Here at caravan-insurance-cover.co.uk we keep bleating on about the importance of caravan insurance, as a means to protect yourself and your caravan. There are other things you can do though to help cover yourself. A very useful addition to the security toolkit is CRiS.
What is CRiS?
Cris is a scheme established in 1992 with the aim to improve security for caravan owners. Owned by the National Caravan Council (NCC), the acronym stands for the Caravan Registration and Identification Scheme, and provides a registration document, and a record identifying you as the current owner of your touring caravan. This can be very important in the event that your caravan is stolen.
Caravans are assigned a unique 17 digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), which is stored on the CRiS database. This has been done automatically for all caravans manufactured by NCC members since 1992, but is a service available to owners who fall outside of this.
The registration makes it straightforward for private buyers and dealers to help recognise stolen caravans, and those that have outstanding finance remaining on them.
So if you are buying a new caravan, the dealer will sort out the CRiS membership for you, and the registration documents for your touring caravan will arrive in the post a few weeks later. However, if you are in the market for a second-hand caravan the CRiS number is a great help in stopping you buying a dodgy caravan, as you will be able to identify if it is stolen, or has outstanding finance.
To be sure of the validity of the sale, you should look for the CRiS number etched into the windows of the caravan, and it should also be stamped somewhere onto the chassis of the vehicle. Also ask the seller to show you the registration document. If you are unable to see any of these then you should not buy the caravan.
Once you have found the number, you need to either phone HPI on 0845 300 8905, or visit their website at /www.hpicheck.com/hpi_check.html. They will charge you a small fee to check that the make and model match those on their records, and also whether there is any outstanding credit owed, or the caravan is stolen.
So, if you are not yet on the CRiS scheme, then you should be. And next time you are in the market for a caravan, remember to make use of the scheme.