The caravan insurance industry will be breathing a collective sigh of relief today as a four Irish travellers have been found guilty of conspiracy to steal, following a three-month trial at Winchester Crown Court.

In the twelve months following their arrests in March 2007 there was a nationwide drop in caravan thefts to the tune of 47%! Good news not only for caravanners, but for the people who insure the caravans.

Detective Inspector Matt Davey, from Wiltshire Police described the investigation as ‘long and complex.’ Close to £1 million worth of caravans and personal possessions were recovered as part of the investigation. This haul included vehicles, cash, jewellery, china and crystal.

Overall, nineteen police became involved in the operation to catch them, which culminated in a raid in March 2007 on their site in Gloucester. And a second raid involving 120 officers from Wiltshire Police was carried out on another site near Swindon in October 2007.

In total they discovered £970,000 of stolen goods, including £700,000 worth of vehicles, £70,000 cash,  £80,000 of china and £20,000 of crystal, and £100,000 of jewellery.

So caravan owners and insurers will be able to rest easier as these scum bags have been taken out of circulation, hopefully for a long while. Now, given that there are fewer thefts of caravans, this means there are fewer insurance payouts, which in turn should mean that it should lead to cheaper caravan insurance… that makes sense doesn’t it. I wonder if this will be the case?