When buyers come to view your motorhome or caravan

What we do, and what you do, on viewing day

If you sell with us, Bradley, who has spent years buying and selling motorhomes and caravans, is your named contact. We handle buyer enquiries and speak to buyers by phone before any viewing is arranged. We don't attend viewings or test drives, so you show the motorhome or caravan yourself, and we don't hold buyer money. The rest of this guide is your own safety plan, and it works just as well if you're selling on your own.

See how selling with us works, or compare your options in the best way to sell, compared.

Before anyone arrives

Selling with us: We speak to buyers by phone before any viewing is arranged, and Bradley gives a buyer your address only after that call.

Selling on your own: get the buyer's full name and phone number, and share your address only once the viewing is confirmed.

Either way, put valuables, spare keys and documents away, and agree a time in daylight.

Have someone with you

Ask a friend or family member to be there for the whole viewing, and tell someone else when it starts and ends.

Showing it off honestly

Have the gas, electrics, water and heating running so buyers can see them working. Have your paperwork in a folder. Point out anything you know about, because a private sale has to match how you describe it.

Our checklist covers getting it ready to sell, from paperwork to photos.

Your paperwork: show it, don't hand it over

Buyers can see the V5C to match the details, but don't share the document reference number or let anyone photograph it. GOV.UK explains what to share, and not share, from your V5C (opens in a new tab). Selling a caravan? Show the CRiS document in the same way. Keep the originals with you until the sale is done.

Test drives (motorhomes)

Before anyone drives, see their licence and agree how they're insured.

• Licence: a buyer with a licence from England, Wales or Scotland can share their record with a DVLA check code (opens in a new tab). Northern Ireland licences use a separate check code from nidirect. Heavier motorhomes, over 3,500kg, need category C1 (opens in a new tab), which a car licence from a test passed on or after 1 January 1997 doesn't include on its own.
• Insurance: third-party cover is the legal minimum cover (opens in a new tab) to drive on the road. Many car policies don't cover driving someone else's motorhome, so ask the buyer to show you their cover, or ask your own insurer whether they can be added for the drive.
• On the drive: stay in the cab, keep the spare key and any keyless fob, and never let a buyer drive off alone.

Test tows (caravans)

The buyer's car needs a suitable tow bar and electrics, and their licence must cover the weight. What they can tow depends on when they passed their test: see the towing rules on GOV.UK (opens in a new tab). You can decide whether a test tow happens at all. Stay with the caravan.

When a buyer says it's damp

I've been to sellers who'd been told by a dealer that their motorhome or caravan had damp when it didn't. A family friend had two people turn up to a viewing: one kept them talking while the other sprayed water on a wall, so the meter read high and it looked like a leak.

So stay with every buyer the whole time, and if two people come, have someone with you too, so nobody is out of sight. You don't have to let anyone push meter pins into your walls. Readings vary with the weather and between meters, so one number on its own proves little, and a wet patch that wasn't there this morning is worth pointing out. If you have a recent damp report, keep it to hand to show buyers.

If you're selling with us and a buyer raises damp, we ask them to put their readings and the locations in writing, and we can suggest an independent check. Selling on your own? Ask for the same, and don't agree a lower price on the spot.

Our guides explain how to check for damp and what the readings mean, and your options for selling with damp.

Offers on the driveway

You don't have to answer on the spot. If you're selling with us, every offer reaches you in writing through us, so you can ask the buyer to make their offer to Hitchbay. Selling on your own? Ask for the offer by text or email, so you both have it in writing.

Money first, then keys

Nothing changes hands until the money has cleared. If you're selling with us, we'll confirm with you that the money has cleared in your own account before keys or the V5C go. A screenshot or a "payment sent" email isn't payment. Our guide to scams to watch for when selling explains the golden rule.

If something doesn't feel right

End the viewing politely. In England, Wales or Northern Ireland, report fraud to Report Fraud (opens in a new tab), online or on 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101. Call 999 if you feel in danger.

After the sale

Motorhomes: give the new keeper slip to the buyer and tell DVLA you've sold it (opens in a new tab) online. Caravans: hand over the CRiS document (here's what a CRiS number is). Then cancel or change your insurance.