One gust, one patch of gravel, one moment of a trailer starting to sway — and it's over on its side on the verge before you've even had time to react. Everyone's shaken but okay. Then you look at what's left of your rig, and everything you packed is scattered across the road and the grass.
That's the moment the trip stops and the paperwork starts. And for a lot of caravanners, that's where the second shock hits — not the accident itself, but realising how hard it is to actually prove what was in there.
Why the claim is often the hard part
Caravans get packed full over months and years — camp kitchens, solar setups, awnings, generators, fishing and camping gear, sometimes a small fortune in electronics and equipment. Most people have never sat down and actually listed it all, let alone kept the receipts.
Without that, an insurer is relying on your memory in the middle of a stressful, upsetting situation. Items get forgotten. Values get guessed at, usually lower than what things actually cost. Some caravanners find out too late that they were underinsured on contents the whole time — not because they weren't covered, but because they couldn't show what needed covering.
What makes a claim go smoothly
- A photo of your gear as you pack it — camp kitchen, awning, generator, the lot
- Purchase receipts or at least a rough price and date for bigger items
- Serial numbers for anything electronic — generators, solar gear, batteries
- An up-to-date, realistic total so your contents cover actually matches what you're carrying
- All of it kept somewhere safe that isn't inside the caravan itself
Where My Asset Mate comes in
My Asset Mate lets you log your caravan gear as you pack it — a photo, what it is, what you paid, the serial number if it's got one. It all sits safely on your phone, and in the cloud too if you choose — not in a folder inside the van.
If something does go wrong on the road, you're not trying to remember everything you own while you're still shaken up. You open the app, and it's all there, ready to hand to your insurer.
It also makes the boring bit — checking you're actually insured for what you're carrying — a five-minute job instead of a guessing game.