Understandably CaravanRescue gives premium discounts to encourage the fitting and use of alarm systems, acceptable locking devices and other security measures. We will gladly discuss your own situation with you whether you are an existing or prospective customer. Telephone us on 0845 345 4535 for more information.

Caravan Security
Whenever and wherever crime is discussed you hear the expression “If they want it they will get it” in a society that has accepted the inevitability that crime will defeat them. Here at CaravanRescue we do not subscribe to this negative expression we say, “If you want to keep it you can” and we qualify this expression by presenting an effective security strategy.

The ethos of CaravanRescue security advice is a three-pronged strategy:

1. Deny any potential intruder access to the caravan.
2. Physically immobilise the caravan.
3. Install tracking type device.

This combination will present three major hurdles that an intruder will have to defeat in order to successfully steal a caravan.

The Target
The first point in our favour is that a caravan has no motive power; therefore a towing vehicle is required. A first and important step therefore is to deny any thief access to the target caravan with a towing vehicle.

Secure Storage
There is now a national network of approved caravan storage sites that is supported by the specialist insurers including CaravanRescue. The Caravan Storage Site Owners’ Association (CaSSOA) administers the sites. All of the storage sites in the association have been assessed and accredited according to the level of security on-site. It would be naïve to describe in detail in an open forum what security features are in place, but all of the sites must meet minimum criteria.

When looking for secure storage goto http://www.cassoa.co.uk or telephone 01670 359586. There is a wealth of information available at no cost.

Immobilise the Caravan
Give some thought to your choice of security devices and fit the device that is best suited to your caravan. Security devices are improving all the time and a wheel clamp or hitch lock that may have been effective 10 years ago will be well out of date now. When setting your caravan budget include security as a priority, not an afterthought.

Tracking Stolen Caravans
In the unlikely event that a thief has breached the security compound, and then defeated the security devices, the third element of the security trilogy is deployed. A caravan fitted with a tracking device will deploy if there is unauthorised movement. Any unauthorised movement is monitored and the Police directed to the location.

CRiS Registration
We also suggest that you should make sure your caravan is CRiS registered – go to http://www.crischeck.com for more information.

CRiS registration is a method of storing important data about the ownership of your caravan at a central point. Theft, change of ownership and total loss damage incidents are stored with the ownership data and you build up a history of the caravan life. It is not expensive to set up and is cheap to maintain. Go to http://www.crischeck.com for more information

Used by the Dealers for trade-ins and the Police and Insurers for theft and serious damage claims it is a continuing record of your caravan so far as ownership is concerned. We would not consider buying a second-hand caravan without this check and the facility ought to be used by anyone buying a caravan. Indeed, CRiS Registration is now automatic for new caravans and we think you will have difficulty insuring old and new caravans in the future without this form of registration – it will certainly be a stumbling block to getting an early claim settlement if you are not registered at the time of the caravan theft - when ownership must be proved.

Thank you for indulging us with so much of your time and if, as we hope, you are serious in your desire to protect your caravan, you may have found something of value in this article. Any time you want to contact us you may do so at the CaravanRescue email address insurance@caravanrescue.co.uk