Caravan Broken Into, Advice on Security Please.
Hi Everyone, My Caravan was broken into on Saturday night around midnight on my drive.
Nothing was stolen as the alarm sounded and must have scared them off, but not before the male had removed his jogging bottoms, yes there was a male and female as they left several items of their clothing for us to hand over to the police! Not sure why they were removing their clothes but "the mind boggles"!!!!!!!!
But, they did damage the bedroom window catches breaking into the Caravan so I am looking for some help/advice as to how I now go forward with replacing my window catches, and do I find something a bit more substantial as the catches fitted look like they broke very easily!!
Any ideas what I can use to make my windows more secure??
By the way my Caravan is a 2014 Swift Challenger SE 580.
Thanks in anticipation and a very happy and safe new year!
Paul.
Comments
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You were unlucky, a caravan is very difficult to make secure and just by wrenching a window access will be gained irrespective of the locks/catches.
I would do nothing and accept it as a bad experience, as the above post the harder you make it the more damage could occur.
You would be very unlucky indeed if it happened again, unless your area is prone to this sort of thing.
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The above posters are spot on.
You could fit different window catches but you’d still have plastic windows and they are very expensive to replace.
The only secure caravan is one kept in a locked and alarmed building and even that’s not 100% guaranteed.
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This seems not to be an attempt to steal the caravan so the circumstances are indeed very unusual and probably unlikely that it will happen again. I don't know how obvious it is that the caravan was alarmed but if it's not, perhaps think about making it more obvious?
David
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Agree with the above that additional security on the windows won’t help. It is also true that an enhanced door lock will potentially result in more damage. We had our Caravan broken into in the South of France many years ago. They simply popped the door lock and there wasn’t too much damage. Our dealer who did the repair was the first to tell us that it was better to have a flimsy lock!
An alarm should be a deterrent though.
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There's nothing you can do to make a caravan thief proof. Just make sure that you have a good insurance policy and the obligatory security devices are fitted.
However -----------------Sounds like Paul's caravan was broken into for a reason other than theft
K
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Same happened to us over 10 years ago. Broke in through off side window and exited through door. They were probably fairly young and only did damage to window locks and took a few items. We already had a PIR security light covering door side which activated when they came out of the door and that probably frightened them off. I installed another to cover the off side. I regularly check both are working. There was no alarm on the caravan at the time but I have made sure all the successors have alarms fitted. I agree about not fitting stronger window locks as the cost of replacing the broken ones was a lot less than a whole new window.
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You could try contacting/e-mail these people with the details of your van. We has a replacement catch for our Bailey from them when one broke.
sales@motorhome-parts.net
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Buying replacement catches, following a google search, is very easy. BUT fitting them may be less so. A plastic base plate is screwed through the window rim, then the catch needs to be slid onto the base until it clicks home. To remove a broken catch from a base plate, look for a small hole on the large face, insert a thin round metal pin, such as a panel pin, and press it to release the hidden catch, while trying to slide the catch off. It’s easier to do than to describe.
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Our caravan suffered a 'burglary' a few years ago, whilst left unattended for just one night on a municipal site in France, and all sorts of odd bits and pieces were stolen - the awning canvas, but not the poles, the hoover but not the hose and tools, the step and hook-up - and a variety of other things, including two Lafuma chairs which we hated anyway.
At the end of the day it was just 'stuff' and we didn't want it to affect our enjoyment of the caravan, so we just replaced items gradually and got on with enjoying out time in the van without worrying about extra security or worrying that it might happen again. Your break-in sounds even more unusual than ours was - so I would really try not to think about it any more, just give the caravan a good clean, and try to put it to the bottom of your mind.
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I experienced a similar incident a couple of years ago. My caravan was broken into while in storage and used as 'accommodation' for a couple of drug addicts. Nothing was stolen, but the door lock was broken, seats and curtains had cigarette burn marks and the outer panel in the area of the door was badly scratched. The latter was the most expensive repair (over £1500) but the insurance covered all.
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Sounds like a couple of drunks or druggies fancied using your bed for a quicky.
Al you can do is add security lights and cameras, along with an alarm.
I have all three, and also keep it behind a 2M stone wall with a locked gate. So fit a gate if practical.
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