offer ‘proper’ fulltiming insurance and AFAIK they are all underwritten by the same company Aviva. Their main argument for charging such high premiums is that the van could be parked up anywhere, by which they seem to think that fulltimers have a penchant for dodgy areas. My argument to them to give fulltimers a reduced premium compared to ‘leisure’ use is that the van is occupied every night and therefore is extremely unlikely to be stolen. Somehow they never seem to buy it.

Hi Maz

We started with the intention of full timing, insurance for the car was a bit more expensive (about a third more), but the motorhome was about 3 to 4 times what we pay now (non-full timing). the issue we found (through Comfort Insurance) was the car had to return to the UK every 6 months as part of the conditions, and the M/H every 12 months. This was a bit strange. Also, for the car insurance you had to be a resident in the UK within the at least the last 12 months for the car insurance (not the M/H insurance), so that would have been difficult in year 2 had we continued.

we went down the A frame route, but wish now we had bought a trailer instead. The A frame was fine for France, and the UK (done thousands of miles in France and passed lots of Police (traffic and local police) who just ignored us). Having heard from others at campsites in France that Germany, Spain and Italy were a no-go unless you want a 200 Euro fine. We mainly stay on ASCI sites in France and cannot think of one that would not have comfortably fitted a trailer and M/H and car + awning, all for 12-21 euro a night. The A frame is really eaasy to use once you get the hang of it, its a shame its not accepted in the other EU countries.

You will pay more for bigger pitches in Italy, as the pitches are generally very small, and just about fit a M/h and awning.

Hope that helps, and best of luck!

 

[Littlewheels]

A question. Would you need a small low jack in case of a puncture for changing the wheel on the trailer, as the chassis would be quite low ? Just asking, not anti towing

Not necessarily a BJ Trailer has a corner drop down stand so you simply raise the front with the jockey wheel and the wheels are off the ground.

 

[tonyidle]

A question. Would you need a small low jack in case of a puncture for changing the wheel on the trailer, as the chassis would be quite low ? Just asking, not anti towing

On my trailer the wheels can be lifted off the ground by letting down the rear steadies then winding the jockey wheel down (although not when the car is on it ). However it isn't that low and there are a number of possible jacking points so the van jack will do the trick.

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[Ivory55]

It was with the car on I was thinking of. Not having to unload a car on the side of the road to fix a puncture.

 

[TonyEmm]

A question. Would you need a small low jack in case of a puncture for changing the wheel on the trailer, as the chassis would be quite low ? Just asking, not anti towing

A lightweight trolley Jack will be sufficient. You could Jack up under the axle....

 

[maz]

We started with the intention of full timing, insurance for the car was a bit more expensive (about a third more), but the motorhome was about 3 to 4 times what we pay now (non-full timing). the issue we found (through Comfort Insurance) was the car had to return to the UK every 6 months as part of the conditions, and the M/H every 12 months. This was a bit strange. Also, for the car insurance you had to be a resident in the UK within the at least the last 12 months for the car insurance (not the M/H insurance), so that would have been difficult in year 2 had we continued.

Thank you for your very interesting post. This is just the sort of fulltiming insight that I was looking for.

 

[Ivory55]

We went A frame due to the storage of a trailer when not being used, just interested. Cheers

 

[TonyEmm]

Not necessarily a BJ Trailer has a corner drop down stand so you simply raise the front with the jockey wheel and the wheels are off the ground.

You should never, EVER, work on or under a trailer that is supported by the jockey wheel! Use it to lift by all means, but then chock under the drawbar...

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[TonyEmm]

Hi Maz

We started with the intention of full timing, insurance for the car was a bit more expensive (about a third more), but the motorhome was about 3 to 4 times what we pay now (non-full timing). the issue we found (through Comfort Insurance) was the car had to return to the UK every 6 months as part of the conditions, and the M/H every 12 months. This was a bit strange. Also, for the car insurance you had to be a resident in the UK within the at least the last 12 months for the car insurance (not the M/H insurance), so that would have been difficult in year 2 had we continued.

Following Jan 1st, you surely need to return to the U.K. every 90 days anyway Due to Schengen rules?

 

[maz]

Following Jan 1st, you surely need to return to the U.K. every 90 days anyway Due to Schengen rules?

No, you can do 90 days in the Schengen zone, then 90 days non-Schengen (think Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Morocco, etc), then another 90 days Schengen.