Motorhome Stolen Southport

[movan]

Thanks for all your comments and good wishes.
I have sent the details to truckline with some pictures.
What makes it worse is we received some items from Amazon today that we ordered as part of our makeover
Just feel a bit dejected at the moment to think that the cctv was blocked and that they were equipped with stuff to gain entry and steal it.
It’s also worrying that they had been obviously watching the house.
Any way we won’t give up hope of it being found and thanks again for your support

You make a good/worrying point in that they had been watching the house. If you go away in your motorhome you may be adviseable to look at your home security now too.

Just who do these bustards think yhey are! Well, they obviously don't ghink or have a conscience.

 

[movan]

Thanks for all your comments and good wishes.
I have sent the details to truckline with some pictures.
What makes it worse is we received some items from Amazon today that we ordered as part of our makeover
Just feel a bit dejected at the moment to think that the cctv was blocked and that they were equipped with stuff to gain entry and steal it.
It’s also worrying that they had been obviously watching the house.
Any way we won’t give up hope of it being found and thanks again for your support

Steve, following on from @DavidG comments .. I would also wait because should you get it back .. you may find that you feel 'uneasy' in it knowing people have been rooting about in there. Hope not but I have had to get rid of recovered cars in the past because of this.

 

[Aly1]

The message is getting out on Facebook as it was on my news feed this morning.

 

[SpeedyDux]

This is really sickening to read. Law and order is in retreat because the government privileges the interests of feral scumbags, regards them as the victims, and allows them to create no-go areas. It's being left to insurance to remedy loss from crimes like this, instead of prevention and deterrence by detecting a higher percentage of offences and punishing the criminals severely. IT'S JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH MRS MAY.

I wish @Steve Thompson the best outcome although nothing can compensate for all the stress and inconvenience.

 

[suavecarve]

It would appear you know the time of the offence. I am making a presumption middle of the night.
Obviously I don't know your area but is there a direct route to a main trunk road or the docks ?
Is it worth indicating this to the police if it has not been "housed" locally ?
There wont be too many motorhomes on the move on the majors in the overnight period.
I know I can view an hours worth of that type of CCTV in less than 2 minutes looking for something that obvious.
If you identify a direction of travel it wont be long til they hit a traffic cam and then you have the alternative reg and then gain the hits along the route.
This could help direct police in the next job which doesn't sound too far away.

Hopefully all works out well for you

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[Tinker2]

Shared your picture of the M/h in Cornwall.
No how you feel we had a caravan stolen some years ago.

 

[Badknee]

Sometimes I think about all the money we have spent on security for our pride and joy, strike back growler, tracker, engine block etc but at very sad times like this I’m happy we did.
Good luck with a swift recovery and driving around lonely roads and lay-bys near you isn’t a bad idea.

 

[colyboy]

How do you share?

 

[suavecarve]

Facebook reporting the recent theft of a motorhome in Warrington which was located in Sale 13 miles away behind housing in communal parking. Think that is in your neck of the woods ?

 

[Parrot Face]

So sorry to hear about this. Such a lovely well cared for van. Hope you get it back and the scum bags are locked up.

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[Steve+Maggie]

Thanks again for all of your comments.
Still no news although the police have been very good and reacted to my further comments.
I had the van hooked up so they sent out a CSI Officer to try for fingerprints etc from the plug which as we all know is difficult to remove.
I also had a really good look at CCTV and caught three hooded individuals at 1135 walking past the house within seconds the flashers went on the Motorhome and then the the camera was disabled until 2 minutes past midnight when it was pushed off the drive and then started and driven off.
The last train from Liverpool arrives at 1128 and it takes 5mins to walk to our house - I called the police again and they came out to look at the CCTV and were going to check at Train Station.
They also handed out a flyer and did some door to door enquiries.
Unfortunately CCTV images are very grainy so no use other than giving a time line.
A few days on we are coming to terms with it - feel sure it has probably disappeared across the Irish Sea from Liverpool or Heysham .
Really shocked at the technology that exists to override the alarm immobiliser knock out CCTV (wi fi) etc.
Have started insurance process but don’t know what to expect.
I have checked EBay and Autotrader and the same make and model is selling at what we paid for ours two years ago. (it was 9 years old). We added Solar Panels etc so not sure what we will be offered. If they use Glasses Guide or equivalent- not a lot - however I am keeping details of the ones currently for sale.
Sadly we really loved Bitzer - yes she had a name given to her by my Grandaughter - and as people have said even if we get her back it won’t be the same.
The only personal item on board was a cuddly Penguin that I bought back from The Falklands last year. Fond memories of my granddaughter cuddling up in her Cabunk with it! Luckily the cabunk was in the House so we just need some new fixings!
Any way sorry for the ramblings but we have been touched by the support of our fellow Motorhomers and hopefully we will be out and about soon .
Cheers

 

[B-well]

Hang in there Steve, your fortune is about to look brighter

 

[M-J]

Whatever happens with insurance, don’t accept the first couple of settlement offers, fight your corner.

 

[Two on Tour]

Probably best to look to the future now Steve and start planning for your new motorhome, maybe not Transit based this time.

As said above, if it comes to an insurance payout then do not accept their first offer unless it is very generous which I very much doubt from past experience. Be pre-armed with what you feel is a fair valuation on your van based on other vans of the same model that are for sale or sold recently and tell them what you want for your van and why. If your not happy with their figure then get them to explain why they think a lower figure is justifiable and then pick hole in their claims. On my past experances after some to-ing and fro-ing you will get near to a reasonable payout.

 

[gus-lopez]

I have checked EBay and Autotrader and the same make and model is selling at what we paid for ours two years ago. (it was 9 years old). We added Solar Panels etc so not sure what we will be offered. If they use Glasses Guide or equivalent- not a lot - however I am keeping details of the ones currently for sale.

As others have said just stick to your guns & refuse anything derisory. If they do that just reply with " then just replace it with an identical one ,same make ,mileage ,condition, extras, etc" Then leave them to it for a while. They have increased in price & there should be no problem them having to pay you out more than it originally cost you.
I wouldn't accept lesss than what it would cost to replace it with the identical model even if they are selling for what you paid 2 years ago.
If you meet a brick wall then employ an assessor to fight on your behalf.

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[coroner]

Sorry to hear about your loss another ford our euromobile was taken same way a couple of years ago ford in my opinion are criminal in not coming up with a fix ours was insured through the caravan club and we found the claims process to be reasonable as like yourselfs still in poss of the keys wouldnt have another ford though

 

[jollyrodger]

AxxA
I was with them last year via the Lifesure group .
After a get together with the central crash barrier and having to claim off my own insurance,I was expecting a fight of it .
As it happens the valuer said uneconomic to repair and valued it as per the market value in France (where I had imported it from.) We agreed a settlement in excess to what I thought would be offered .
All done and dusted within a month.
No faffing about ,and swapped over to new vehicle no probs.
And a swift drive to Benicasim for a cold one a week later .
So I hope in the event yours is not found ,a swift result also .

 

[Steve+Maggie]

)Sofie in her Cabunk with Pingu! And best sunset wwe have ever seen on our first trip which was to Ravenglass - stunning and not photoshopped at all!

Great advise as always so onwards and upwards - will keep you posted as to it all ends up but as you say time to focus on the future

 

[Anthea M]

So sorry to hear your unhappy news You must be gutted.
I do hope the insurance is sorted ASAP and you can begin your adventures again.
Kitting our a van from scratch will be a long and expensive job make sure you get good value from your company.

 

[namwaldog]

@Steve Thompson

Steve,
Our circumstances are different to yours, but you may find this thread of use..

https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/flooded-mh-advice.143384/page-4

We were (are) with Safeguard and couldn't fault them.
You are doing the right thing in looking at like for like motorhomes. We made up a file with all the details of similar MH's from the internet together with details, inc invoices, of any improvements you have made so that you have them all the details to hand should the need arise.

Glass's guide has been mentioned and we got a dealer to look up the current value.

We were disappointed with our travel insurance as they didn't want to know about the contents that were destroyed by water. But consider your home insurance as they may cover " contents away from home"

Regarding mindset, we actually got to see our MH when it was recovered to the UK and we felt we didn't want it back after what had happened to it.

What has happened is another of Life's Lessons and you will be stronger for it

Barry

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[Steve+Maggie]

Cheers Barry great advice

 

[robert groves]

Unfortunately,...if the scum want your van, then no amount of locks will stop them, you can only make it difficult and slow for them....With all the 'High-Tech' ant-theft systems, perhaps we should return to the old Fashioned Padlock & Chain around the steering wheel

 

[Steve+Maggie]

Funny you should say that...... my son has aTransit and that is now chained with my old motorbike chain and heavy duty lock - it cant be overridden by something bought of e bay and if they use an oxyacetylene torch hopefully they will blow themselves up

 

[Steve+Maggie]

Hi
Just an update - Insurance have made me an offer - almost exactly what I paid for the Motorhome two years ago - a £100 deduction as it was due an MOT (it was Booked in for two days after it was stolen!).

Quite a traumatic experience but made bearable by the Insurance Company - very professionally handled and I think a fair figure in the end.

Should have the money next week so well done to Axa and my brokers.

Thanks for all of your understanding comments - and trust me all the advice on security will be implemented once we get a replacement!

 

[jollyrodger]

Did you have NCP?
Good result though

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[Steve+Maggie]

Yes Protected No Claims - not sure what my premium will be next time??

 

[jollyrodger]

Like you aXXa paid out quick changed over to new van no problems. But ramped up new premium so took business elswhere at less than originally paid.

 

[namwaldog]

Well done Steve!
One thing that surprised us when we were paid out by Allianz was that when we bought our replacement MH, we went back to Safeguard, the brokers to insure the new van and they simply changed the details on the existing policy we had before the MH was written off!
For some reason, I had assumed that the policy would end on payout but the policy was only 3 months old and so I continued on the same policy until the end of the year. I had to pay a little bit more because of the higher value of the new van.
Enjoy picking your new one. Look on your loss as the best trade in deal you could have got.

Barry

 

[nicholsong]

I would be quite apprehensive if our MH was stolen.....

....because after the payout, or even before, I might do a tour of German dealers and buy our 'ultimate' MH - you know - Carthago, Phoenix, N&B, etc. with big garage, island bed, on truck chassis, air rides, auto-levellers, 5,000kg with 1,200kg payload.

I know it is there waiting for me.

Thinks! Basia if off for a week's skiing next week, so I could take the car and be in Germany - just looking of course.

Geoff

 

[Steve+Maggie]

AXA. really came up trumps - money was in my Bank Account on Wednesday 14 days after the theft plus an additional payment for the personal contents
I will find it hard to go elsewhere even if it means a hike in Premium next year - think I would rather have the piece of mind in knowing they are an honourable Company!!
So still confused over choice of replacement but as Barry said at least I don’t have to worry about a trade in

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