As the Government starts to ease travel restrictions, your thoughts may now be turning to when you’ll be able to visit your static caravan for a holiday or change of scenery. When the time arrives, to make sure you can have the break you deserve, we wanted to share some thoughts on how you might keep your ‘safe space’ safe and healthy.

A common theme in the hospitality industry, post lockdown, is the risk of Legionnaires’ disease, or more accurately Legionella, the bacteria that causes it. And that got us thinking, it’s not just limited to the hospitality industry and is worth considering for your holiday property too. Remember, you’ve been away for longer than you may have been expecting.

It may not be headline news, but this nasty little bug can cause some really very serious health problems, however, it’s also very easily managed, if precautions are taken.

What is Legionella?

Legionella is a bacteria naturally present in water, but will grow where water is allowed to sit, and especially thrives in warm water conditions between 20-60°C. If this water is then inhaled through droplets, mist or vapour, or consumed, it can cause a lung infection known as Legionnaires' disease.

How do I make my static caravan safe after lockdown?

You can help to manage the risk with a few simple steps when preparing your property.

• You will no doubt be familiar with basic PPE (personal protective equipment), you are likely wearing facemasks and gloves when visiting the shops. To prevent the potential inhalation or ingestion of the legionella bacteria, we suggest wearing your PPE when carrying out your ‘Legionella Sweep.’
• Firstly, check for any blocked drains or areas where water may have been left sitting and clear these.
• Where you have a filtered water system, you might need to change the filter (check the manufacturers guidelines).
• You will then need to flush through all your water systems, even where the water has been turned off to ensure any sitting water has been dispersed. You will need to fully flush any hot water systems too. It is as simple as running each of the taps in your property, hot and cold, for a few minutes, and flushing the toilets.
• Where you have a shower, remove the head first to drain any water before replacing and running water through as with the taps.
• If you have any electrical equipment that holds water such as a kettle, or has a water reservoir such as a coffee machine or portable cool air humidifier, ensure these are drained and cleaned before use. Although the bacteria cannot survive in temperatures over 60C it is a good precaution to drain and clean where water may have been sat for a long period of time.
• If you have one, do not be tempted to turn on the hot tub until this has been fully drained and cleaned, or has run a full chlorinated filtration cycle. Hot tubs account for the highest proportion of recorded Legionella related illnesses.
• Lastly, this is not an exhaustive list therefore you should consider all water systems in your property, not forgetting about any drinking water dispensers and portable air conditioning units.

And finally, please remember when visiting your static caravan, to continue to follow Government guidelines and restrictions for its location as well as where you live. You can find more information on the Health and Safety Executive website

Why choose Towergate for your static caravan insurance?

As a specialist insurer of caravan insurance for 20 years, we’ve worked with our customers to understand what they want from their insurance. We’ve developed our product to offer a flexible approach to insurance, giving customers the ability to select additional products to meet their needs. We’re proud of our staff and their expertise, with a strong emphasis on training, academies and hands on experience of the caravans and leisure homes we insure. Our aim is to give you peace of mind for your leisure home.

Can we help you with anything else?

As one of the largest insurance intermediaries in Europe, Towergate offer a huge range of specialist insurance products. In the leisure department alone we offer insurance for; touring caravans, park homes, beach huts, marine and small water craft and our hire car excess brand insurance4carhire.com offers great value hire car excess waiver insurance.

Get more information on our Static Caravan Insurance or call us directly on 0344 892 1413 for a quote.

About the author

Adam Summersby is a respected leader with 11 years’ varied experience in niche personal and commercial lines insurance, including caravan, site operators and excess reimbursement, with proficiency in leadership, sales and account management.