If you have ever shopped for caravan insurance, you will have come across the question: "Where is the caravan stored?" The answer matters, because storage location is one of the biggest single factors in your premium. The single name that comes up over and over in this conversation is CaSSOA.
What CaSSOA Actually Is
CaSSOA stands for the Caravan Storage Site Owners' Association. It has been representing storage site operators across the UK for more than two decades, with over 450 sites carrying its accreditation. CaSSOA is not a government body and not an insurer; it is an industry association whose entire job is to set and police a security standard for storage sites that the insurance industry trusts.
Sites are independently assessed every three years against a long list of criteria — fencing, gates, lighting, CCTV, recording capability, perimeter detection, on-site presence, vehicle entry control, and so on. Based on the assessment, sites are awarded one of four levels.
The Four Accreditation Levels
The CaSSOA grading is straightforward to read:
- Associate (Ungraded) — entry-level membership. Basic facilities, working towards Silver.
- Silver — meets the core security standard: secure perimeter, controlled access.
- Gold — Silver standard plus enhanced security including CCTV recording and additional perimeter measures.
- Platinum — the highest standard. Multiple layers of perimeter security, comprehensive CCTV, electronic access control, and on-site presence.
A Gold or Platinum rated site is what most insurers are happiest to see in the quote answers. A Silver site will normally still attract a discount over street parking. Anything ungraded will usually be treated as outdoor storage with no specific discount.
Why Insurers Use It
Imagine you are an underwriter. You need to price a policy on a £30,000 caravan, and the only thing you know about its overnight security is the address of the storage site. You cannot send someone to assess every site in the country. CaSSOA's value to you is that they have already done that assessment, on a consistent basis, and you trust the result.
That is why most caravan and motorhome insurers reference CaSSOA either explicitly (in their proposal forms) or implicitly (in their rating engines). A CaSSOA-rated site gives the underwriter a known, audited security baseline.
What This Means for You as an Owner
There are three practical implications:
- Premium discount. Storing on a CaSSOA-rated site (especially Gold or Platinum) usually attracts a meaningful insurance discount versus driveway or street parking.
- Theft protection in real terms. The grading exists because the security measures genuinely deter theft. Caravan and motorhome theft is unfortunately a real and ongoing problem in the UK; a properly secured site materially reduces the risk.
- Easier conversations with your insurer. When the proposal form asks about overnight security, the answer is short: "CaSSOA-rated site, address X." You do not need to itemise camera positions and gate types.
Questions Worth Asking a Storage Site
If you are looking at a new storage site, the CaSSOA rating answers most of the security questions for you. But it is still worth asking:
- What is your CaSSOA rating, and when was your last assessment?
- What are the access hours, and how is access controlled out of hours?
- How is the CCTV recorded and retained?
- Is there an on-site presence, and if so, what hours?
- What is your incident history?
A site that is comfortable answering these questions in detail is generally a site that takes security seriously. A site that gets vague is the warning sign.
Final Thought
CaSSOA accreditation is not the only thing that matters when choosing a storage site — access, location and pitch quality all count too. But it is the single most useful shorthand for "is this place secure enough that my insurer will take it seriously?" For most caravan and motorhome owners, that is exactly the question that matters most.
If you are looking at storage options, ask the site about their CaSSOA rating early in the conversation. If they cannot answer clearly, keep looking.