PREVENTING THEFT OF RV’S Let’s face it, there are those in our society who choose to steal, and caravans, camper trailers and other RV’s are reported stolen more often than you think.  Camper trailers and caravans are stolen from front yards and unsecured areas. Anything ‘attractive and portable’ located outside your RV is also easy pickings for thieves. There is a story of a couple who had their caravan advertised for sale.  The caravan was located in the front yard of their home and the husband came home from work and noticed the caravan was not there.  He went inside to discuss the success of the sale with his wife only to find out that she did not know what he was talking about.  Someone had pulled up at the front of their home, hitched up the caravan and left without anyone being aware.

How do I stop the theft of my caravan or RV?

Things you can do:

• Make sure you have adequate insurance to cover your caravan/RV.  Make sure you know what is covered under the contents portion of the policy or if it is necessary to take out extra cover under your home contents policy to cover items away from your residence.  An extra premium is likely to be applied.
• If storing your caravan or camper trailer in your yard you could cement an anchor point into the ground onto which you could padlock the chains from the caravan or trailer draw bar
• Always close your sunroof and hatches, lock windows and the door when you are leaving your rv, even for a short time
• Consider leaving the radio on and close the curtains
• Put outside tables and chairs away or secure them with a stainless steel cable threaded through the wheel of your RV and secure with a padlock. Stainless steel cable can be made to measure from any boat shop or chandlery        
• Fit an alarm or purchase a remote sensor alarm.  You can purchase these from stores like Dick Smiths or DIY electrical stores
• Use a timer switch.  When you are out for the day and expecting to be back late these time switches can activate a light giving the impression someone is present
• Don’t leave valuable items such as watches and other jewellery inside the rv
• Don’t leave the registration papers inside
• Mark small items – permanent marking engravers can be obtained from your local Neighborhood Watch.  Invisible ultra violet (UV) marking pens can be borrowed for the purpose of item identification
• Install a small safe
• Write the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number)/Chassis Number of your caravan/RV in less obvious places within the caravan/RV ie: cupboards, under fridge cavities etc.  This assists in identification when recovered if the official VIN has been removed.
• Have a separate record of your RV registration number, VIN, make and model as well as serial numbers of  items like TV’s and micro waves.  Even a photograph is handy to assist for identification purposes

There are some products you can buy to deter theft and there are other products that provide tracking or tracing of your RV.