Attempted theft of our Motorhome

Try not to let this spoil your enjoyment of your van. Concentrate more on the pound I owe you 🖕
 
I used to work in the security trade. Sadly most people only think about theft when they have already suffered.
What you MUST do now is always use all security measures at all times. It is often a combination of their good luck and your bad. The one time you arrive somewhere late and don't bother to set alarms or lock down tight , will be their good luck night when they turn up.

Glad to read you beat them. Keep up the good work.
 
So glad your van is safe. It is such a concern. We try to take all measures of security to keep our van as safe as possible. ☠️
 
Pleased to hear the alarm worked and there was no damage, Jeff.

I bought one of those wheel clamps for a caravan I had years ago. Couldn't even lift the darn thing out of the car boot to attach it when I got home so I took it back and got a refund.

Thatcham is owned and run by the Insurance Companies, they set it up originally. Hence why they like systems approved by Thatcham.
 
Caz said:
Pleased to hear the alarm worked and there was no damage, Jeff.

I bought one of those wheel clamps for a caravan I had years ago. Couldn't even lift the darn thing out of the car boot to attach it when I got home so I took it back and got a refund.

Thatcham is owned and run by the Insurance Companies, they set it up originally. Hence why they like systems approved by Thatcham.
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Yes it is a heavy thing Caz , but what a awesome bit of kit and I will only be using it when the van is parked on the drive at home
 
Sorry to hear the hunts had a go at your van Jeff. Here’s something I had fitted a couple of months ago even Phil rated them very highly even if they get your keys they can’t start your van. That’s the one I worry about most the keys getting into wrong hands as all the safety device keys are usually on van keys.
 
Barge1914 said:
Does OTT system have a Thatcham rating?
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All Insurance approved Tracking systems need to conform to the new VTS classification (a decision taken by most of the leading industry underwriters). Sadly from what I can see, only the Autowatch alarm on offer is a Thatcham approved product (Cat1).
Thatcham is indeed owned and run by the Association of British Insurers and operated alongside SMMT and work very closely with the industry and manufacturers alike. As the element of financial loss is high in motorhomes and luxury vehicles alike, the criteria set down by them is of a very high standard ensure that the product does exactly what it says on the tin and help to protect/minimise the loos of the vehicle.
As there is such diversity/requirement/opinion towards theft from and of the vehicle, all I can say is time must be taken to consider these options to insure yours (and if applicable your insurers) requirements are met. After personally being in the motorhome security industry for nearly 20 years and the company going for over 30 years, we have seen product and insurance requirements fluctuate on a 6/10 month basis, especially in the last 6 months since the Sevel group of vans (Peugeot/Citroen/Fiat) aren't as bulletproof as they once was. This is where insurance requirements really have varied but also Social media has made awareness available to arm themselves with suggestions and advise plus personal experiences.
 
nickvanbitz said:
All Insurance approved Tracking systems need to conform to the new VTS classification (a decision taken by most of the leading industry underwriters). Sadly from what I can see, only the Autowatch alarm on offer is a Thatcham approved product (Cat1).
Thatcham is indeed owned and run by the Association of British Insurers and operated alongside SMMT and work very closely with the industry and manufacturers alike. As the element of financial loss is high in motorhomes and luxury vehicles alike, the criteria set down by them is of a very high standard ensure that the product does exactly what it says on the tin and help to protect/minimise the loos of the vehicle.
As there is such diversity/requirement/opinion towards theft from and of the vehicle, all I can say is time must be taken to consider these options to insure yours (and if applicable your insurers) requirements are met. After personally being in the motorhome security industry for nearly 20 years and the company going for over 30 years, we have seen product and insurance requirements fluctuate on a 6/10 month basis, especially in the last 6 months since the Sevel group of vans (Peugeot/Citroen/Fiat) aren't as bulletproof as they once was. This is where insurance requirements really have varied but also Social media has made awareness available to arm themselves with suggestions and advise plus personal experiences.
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Ok. So if you have an Autowatch Alarm Cat 1 (although I see it advertised as Cat 2/1), how can you be sure to have a compatible tracker system that is also acceptable to insurers in general? One is only going to install an alarm/tracker once, but with time one might use many different insurers.
 
Barge1914 said:
Ok. So if you have an Autowatch Alarm Cat 1 (although I see it advertised as Cat 2/1), how can you be sure to have a compatible tracker system that is also acceptable to insurers in general? One is only going to install an alarm/tracker once, but with time one might use many different insurers.
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So, your Tracking system should come (either via email or paper) a certificate giving it a classification and Thatcham number. Please note that TUV approval means absolutely nothing in regards to Thatcham approval!!!

This is where it may get confusing, as on Jan 2019 the classification changed:

An approved Tracking supplied and fitted to the vehicle with a 24 Hour Independent Monitored Telematics Call Centre (Not a company owner and couple of people in an office!!) Pre Dec 2018 should be either Cat5 or Cat6. This will come with an annual subscription (averaging between £90-150 per year) and a certificate will be available for this type of equipment. This means if you have bought a van with it already fitted, you re-subscribe it all in your name and then a certificate will be issued on payment of your subscription.
Any installation of new equipment will have to fall into the VTS approved range of tracking systems if required by your insurer (either S5 or S6). Again the same sort of fees apply and upon completion and payment of your subscription, you will be issued a certificate (email or post) with the relevant Thatcham approval. The call centre will be manned and in most cases be an independent Telematics centre dealing with hundreds of thousands of account holders ranging from Fleet Tracking to Domestic Vehicle Tracking.

Now anyone asking in which route to go regarding the best course, the advise will purely be based on mainly vehicle value and the current requirements form the user and insurers, but also bear in mind that if you have 2 insurance companies which one of them wants a tracker and one doesn't with the same level of cover (you must check things like personal effects cover/excess/windscreen/European Travel) and you have premium difference of let's say £150.00, in effect that saving would have to be put towards the monitoring centre's fees therefore it isn't a saving as such.
Our thoughts on this are simple .................................... Stop the horse from bolting the stable in the first place!!!! If you do not need an insurance approved tracking system, look at a good Motorhome alarm system with a remote immobilisation system that can give you a location (not an immobiliser that can be re-written or connected via Can-Bus) but something that has an independent ECU and app based so that you can remotely turn on and off using a phone or tablet.

Sadly though if your vehicle is deemed as high risk (sadly most Fords over £35K and Sevel Group £50k-£60k upwards fall into this category) you hand will be forced into having a VTS approved system until such a time as the risk is deemed low.

I have had customers that have fitted both, as they like the remote immobilisation/Pager/Locater but after a few years when an insurance approved tracker is no longer required, they simply let the tracking system go dormant and do not continue with the Tracker's subscription and just stick with the remote immobilisation.
 
Thanks for the clear explanation. My van is now of an age it’s replacement value even at today’s inflated price is probably worth less than 35k. My ‘tracker retrieve’ has expired. I let it do so as my insurers (Caravan Club) previously said they would only want £21 extra premium on renewal. However after it expired and I notified them, they demanded an extra £61 for the remaining part year and said on renewal it would be significantly more. Although I have quite a number of physical device layers a good angle grinder would given time probably get through them. I might have well as renewed the Tracker. Hence my question and dilemma what best to do now. It sounds as if I need to think about changing my insurer!
 
Markd said:
There's probably a lot to be said for having a tracker type alarm system as any van is most vulnerable when it's at home and you're not.
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Couldn't agree more. If your line of defence is where you have a good quality independently wired Motorhome specific alarm system, coupled with a good quality Pager/Immobiliser/Locating system, you have a professional having first to tackle an alarm that's independent of the Can-Bus system, then an immobiliser that cannot be accessed through the Can-Bus/OBD port, plus add this to your own mechanical devices and I'd like to think you've done the best you can to protect your pride and joy from both opportunists and professionals alike.
If they have managed to get past all of the above, then you have the ability to locate the vehicle using the locating feature, without the £100+ annual costs associated with tracking.

We recently had a customer down with us that has left a review on Google after a similar set-up on his motorhome saved it from being stolen (guess we can't get a better review than that ;)), where all efforts were made to get the vehicle away. The van had been parked 7 miles away in storage and the customer was away on holiday (not in their van :oops:), sadly the storage yard was unmanned and no cameras in which they had 3 other vans away and lots of items from other Caravans/Motorhomes during the theft spree.
There wasn't much work on our part to have the system back up and running once he got the Motorhome back from the repair shop (1-2 Hours), but the system did exactly what it said on the tin. However the same cannot be said for the repair to the Fiat side, as I believe the van was in for about 5-6 weeks to repair the damage to the dash and around the Body-Computer/Fuseboard including the wiring loom, where all efforts had been made to get the alarm silenced and the immobilisation by-passed.
 
On the subject of OTT I had a really good conversation with Carl the owner the other day. He is very passionate about his products. If I understood him correctly he could get a Thatcham approval but chooses not to because he dissagrees with the way Thatcham runs. As stated above the boss at Thatcham is one of the ex insurance company directors which is probably why they all insist on Thatcham approval.
After having a chat with leah over at AIB insurance she was able to get me a really good deal with Aviva who approved Lockdown as a security system rather than rated as seperate devices, which it is not.

If after reading this anyone has more questions in regards OTT give Carl a ring, he is such a nice guy and always has the time to explain why he has complete faith in his system and about Thatcham.
 
nickvanbitz said:
Couldn't agree more. If your line of defence is where you have a good quality independently wired Motorhome specific alarm system, coupled with a good quality Pager/Immobiliser/Locating system, you have a professional having first to tackle an alarm that's independent of the Can-Bus system, then an immobiliser that cannot be accessed through the Can-Bus/OBD port, plus add this to your own mechanical devices and I'd like to think you've done the best you can to protect your pride and joy from both opportunists and professionals alike.
If they have managed to get past all of the above, then you have the ability to locate the vehicle using the locating feature, without the £100+ annual costs associated with tracking.

We recently had a customer down with us that has left a review on Google after a similar set-up on his motorhome saved it from being stolen (guess we can't get a better review than that ;)), where all efforts were made to get the vehicle away. The van had been parked 7 miles away in storage and the customer was away on holiday (not in their van :oops:), sadly the storage yard was unmanned and no cameras in which they had 3 other vans away and lots of items from other Caravans/Motorhomes during the theft spree.
There wasn't much work on our part to have the system back up and running once he got the Motorhome back from the repair shop (1-2 Hours), but the system did exactly what it said on the tin. However the same cannot be said for the repair to the Fiat side, as I believe the van was in for about 5-6 weeks to repair the damage to the dash and around the Body-Computer/Fuseboard including the wiring loom, where all efforts had been made to get the alarm silenced and the immobilisation by-passed.
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The damage done to the vehicle when thieves have the time available such as in unsupervised storage areas is the downside to multiple layers of security.
I'd say that having an alarm that rings for help when it se see an attack must be worth thinking about.
 
Jenrai said:
If I understood him correctly he could get a Thatcham approval but chooses not to because he dissagrees with the way Thatcham runs. As stated above the boss at Thatcham is one of the ex insurance company directors which is probably why they all insist on Thatcham approval.
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It's hardly a revelation that Thatcham is a industry testing organisation, with a standard approval rating system that is owned and operated by the ABI (Association of British Insurers) for far more than just security: https://www.thatcham.org/about/.
If Thatcham was of that little importance, why is it that Vehicle manufacturers and Aftermarket Companies make the effort to ensure their product meets these industry standards (Including Aftermarket locks and accessories) on a Global scale???
You could argue that Thatcham is there to protect the members of the ABI/Insurance Companies, but why not? If products that are Thatcham approved are there because they have been tested to reduce the risk of loss to the insurance companies, then surely the risk of loss of the vehicle is reduced or am I missing something here?

Markd said:
The damage done to the vehicle when thieves have the time available such as in unsupervised storage areas is the downside to multiple layers of security.
I'd say that having an alarm that rings for help when it se see an attack must be worth thinking about.
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Certainly so, I think our customer was just unlucky he couldn't get anyone to the vehicle in time to minimise the damage as he wasn't in the country at the time. Having a system that is interactive certainly is a bonus, as you will know what is going on with the M/H such as alarm warnings, unlawful movement of the vehicle and Low Battery/Power disconnect etc.
 
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