More caravans stolen

[yvonne6]

Today i received a phone call from the owners of our storage. They told us that there had been a raid on their farm. Lucky our van proved too much of a pain to nick but it wasnt for the lack of trying. 2 vans got nicked and a third was abandoned in the middle of the yard. The only damage was a broken window and door lock which oddly still locks? We have now wrapped a chain around the stabiliser. CID have dusted the van with no success. Luckily we stored nothing in the van. I feel a huge amount of sympathy for the owners of the 2 nicked vans. My husaband reckons the travelling fraternity are the likely culprits, sad to say he is probably correct.

Yvonne

 

[BOING]

why oh why do people store caravans on farms and expect them to be safe.would you leave your car in a city centre overnight or in a dark street and expect it to not be damaged.it amazes me how people can spend thousands on a van yet wont pay

 

[Guest]

Today my van received the 'treatment' from Thiefbeaters. The operator arrived at the storage site (Cassoa) in a marked Thiefbeaters van and had ID, but was still not allowed access until I arrived a little later. That is what I pay the site for and appreciate their caution as it could save me money and a lot of heartache under the wrong circumstances. I get a discount from my insurers for using a Cassoa site and feel the costs are worth every penny. The site has 2 chain link fences, gates 10 feet high and padlocks that are built to withstand any form of wire cutters. The site is also checked regularly by the Police. My wheel lock and hitchlock are merely afterthoughts under these circumstances.

I agree, why do people spend 10-15 grand on a van and then baulk at a few hundred to get proper security.

 

[Lutz]

I feel sorry for you all and suggest that you store your caravans here on the Continent if it's that bad in the UK. I have absolutely no security devices on my caravan and the storage site only has one simple padlock that would give up at the very sight of a bolt cutter but in the 14 years I've used it, I've only heard of one case of theft among the 80 or so caravans stored there.

 

[SteveW77]

I can tell you why Scotch Lad. In The home counties where land is expensive, you can't get storage at any price.

If a land owner can sell the same amount of land for building developement as he would use for caravan storage he would make several million pounds and there is no work involved.

With the average house in my village going for

 

[Guest]

It is a nice thought. One thing that puzzles me tho'. Where do all the stolen vans end up? Normal dealers are unlikely to touch them, and there are not so many dodgy ones to justify it. So who sells them on? Even private sales buyers will check ownership, won't they? Are they advertised on E Bay, or just a bloke in the pub asking if you 'fancy a newer model, Guv?' Mind you i don't think I would assume he meant caravans?

 

[cris_408518]

Some people park very expensive cars on narrow roads or on front of house parking areas rather than in nice big garages.

Some spend 15K on a nice van and running it and storage costs may not be option due to family budget.

It is a little rude to keep asking why others don't spend money on the services you pay for.

Personally I wouldn't pay 1p to put a van in storage no matter what it cost !

 

[colin(bridgend)]

My wife and I have been caravanning for over 30 years and have never used storage compounds. The vans have always been parked on our drive with the obvious security devices such as hitchlocks, wheel clamps, etc. We have never to date even had any form of vandelism or attempted theft. The only downside is that as it is on the drive we cannot use the garage as it was intended.

 

[LadyMaureen]

I heard that a lot of these stolen vans end up in Southern Ireland.

Dave asks why people store their vans on farms.....well in Scotland in the Glasgow area there is virtually no storage available under the auspices of CASSOA.

I've often thought it would be a good business to get into.

 

[LadyMaureen]

Yvonne,

I was so sorry to hear about your experience,but glad that no serious damage was done.The nearest Cassoa storage to you I think is near to Irvine,and on the North side of Glasgow there is nothing like that at all.

 

[Guest]

If people can afford to spend that sort of money then they must surely put some value on their investment, or do they expect the insurance company to cough up the total whack if things go wrong? If life was so crime free out there, then there would be no need for any of us to have insurance at all for anything. It is not just for floods, typhoons etc. I am delighted people have been lucky, I (so far at least) have also been lucky in my vans/motorhomes and cars from the blight of theft. My only bad experience in 35 years has been having the windows of my motorhome forced in a supermarket in France, fortunately only cash was taken. However, I still think taking as many precautions as I can is sensible. Having the van stolen is bad enough, but I think having it vandelised would be much worse because you couldn't get a new van and you would always know what had happened.

I don't have a drive to park anything on, so my choices in that direction are limited. Property values are also high here, a one bedroom tenement flat can set you back 150000 pounds while a house is 400k up to whatever you like. 2 bed penthouse apartments in the New Town are being advertised at starting at 500k, so somebody has the money. So I feel the majority of the Uk has similar problems regarding land availability. My storage facility is 10 miles away, but that's life especially when I leave the tools I need in the house.

 

[cris_408518]

So you live in a cheap area SL

I would never buy a home where I coudn't park our cars in a garage and get a dozen or so cars and the caravan and trailers in the driveway as well.

I can't understand people around us with

 

[yvonne6]

Dave i wish i was a clever as you, but i have no option but to store it on the farm. i used to store it on a secure compound and paid 250.00 for the privilage, but the owner now has 'restricted' opening times in that you go away for the weekend you cannot return on a Sunday as they are closed, another reason is that storage in our area is virtually zilch. So please dont put me down i had no choice iam not permitted to keep it at home either nor do i expect the insurance company to pay up for the damage - its only a window and door lock and my finances allow me to pay for the repair myself

 

[Mikey1]

why oh why do people store caravans on farms and expect them to be safe.would you leave your car in a city centre overnight or in a dark street and expect it to not be damaged.it amazes me how people can spend thousands on a van yet wont pay

 

[Surfer]

Sometimes it is not a cost factor but a location issue. We are on a CASSOA site which is about 10 minutes from the motorway, however because of its location to the motorway, it can take us up to 45 minutes on a Friday to travel the 4.5 miles back to the motorway. In total a round trip of 9 miles taking just over an hourand a quarter.

If the site was on the other side of the motorway it would take about 20 minutes round trip, but no frustration fighting your way through traffic. On Fridays you want to get on y9ur way as soon as possible.