We've had or caravan stolen.
My story involves the theft of our caravan. Having been tent campers for 10 years, we decided it was time to upgrade to a caravan. My wife and I took out a loan and purchased a lovely 4 year old caravan. It was our pride and joy and sat on our drive for less than 12 weeks. We only just recently went on our 1st two night trip. My wife went out the front door the other morning to take the kids to school and the caravan was gone from our drive. We never heard a thing and are still in shock. I’m still shaking with anger as I write this!
I hope this will be a warning to others, that despite what security measures you take. It will not matter a jot to anyone that wants your caravan. We had a wheel lock, hitch lock, an additional door lock and a simple but effective infra-red wireless alarm inside the van.
They got through these effortlessly and stole the van. The police asked what they left behind regarding the locks. Nothing, they took everything. All that was left was the hitch lock cover and the cut mains lead because the battery was on charge. What was encouraging if anything was that we had a CCTV camera outside. This is an app controlled wireless camera from Amazon with an internal memory card. Ok we thought, at least it’s on camera. Like hell is it? On viewing the footage, there is absolutely nothing of the actual theft. Nobody or nothing is seen on the drive. We have video of the caravan clearly showing the wheel lock on and the steadies down. The clip then jumps some time later with the steadies up and the wheel lock gone. Nearly 2 hours later, the caravan disappears like a Paul Daniels magic trick. The only conclusion I can get from that is that a video jammer must have been used. I did some research online and found that these WIFI video jammers are freely available to purchase.
Our caravan was parked on the drive so the hitch was butted up to 2 wooden gates with its back end facing the single drive entrance.
There was no way to turn the caravan round as it’s door side was butted against next doors hedge. They must have literally pushed the caravan straight onto the dual carriageway (it was around 4.30am) and either towed it if the hitch lock was removed or pulled onto a low loader. We now have to try and explain to the insurance company how we had CCTV but captured nothing of the theft. It just goes to show how determined and dare I say it, clever these scum are. This was a well-planned and professional theft.
The police are of no help and are only good for the crime reference number. I think the manufacturers of these so called security devices have a lot to answer for as to how easy they are to remove. So please, be vigilant. It doesn’t matter how secure you think your caravan is. If they want it, they will take it.