The Cost of Theft Protection - A Different Strategy

[Lutz]

Living on the Continent I never cease to be amazed at the extent of the caravan theft problem in the UK and the corresponding levels of insurance premiums despite the lengths to which people go to provide good theft protection, again involving a lot more extra cost for all those hitchlocks, clamps, trackers, etc.

I have just checked the insurance renewal notice for my caravan and it's 157 Euros (about £110). Like most Continentals I don't have any special anti-theft devices and the storage site where I keep it is only surrounded by a rusty old fence. Recently, I had the caravan parked by the side of my house for 5 weeks without so much as a hitchlock and it wasn't stolen. And that despite a number of burglaries around town during the same time period.

So why the difference? Surely, the overall level of crime in the UK can't be that much higher. Can it be that once stolen, a caravan is too easy to use without being readily identifiable? If that is so, would there not be a case for licensing caravans just like motor vehicles, as here on the Continent, with their own registration book and number plate? Then, if a caravan were stolen, it could be traced through its number plate. If the number plate is removed it would be an immediate sign of something potentially suspicious and a reason to check. If the caravan were to be provided with a false number plate, it would still be relatively easy for the police to check whether it ties up with the details of the licence, even while the caravan is in motion. It would also require documentation to be handed over if a caravan is sold, making it less easy to dispose of a stolen caravan.

OK, so this would involve some extra cost for licensing but this can be nowhere close to what people are paying for all that anti-theft equipment. The yearly licence on my caravan here in Germany is 44 Euros (£30) and it's based on weight.

Just a thought.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Lutz,

Totally agree - caravan theft in Holland is almost non existent too, but if we left our caravan on the side of the road for five weeks, we'd have had a visit from the police asking why it wasn't in storage.

Well probably not, because it has a UK licence plate, but one of my Dutch colleagues was visited and reminded

In the UK, a caravan effectively disappears once it is stolen - there are no mandatory annual licence checks where it comes up against the bureaucracy.

The other part to caravan licensing is the annual or bi-annual road worthiness checks, and I certainly see that as a good thing.

Robert

 

[Big S]

I couldn't agree with you more Lutz.

I have just come back from a lovely site in St. Malo, France and wondered what everybody was lookng at each time they passed my van. It dawned on me after a while that my bright orange wheel clamp was the source of interest.

I spoke to a number of Dutch people who said that they are surprised at the lengths that the English go to to secure their vans (I also had a second wheel clamp and a hitchlock).

It certainly would help matters if caravans were licensed seperately like on the continent and may well be cost effective in the end. But then again I am sure the security industry would have something to say about it!!

 

[Val & Frank]

Hi Lutz,

I borrowed this from an Insurance company web site

"Caravan theft is an increasingly real and frightening issue with Police Forces and insurers estimating that over 3,300 tourers were stolen last year.

What we don't know is stolen from Home ??

What security Device was fitted ??

Stolen from Gold Award Secure Sites ??

Stolen from CC or CCC or CL/CS sites ??

Now That's over 60 a week, what the hell happens to 60 stolen caravans every week ?? by the way that's also approx