Spate of Caravan Theft
I have seen that over the last 7 days that 4 Twin Axle Caravans have been stolen in the South Leicestershire/Warwickshire Area, 3 have had the Alko Wheel Locks burnt off with Oxy/Acet Torch and in 2 cases dragged onto a lorry of some description.
3 from Storage sites and the other off of a drive way, the storage area's didn't appear to be that well secured from pictures shown.
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Just shows how good security devices are,if they want it they will have it but no device equals no insurance 😡
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Any links to news articles about his? Ive done a search on Google and cant find anything?
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I'm so sorry to read that your caravan was stolen - what a relief that the police found it. I really hope there's been no damage to your caravan - keep us updated.
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Hi Nigel Ash, I follow Swift Owners Club on Facebook and its been on there.
Another Twin Axle stolen on Tuesday Night/Weds Morning from Sileby Leicestershire, Alko Wheel Lock burnt off
A couple from Edinburgh had their Transit Camper stolen from outside Holiday Inn Express at NEC yesterday whilst they where checking in
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We are waiting to hear from police as we have no idea yet how much damage there is to the caravan, also we don't actually know where it is at the moment presumably it's being checked for evidence that can be used in court. It seems in the conversations we've had with authorities, insurance, CRIS that theft of caravans & motorhomes is rife at present all over.
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Someone attempted to steal our one year old Lunar in Suffolk 2 years ago. We think an Oxy/Acet Torch was used. The caravan was completely destroyed by fire. The blaze took a commercial van, a Saab car and three other caravans with it. There was virtually nothing left. Caravan Guard paid out on a new for old basis.
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Sorry about your caravan Reevco. We've just been to the storage site from where ours was taken. We found out that they were there for nearly 2 hours! They took the other caravan first. They covered the number plates on the vehicle used and also covered their faces. So knew exactly what security was in place and where. The office lady said it's made her nervous as they might have been in and cased everything whilst she was there as other businesses are run from the same place. Hope you manage to get another caravan soon and can begin to have many more happy holidays.
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And if there were, I wouldn’t put mine on one less than Gold. My tandem axle was stolen from a Bronze CaSSOA in 2013. They know exactly what they want, They know exactly how to get it. As said earlier- if they want it and there is a way of getting it They’ll have it! Mine was stolen by travellers - Came across 2 fields, filling in a ditch, cutting through a 30,000v fence, overcoming the normal wheel lock and hitchlock, defeating 2 alarm systems etc etc. These scum case the joint before striking. They are professional caravan thieves. The only way of preventing your caravan from being stolen is to sit with it and hold a 12 bore shotgun!!
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There were 4 vans stolen just over a year ago from our storage site. One van was brand new and wasn't insured. They caused damage to other vans but luckily only our rear number plate was taken. Talking to the storage site owner 3 months after the thefts he said that the police hadn't even bothered to collect the cctv footage. The thieves had driven across a large wheat field to gain entry/exit, the crop hadn't been harvested at that point.
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Three points about caravan thefts. 1-- The security of your caravan is your responsibility and nobody else's. 2 -- Where is the market for selling on those stolen caravans ?. 3 --- If your caravan was stolen and later recovered a few weeks later, would you want it back?.
K
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Had my twin axle stolen from storage in Aug 2015 - gas torch to all locks van security and gates at 02:00 am, they carefully selected my van as others were not touched. The alarm was raised with the police as the van was exiting the site. Police reacted quickly and a chase ensued, the van and stolen towcar (not mine) the thieves were headed off from entering the motorway so proceeded cross country. Abandoned car and van into ditch after high speed pursuit, they decamped and scattered into a wooded area, despite police helicopter and dogs no one was caught.
My van was written off but my CC insurance policy had auto-renewed whilst I was away on holiday, so unfortunately the 5 year new for old had expired by 2 weeks ( yes I forgot), pleaded my case as insured value still covered new purchase price etc but nothing doing. So got market value..... Expensive lesson learned.
When I went through the renewal paperwork there is no highlighted reminder that new for old expires or advice to re-align your insured value to secondhand. Just the generic ensure that your cover is adequate etc in the small print.
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Robeno. Have you not read all the posts. No matter what device you have fitted, if they want it they will take it. they just burn off any security device and drive away. best security is to remove wheels but who would do that every time.
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Agree that best is to remove wheels, however I have check my insurance, it clearly states “ wheels locks must be fitted”
maybe someone should design square storage wheels, but who would bother as its a pain to put the alko locks on a twin
on another note, and I have only just thought of this, how many members like me, fit wheel locks and hitch lock whilst on site?? And then go out for the day and leave the keys for their locks in the caravan.
Bit of a school boy error from me
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Square storage Wheels? - Actually it has been done albeit some years ago and marketed by Fullstop Security - these were made from some fairly hefty steel and designed for use when storing a trailer with wheel(s) removed.
The Square wheel security replacements are held in place by the trailer wheel nuts. The devices are then secured by way of a plate dropping over to conceal and prevent tampering with the wheel nuts. These plates are in turn secured in place with a locking bolt.
I still have a couple of these that I used on a close coupled 4 Bateson Trailer - sadly not big enough for a caravan.
Your post prompted me to search the 'Fullstop' website to see if they were still available - sadly it would seem they are not - shame really. I thought they were quite good.
I guess if someone was of a mind to do it, had access to the right tools or someone who has, fabricating something along similar lines would not be beyond the realm of possibilities - that said with 4 leg locks, 2 wheel locks, a wheel clamp, hitch lock, van security and tracker + Cassoa Gold storage and a cover at what point do you draw the line? ...ok machine gun turrets in the storage facility! ;-)
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Found them...they are still available :-) http://saundersonsecurity.co.uk/bulldog-winter-wheels.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwq57cBRBYEiwAdpx0vQYyOPbxy0EVwX6YebvpG1Mh0bkTnfMWkdf3EeJjX2QvszlXaXw-ORoC3bEQAvD_BwE
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we always take photos of the lock on when we store it so there is no misunderstanding with insurance company
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Sorry to those who have been unfortunate enough to have had their caravans stolen. It's devastating, I know - it happened to us some years back. I did hear that caravan tbeft was on the decline, but that was a iittle while back and it all could have changed again!
There are so many things you can do to make your caravan more secure, but the thieves are always looking to beat the security devices. For us, secure Gold Cassoa storeage is a high priority, especially as we live slap bang in the middle of the Caravan Bermuda Triangle, M1/M42/M6/M5 area. Stolen caravans can go in any direction!!
David
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