Are the valuables in my motorhome automatically covered by my home contents insurance?

Usually only to a limited extent. Home contents insurance primarily covers the contents of your home; off-premises cover on the road is time-limited and capped, and items kept permanently in the camper often fall out entirely. What matters is your specific policy — ask your insurer directly about theft from the vehicle and about the single-item limits.

What does the policy limit mean for expensive single items?

Many policies reimburse individual valuables only up to a fixed amount — depending on the policy, e.g. €1,000 to 1,500. A €4,200 e-bike would be badly underinsured that way. Check both the single-item and the overall limit of your contract and match them against the real value of your gear.

Which insurance covers the valuables in a camper properly?

Depending on your needs, a separate contents or camping-contents insurance, or a suitable travel-luggage module — the GDV points to this too. There’s no one-size-fits-all recommendation: which cover and which sums fit you is best clarified directly with your insurer.

Is it enough to raise the policy — or do I still need documentation?

Both belong together. Even with a sufficient sum insured, you have to prove ownership and value per item when you claim. Without a list of serial numbers, purchase values and receipts, you rarely get the full amount even with a good policy — and you notice too late where you’re over your limit.

How to Properly Insure the Valuables in Your Motorhome: E-Bike, Camera, Drone & Co.

A well-equipped camper easily carries €5,000 or more in gear — e-bikes, camera, drone, laptop, tools, solar kit. When something is lost, the payout rarely fails because of the value itself, but because of two things: policy limits that are too low and missing proof. Here’s how to sensibly protect your entire portfolio of valuables.

Most camper owners roughly know what’s on board — but not what it’s worth all together. Add it up once: two e-bikes, a mirrorless camera with lenses, a drone, the laptop, the good tools, the awning, the solar system. You’re quickly looking at a five-figure sum. That sum is the yardstick if the worst happens — and this is exactly where it gets tricky, because many policies reimburse expensive single items only up to a fixed limit.

What all travels along in a camper — and adds up fast

A camper’s portfolio of valuables looks very different from a home’s: much of it is mobile, expensive, and hard to secure on the road. Typical categories:

E-bikes & bicycles — often the most expensive single items on board, easily €3,000–5,000 per bike.
Photo & video gear — camera, lenses, drone, gimbal, storage.
Electronics — laptop, tablet, smartphone, power station, navigation.
Tools & tech — cordless tools, inverters, chargers.
Solar & power — solar panels, folding solar bag, external batteries.
Outdoor gear — grill, drive-away awning, awning, camping furniture, sports equipment.

The policy-limit problem: why “insured” doesn’t mean “fully reimbursed”

Many people rely on their home contents insurance — and overlook two caps. First, the single-item limit: expensive things are often reimbursed only up to a fixed amount (depending on your policy, e.g. €1,000–1,500). That leaves your €4,200 e-bike badly underinsured. Second, off-premises cover: home contents outside the home — that is, on the road in your camper — is often covered only for a limited time and capped at a percentage of the sum insured. And things you keep permanently in the motorhome frequently fall out of that protection altogether.

Why “my home contents insurance already covers that” is usually a mistake for a camper, we’ve taken apart in detail in the guide to home contents insurance for your motorhome.

Which valuables you should keep a particularly close eye on

Not every item needs the same attention. As a rule of thumb: the more expensive and the more easily identifiable (via a serial number), the more important both a look at the policy limit and clean documentation become.

Category	Watch the policy limit?	Record the serial number?
E-bike / bicycle	Yes — often its own limit, high single value	Yes — frame number
Camera & lenses	Yes — quickly over the single-item cap	Yes
Drone	Yes — high single value, easily stolen	Yes
Laptop / tablet	Yes	Yes
Tools & tech	Keep an eye on the total	Where available
Solar & power station	Total sum rather than single item	Where available
Awning / drive-away awning	More via vehicle/camping cover	Rarely

Typical camper valuables — what matters for policy limit and proof (for orientation, not exhaustive).

What you need instead: the right cover + proof

For valuables carried along in a camper, a separate contents or camping-contents insurance or a suitable travel-luggage module may be an option, depending on your needs — the GDV (the German insurers’ association) points to this solution too. Which cover and which sums make sense for you is best clarified directly with your insurer. Important: the right policy is only half the battle.

How to set up such a list cleanly is shown step by step in the guide to the motorhome inventory list. For the single most expensive item — the e-bike — we’ve covered the documentation separately: how to properly document an e-bike in your motorhome.

Make it easy on yourself

Document your camper inventory before it matters

CamperProof safely records photos, serial numbers, values and receipts — and produces the police-and-insurance report in minutes when it counts. Sign up for the launch.

That’s exactly what CamperProof is built for: you capture every valuable with its serial number, purchase value, photo and timestamp, and see your whole portfolio at a glance — including the expensive single items where a comparison against the policy limit pays off. If the worst happens, you have the structured report for insurance and police together in minutes.