stolen caravan, even wheel clamp etc

[DaveBev]

Two weeks arfter getting our new ( well to us reallly 2 years old) caravan, we came home from work to find that some nice person had stolen it.

the caravan was packed ready for our holidays with new clothes for us all, and the kids toys etc was also in.

we had all new equipment in , after having our old caravan that was 20 years old for over 10 years we decided that since we dont go out much and work hard to spend it on the caravan and things inside it, so everything was top quailty and brand new even down to the bleeding egg cups.

the things inside was better then the stuff we have in the house, however its all gone.

we had 2 wheelclamps on and a hitchlock, and they burnt it off. they will have damaged the top of the caravan since the theives forgot to notice and electric wire that was holded up by a steel wire between our house and garage. they pulled the caravan out with such force that they snapped the 2 wooden poles ( 3" x 2") in half, so i dread to think what they did to the roof light and status. but i hope its knackered for them!!!

the police come took the details and gave us a crime number, and bascially said you will never see it again we hadnt even been off with it yet we were supposed t go off on our hols next week to devon.

they also took my mum in laws caravan which also had wheelclamps, alarms, hitchlocks etc.

the police reckon it would have only took them about 20 mintues to take both vans, so not bad for a days work.

i was just researching about trackers the night before and was going to make some calls the same day when i got back from work, but by then the van was gone. i am going through a range of emotions now from upset and crying to wanting to get a baseball bat on them, yes i know i shouldnt but i do since its the most expensive thing we have ever bought, i feel so peeved off, i mean whats the point of buying locks ahd clamps at £150 a time for them to burn them off in minutes.

the hubby is racking his brains to come up with a device that they wont be able to burn through, but unfortunalty for us its too late, but for the next caravan we buy, ( which we will we wont let them beat us) we were wondering if anybody had any ideas.

also we insured our van through the caravan club and we have been told that we wont get what we paid for it,even though it was only 2 weeks ago so we will be a few grand down, as we didnt realise how much the little things added up to, thats even before the big things like new lcd tv and sat system, and even the clothes!!.

are they pretty good at paying up or can they be tight with the payout?

i hope not many people have to go through what we have this week, but just be aware that the hitch locks and clamps dont have much effect, so please make it as hard as poss for them to get it, as it might put them off!!!

Bev - whos very upset again

 

[Damian]

Bev, so very sorry to hear of your theft of van and equipment.

We had our van broken into and the contents stolen a short time ago, fortunately they didnt steal the van, but living on the Isle of Wight makes it harder to dissapear without trace.

The Caravan club insurers, Devittts, are very good, and will settle your claim as quickly as possible.

What would be very helpful tothem to speed things up is as many receipts as you have kept for various items.

It would seem that whatever you do to try and safeguard your van, if they want it, they WILL have it, one way or another.

I guess the most inconvenient way of trying to safeguard it would be store it with no wheels on, then at least they cant tow it away.

As for trackers, would you really want your van back, damaged and trashed?

One person I know did get their van back, as it had a tracker, but when they saw it, they said it was the worst mistake they had ever made, as it was totally ruined and they would never fit another tracker.

 

[PC_5119929]

BVery sorry to hear about your caravan loss

After moving into our home we found that the previous owners had a trailer tent stolen and other near neighbours a Caravan.

As posted before, rather that rely on the normal security devices we take extra measures that the insurers approve of. We have to have wheel and tow hitch locks and Alarm. On the twin axle the spare and other wheels are removed and the hubs and locked blanking plates put in place. A thief would only find hubs were missing after a lot of effort. Rear Lights with qr wiring connections are removed and blanking plates with Stolen Caravan on them are in their place with security screws. The van sits on stands and is lifted by a

 

[sparkes]

Consider a secure compound. Its not perfect but they would have to burn off all the security on the van and get past the security on site

Its time the police did somthing about the current increase in caravn theft

Best of luck finding a new van

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Sparkes,

Sadly if you read through the security section, you will find numerous reports of loss and damage to vans on so called secure sites.

I am appalled to read that these sites dont even cover the loss on thier own policies, so it cames back to the caravan owner to claim on thier own insurance for someone elses failure.

I really believe that these sites should be banned from calling themselves secure, unless they put thier money where thier mouths are. Caravanners pay a lot extra for the 'peace of mind' of a secure storage site, but in reality is it worth it?

 

[yvonne6]

Bev look in the www.youngcaravan.org.uk under accesories a cheap way of tracking your van using an old mobile phone looks ok but i'm sure more seasoned vanners will point out its pitfalls.

 

[DaveBev]

i was told to get a security post concreted into the ground, but put some gas canisters in them. then if they get there gas torchers on it to burn it off to get the caravan out, it would be guy forks night all over again.

unfortunately i would get locked up, and the thief would get compo, about right really with todays justice system.

just filled a form out that was never ending, added all the stuff up that was in the van and we are about 2 grand short on our insurance, its surprising how much stuff you have when you add all the little bits up. then i found we wouldnt get what we paid for the van but the market value. so we have lost

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

BVery sorry to hear about your caravan loss

After moving into our home we found that the previous owners had a trailer tent stolen and other near neighbours a Caravan.

As posted before, rather that rely on the normal security devices we take extra measures that the insurers approve of. We have to have wheel and tow hitch locks and Alarm. On the twin axle the spare and other wheels are removed and the hubs and locked blanking plates put in place. A thief would only find hubs were missing after a lot of effort. Rear Lights with qr wiring connections are removed and blanking plates with Stolen Caravan on them are in their place with security screws. The van sits on stands and is lifted by a

 

[PC_5119929]

Can you claim for any of your belongings on your home insurance!

If the van was at home and secured, it might be possible!

 

[hublock]

Dave & Bev

Sorry about the loss of your caravan.

If dave calls me on 01924 278338 I will give him some suggestions which may be usefull in the future.

Kenneth

 

[Joyce_5063910]

Hi Dave & Bev

So sorry to hear about your caravan and I know how you are feeling as we had our caravan stolen from the garden just over a year ago.

Came back from Holland on Feb 14th and found the caravan had gone and we had only had it a few months.

Over the Christmas and New Year we had my Husbands daughter staying with us with her two children and I had used the van for stotage and so they hit the jackpot when they took the caravan.

Just to add to what someone suggested, we claim for some of the contents on the house insurance so we did not loose out on too much.

New caravan is now in storage and only comes home just before we are going off in it.

We had 7 security devices on it and they took it with out any of the neighbours seeing or hearing anything...or so they said.

As there was no jockey wheel they took a neighbours.. as someone said if they want it they`ll take it.

I do hope that this will not deter you from getting a replacement and continuing to enjoy your caravanning and I hope you found a way of going on your hols. We hired a van for the Easter Rally in Luxemburg we were going to and bought another van at the camp site we were at which we have since replaced.

Unfortunately like the vodka I still go to the cupboard for something and then realise it was in the stolen van!

Do try your house insurance for the short fall in your insurance and I hope that works.

Joyce

 

[DaveBev]

just like to say thanks for all the ideas, and to kenneth for all the help.

if we had known before that thieves can get a wheelclmap off in 30 seconds we would never had bought it.( i mean they dont tell you that on the box now do they?)

i cant see the point of spending thousands on a caravan only to put security devices on them that dont work. we will definatley be getting a better device that we were told about - 35 minutes to burn off then they cant take it because your hub is knackered.

details are on here:

www.tighton.co.uk

we are thousands of pounds out of pocket in only 2 weeks ( and no the house insuance ran out 2 days before and i was going it insure it with someone else at the weekend - too late now i know so i cant claim on that neither)

i would rather pay more for better equipment than cheap tackle that are a waste of time. at least i wouldnt have to go through all this now.

so now my new caravan, when i get paid out that is, will have cctv on it, tighton carvan security on it, and a great big sign in it ( i would never have thought of that so thanks), and like PC if it takes me an hour to get it ready before going off, at least i know it would be secure.

Dave

 

[Val & Frank]

Dave, Bev

Please enlighten us on what you mean by a Big Sign in it??

Val & Frank

 

[Steve L]

Realy sorry to hear of your plight.

We too have a couple of vans parked at home and it worries me about security.

I once had a factory that used brass as it's prime raw material. Twice in a fortnight we got broken into and each time about 15k of brass was stolen. The building got so damaged, that i had to stop there for three nights to protect what was left. All the police were concerned about was that I didn't have a shot gun,a carving knife or that my dog was not dangerous.

Our situation got so serious that we were advised to beef up security at home as with the type of alarm the insurance company specified, "WE COULD BE FORCED TO OPEN UP" by the desperado's.

That and a customer going bust on us was the final straw, so we sold up.

It realy is awfull these days, just how "protected by law" the thieves are, and how little we can do to stop events.

I am one of those who have taken extra ordinary measures to protect our caravans and will run the risk of prosecution should the thief get injured while taking MY PROPERTY. While I'm not violent as a rule, I have just had enough of seeing known criminals swanning round in flash cars etc that we the public have suffered for to provide them.

I do hope your insurance company is co-operative and settles quickly so that you can rebuild your dreams and recover from what is a very traumatic ordeal.

All the best Steve.

 

[DaveBev]

it seems to me that i would be better off on the wrong side of the law as they can get away with it.

i wonder if i went to a travellers camp and took one of their vans if the police would do anything about it?

the caravan did have the postcode of the people who had it before on top of the roof but the police officer said that it didnt matter as they wouldnt get a helicopter out to look. maybe rightly but there was nearly

 

[Steve L]

I'm afraid the only time the police want to know is if your in a car. The motorist is the easy target as an instant ticket is the penalty most of the time.

Because in the past i have affected a citizens arrest, the police are more interested that "little Johnny Blagger" doesn't "fall over" while I've got his arm up his back scratching his head, than reading him his rights and putting the bracelets on.

Through our ordeals etc, I have subsequently trained to look after my self and the family. But these days the thieves are more often than not going out "tooled up" and with the easy aquisition of blank firing guns etc, you realy don't have a clue what your dealing with or just how real the threat is!

Far be it for me to suggest we go down the american gun packing culture, I do believe we should be allowed to take "practical" and not as the law states "reasonable" measures to protect ourselves and our property.

In our factory raids, I fitted bars to the roof lights to stop the buggers coming in. But my insurer while congratulating me for doing it, said that it was more their view that now the burglar could not injure himself on the machinary below should he fall through the sky light while on an evening strole.

No prizes for guessing my responce!!

I told him to close his brief case and **** off before I realy lost my temper, as I was so taken a back by the "care for the criminal" stance of the insurer.