Careful with your caravan – safety tips to ensure its survival

You’ve finally got that caravan you dreamed of and are all set to take the UK and – dare we say – the Continent, by storm. Not only does this luxury villa on wheels have everything you need for your venture, it’s accessorised to the hilt and just oozes comfort.

So how devastating would it be for it to be stolen or worse – trashed?

It might not be something that you want to think about, but over 2,000 caravans go missing each year and many others are damaged or have valuables removed from them.  Thankfully it is not difficult to reduce the chances of your caravan being amongst that number.

• Never leave your car and van unattended by an adult at a service station
• Get a decent hitch lock ie one that covers the entire hitch or a metal ball
• If parked at home, ensure your van is filmed by fixing up a CCTV camera high enough to avoid thieves tampering with it & ensure the camera’s wires are hidden
• Get lighting which alerts you if someone is in the vicinity of your caravan. Again, ensure this is mounted well above head height
• Always store your van in a visible location where neighbours can see it
• Avoid caravan covers. Thieves can be difficult to spot underneath them
• Closing the blinds on a caravan can alert a thief to ‘valuables’. It’s much better to ensure valuables are removed and leave the blinds open so that would-be thieves can see that.
• Put up a sticker saying the caravan has a tracker device attached (even if it hasn’t)
• Avoid seasonal pitches if possible – thieves know caravans lie empty on them for long periods with few people around

Deterrents

If you’re going to go for an alarm then invest your money and buy a decent one with a hidden noise box. No thief is going to hang around with a constant din going on to alert the neighbours. Some sights will insist on a particular type of alarm system.

Clamp-lovers should ensure they buy one which is ‘sold secure’ – otherwise don’t bother.

Recovery

If your caravan is stolen then your best hope of recovery is a stolen vehicle tracking system.  Using GPS technology these track the movements of your caravan from the moment it is flagged as missing.   Specialist systems designed for caravans are designed not to put too much stress on the battery and alert you if the battery is getting low.

Insurance

Always report and claim any damage to your caravan, however trivial. If your insurance company finds out your van has been damaged in the past and you haven’t reported it, your policy could be null and void.

When storing your caravan, check the site is secure but not from the owner himself – better to get the thumbs up from the local police.

If you have fitted caravan alarms of tracking systems be sure to let your insurers know.  These will bring premiums down on most policies and can make a significant difference to the cost of insurance.

CRiS

The Caravan Registration and Identification Scheme, CRiS is the national register for UK touring caravans.  This provides a logbook system containing the history of the caravan and works in a similar way to car registrations.

Gut feeling

If you have a bad feeling about either the site you’ve been allocated to, or your neighbours, then ask to be moved. Sometimes gut feelings can be a lot more reliable than you might think. Think how much it would spoil your holiday if you ignored it and something happened to your van!

It doesn’t take long to implement a few safety tips yet it can save you hours of heartache if anything were to happen to your caravan.

About the Author: Mat Dixon is a vehicle security advisor with Caravan Alarm & Tracker specialists  Southern Motor Security.  Southern Motor Security specialise in fitting trackers and alarms to Cars, Motorhome and Caravans.