It is a sobering thought that there are around three thousand caravans stolen annually in the United Kingdom. This number is likely to rise given the increasing popularity of caravanning and the ’staycation’ that the credit crunch has brought about. A caravan is a valuable asset and owners would be very wise to take as many security precautions as they reasonably can.

Of course even these don’t offer a foolproof guarantee that your caravan will not be stolen, so it is important to ensure that you have the right insurance policy to suit your needs, and here at www.caravan-insurance-online.co.uk we aim to provide you with the tools to find the right caravan insurance online.

Below is a list of a number of the best ways of both protecting your caravan from theft, and identifying it in the event of theft. I hope you find them of some use.

At the cheaper end of the scale, there are a number of low-cost measures you can implement:

• Keep a record your caravan’s chassis number. Write it down somewhere and store it away somewhere in a safe place, along with any other relevant documents (for instance any ‘Caravan Registration and Identification Scheme’ (CRiS) registration documents).
• Use either an ultra-violet pen or a permanent marker to mark a code unique to you inside the caravan. You could use either the chassis number or your postcode as this code. A particularly good place for this is any plywood that is hidden away (in a cupboard, or under the bed for instance), as it is nigh on impossible to remove pen from these surfaces.
• Take some photographs of your caravan, as these can come in particularly handy in the event that you need to identify your caravan should it be stolen. Be sure especially to take photos of any defining features of the ‘van.
• As police constabularies use helicopter and airplanes these days, a great way of helping to recover your caravan is to put a unique number on top of the caravan in large bold letters, enabling it to be spotted from high in the air. This can be achieved with a good old can of paint, or you could buy some large adhesive characters. Use either a part of your chassis number, or another number specific to you, again your post code is a suggestion.

Moving on to some more expensive options:

• Having a microchip embedded into your caravan is one option. The microchip is then identified by using a scanner, proving the caravan is yours. Since 1998, most caravans have been fitted with a datatag, and for caravans older than that that are CRiS it is possible to have one retrospectively fitted. There is no centralised network of scanners for these tags though, which is something of a weak point of the system.
• I mentioned earlier about writing a unique code inside your caravan using felt-tip pen. Even more effective that that is to have the code etched onto all the windows of the caravan. It is a good idea to also have the same etched in a few hidden away places inside the caravan too.
• Tracking systems are another good way of protecting your caravan. A transmitter is secreted about the caravan, and if the caravan is stolen the system is activated, and it sends out a signal which can then be tracked enabling the caravan to be located. There is a drawback with these when used with caravans in that they only activate one the vehicle is reported stolen. But if the caravan is in storage, it may only be visited infrequently, and the chances are that the caravan will be long gone by that time.
• If you keep your caravan on your drive at home, a good idea is to install a security post. These will help to stop anyone taking the caravan from your drive. They are cemented into the ground, and the caravan is hitch-locked to a towball on top of the post. They are either foldable or detachable to allow the caravan to be removed from the drive, and provide a good deterrent to thieves.
• Hitch locks are a widely used and very useful device for providing protection against the opportunist thief. Ensure that it is manufactured from heavy steel to cover the tow socket fixing bolts, and also that it has a strong lock. This alone though does not provide sufficient protection for a caravan whilst it is in storage.
• Wheel clamps are another popular form of security. But as with most things, there are good ones and there are bad ones. Common sense states that if they are easy to put on, then they are probably going to easy to remove. So you want to make certain that you have a good clamp, one that correctly fits your caravan. Something to note is that there are some on the market that allow a clever thief to remove the clamp along with the wheel, so be careful to avoid these.
• Another option is wheel stands, these enable you to remove the wheels of the caravan thus rendering it (theoretically) immovable. You should check your insurance policy first though as some require that wheel clamps are fitted. You may also find that the caravan manufacturer recommends these for winter storage, check the handbook for this information.

Of course, the more of these you implement the greater the security you are providing for your caravan, but there is no excuse for not implementing at least the cheaper forms of security. And of course there is no substitute for a good insurance policy, so even if all of these measures fail you can rest assured that you will not end up out of pocket.