Storage fees
Hello everyone,
Just received my renewal notice for caravan storage at Durham Grange CAMC site. Last years price £450. This years price £500. That is an increase of 11% which is way above the price of expected inflation. WOW! wasn't expecting that. I thought about £20 increase. The sad thing is I will probably have to pay it because with all the newbies, this year and last year, storage sites are at a premium. Talk about taking advantage!
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Try ringing Woodstone Village caravan storage which is about 10 minutes to the Durham site, just the next junction up at the Chester-le-street turn off. Details here
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Another one at Woodstone Village
Leisure Caravans
https://www.leisurecaravans.com/page/storage
We store our van here £425 for single axle, very secure site and good access.
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You may not know but the two at Woodstone village, which are side by side were originally the same site run by two partners but they went their separate ways.
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Didn’t know that..certainly no love lost between them now!! We were at Woodstone, which is a great storage facility but changed our caravan and couldn’t get a larger space…struggled but got one at Transtore, Middlesbrough…just been awarded CASSOA Platinum….a lot dearer but there are 2 levels depending on whether single or twin axle. You can pay every 3 months so are not tied in if you decide to leave, etc but do have to give a month’s notice. Our twin axle, 8 metre long has gone from £100 a quarter to £150 a quarter!! We are on waiting list for a CAMC at White Water.
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Those costs are painful. I'm so glad I can store our caravan in the garage at home.
Colin
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I feel for those having to pay but I've been there, too. I always considered it as a running cost of having an LV and, in the grand scheme of LV related costs, an acceptable and very cost effective solution. Some might say it is but a spot in the ocean🤷♂️
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I think the route to folders has generally been campers moving from tents, whilst on the Eriba forums there is a trend that shows a growing number of owners of "normal" vans are shifting to this low profile van.
Obviously I'm biased, but the ability to store at home often even in the garage, fantastic towing stability, excellent residuals, low fuel consumption, payloads up to 400kg, good sized beds etc go a long way.
High initial purchase prices and a bathroom that is not suitable for taking a shower are a downside, but the overall package is attractive.
Colin
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Pensioner from Kent, Our storage is this year £761.00 at Bearsted CMAC, I will have to cut back on a trip or two to cover this cost?
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Mine went up 66% in August last year with a reduction in opening hours at the storage yard to boot.
Started looking around and added name to local waiting lists until Storm Arwen destroyed my caravan so took the insurance payout and now given up the caravanning after 40 years.
Became too expensive a hobby over the last few years anyway so now saving a fortune every year.
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Judging by the listed comments it seems that storage is a major concern to club members. My current experience is relevant to this discussion. We have been CC members since 1986 and have stored at My Caravan Space for about 3 years when they took over the storage from the original owner. During 2021 a new "security" system was introduced which entailed entering a secure code each time the site was entered This is a CaSSOA site and I have taken advantage of the Club Insurance Offer of discount on my caravan insurance which saves me £40.48. The new security system failed and I was not allowed access. I was told I had caused the problem, but I had not accessed the system so could not have made any changes. If this sounds like the recent issues with The Post Office computer system, then it is. Having had this issue, we were resolved to move the van at the end of the year and on January 11th arrived on site to remove the van, knowing there would be a daily rate storage to pay. We worked this out to be £580/365 giving a daily rate of £1.58 x 11 with an amount to pay of £ 17.38 . The security gate personal advised me the van was not on the system. We were allowed to go to the van and found the brake off and it seemed that someone had attempted to move it. The brakes were hard on, so they could not and it took some time to release. I then contacted the storage head office and spoke to the owner who wanted £20 per day daily storage costs (£110) to release the van. This equates to £7,300 per year. This is an approved site which is recommended by our club. The £40.48 saving was wiped out completely several times. I spoke to CaSSOA who have a head office in Nottingham. "They are not concerned with the credibility of registered companies" , they only deal in their site security and offered this statement. "They said the last date they checked the security" was 01.01.2021, on this date the site was closed for holidays, they would not have been allowed in. Is my club aware of this exploitation? By offering a discount to members to use company with a flawed security system that really and does not bother who they work with. Knowing how important security is to club members it seems that our club, have taken the eye off the ball and the recommendation to members should be withheld immediately and members who thought they were paying the maximum for storing their van were not getting anywhere near that security level or the customer service they were expecting when it comes with the endorsement of The Caravan Club. In an age when we are able to change supplier of utilities it should be mandatory for our club to only recommend storage sites who have no Daily Rate extraction charges and members should not be at a disadvantage when accepting discounted insurance
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I'm not sure the club does recommend storage sites. The 'insurance' or, rather, cover the club offers allows a discount for using Cassoa storage sites but that's due to the standard of security and nothing to do with charging or T&Cs.
I'm sorry to hear your tale but it's typical of so many things in life and having learned the hard way, we move on.
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Re the daily rate, you would have to look at the T&C’s. For a short part of the year, perhaps they are higher. Our storage has gold accreditation and a 3 month minimum payment. If we were not continuing with our contract, we would inform them and leave on or before the expiry date. If we stayed after that date we would owe the site for 3 months, even if it was only 11 days. It’s all clear in the T&C’s.
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As said, an eye opener and I feel for those, like us, who have no option to store at home and who are then subject to, it seems, high costs and poor service, which is not the case for us..
We decided to move storage locations back in the late 90s when, after complaining our van had been damaged, the storage suddenly said we no longer had a space!
However, that particular cloud had a silver lining as my wife spotted an ad for storage, we phoned to get the details, and drove there immediately to sort, becoming their second customer.
The access is not great, the single track road to the site is often a mud bath, but we have always had a great relationship with the owners, on one occasion bring out a cream tea as we cleaned the van, and now their daughter and husband who run the site, and the price has always been very good.
Now, some 25 years or so later, we are still there and paying, this year, £364 for under cover storage however, we have been told that this is as we are long standing customers with new customers paying £468 which our price will rise to over the next two years but, looking at the previous posts seems to be quite a bargain.
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A&J for under cover storage that is very good indeed! I'd even pay the higher price you posted.
I am slightly surprised, puzzled is a better word, that people buy a caravan and then wonder about storage and the associated costs? The first thought while wondering about buying one is surely where will we keep it?
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I am slightly surprised, puzzled is a better word, that people buy a caravan and then wonder about storage and the associated costs? The first thought while wondering about buying one is surely where will we keep it?
I agree, we were paying for a storage space for over a month before we obtained our van. It was either that or loose it as they were in high demand.
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Yes a very good point and one that could be easily excused as opposed to not looking at costs, after all one thinks of one's 'home and land' as being free to do as one wants.
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I'm not up to speed with the current situation, but back in my yachting days I often wondered about all those who succumbed to the glamour of boat shows without thinking about where they would moor any purchase. Perhaps a not dissimilar scenario to new vanners where at least there's a possibility of putting it on the drive.
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When we got our first van is was kept at home but a new heavier van put an end to that however, where we live is not somewhere you would choose to take a van, three miles of single track access roads being just one issue, and if buying now would be wondering about storage.
I can see Davids point and we know three people who have had 'issues' due to storing their van/MH at 'home'.
One spent a large sum creating access and hard standing, one faced a constant battle as he used a communal area, and one got fed up with the aggro and used storage.
It brings to mind the issue that EV charging will be for the many that do not have parking at home.
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You make a very valid point. I have had a share in a narrowboat for 19 years and when I bought my share, it was very difficult to find a home mooring for many boaters. Since then, numerous new marinas have been built and the problem is no longer an issue, although mooring fees don't seem to have gone down! I have, however, met people who have bought boats when they have never even been on one before and some of them have soon realised that it is not for them and I envisage that may apply to some motorhomers and caravanners as well, especially since the advent of Covid. In respect of parking a van on the drive, there may be covenants in a property's deeds which disallow the parking of M/Hs or CVs.which they may not have been aware of.
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Covenants are usually only enforceable by the builders who seldom have interest in enforcement once the development is completed and sold. Uppity neighbours often think they can utilise it but, particularly after the passage of time, find that it is basically meaningless. Redress is perhaps only available to them if it can be shown to be to their detriment, i.e. loss of light, access etc.
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Our local LA will not allow c/vans on the front of houses and even those with larger motorcaravans have been told to store them elsewhere unless they can prove it is needed frequently
They have a purge ,at times,,it does not apply it seems to pvc as there are many white vans on drives
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I’m not so sure about that CY, I think that’s a bit of an ‘urban myth’. Covenants are capable of being enforced by subsequent owners even though they were in no way involved with the original agreement. It’s generally not tested in law tho’ as a letter from the complainants solicitor is usually enough.
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We had to forego having the van on the front drive when we retired to a flat in Gloucester. Shocked to read some of your fees, we pay £25 pcm for a secure lot on a farm about 5 miles from town. Before you all rush to the phone, the compound is full! We miss having the van outside, so handy for cleaning, odd jobs etc. The biggest drawback is loading prior to holidays, where check-listing and box-filling becomes slightly obsessive. Main advantage is an empty drive doesn't advertise that we're away to the local villains!
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