Few of us would recover financially from the outright loss of our motorhome and contents with no compensation.
An article in the Times this morning told the heart-wrenching story of a lady who had her £40k stolen from outside her home as she packed for a skiing trip. One minute full of excitement for the impending trip, next the shock and devastation at the realisation the van has been stolen. Then to discover later that because her keys were in the van, the insurer, well within their rights, will not be paying one penny toward the loss.
I’ve seen this happen more than once. Recently, two Funsters packing for a winter trip to Spain. After packing most everything of value they owned in the van, they returned from the house with the last of the luggage to find the van gone. We can only imagine the pain and anger they must have felt. Thankfully, their insurers eventually paid up.
When packing, you need your keys for doors and lockers and it’s just too easy to be lax about security and leave keys by the kitchen sink or carelessly on the bed. However, it’s hardly surprising that security takes a back seat in your priorities. You have an excitable departure imminent, ferries to catch, a head full of things to do before you leave.
Therefore, you must think about your security long before that vulnerable departure day. My security is in place until the very moment we are leaving, when I disarm the non-starter with my phone. No one is driving off with my pride and joy, even if they have my keys.
But even if you don’t have such technology as this lady didn’t; the most basic security would have saved her van from the opportunist thief who took it.
- A padlocked chain from steering wheel to the door handle
- The drivers’ seat turned around and padlocked into place
- A car parked in front of it
- A security post
- Steering wheel lock
- Pedal lock ect
So even though they have the keys they are not making a quick getaway.
You might have spent a lot of money on a great alarm, but at times like this when your alarm isn’t on, simple physical security will stop the opportunist, so get some!
Think about security today because it will be the last thing on your mind on leaving day.
You are on your own
Even if your insurance pay up, you’ll likely be substantially out of pocket. And these days you can forget the police. They will not put out an all-points bulletin and set up roadblocks! The best you can hope for from them is a crime number. It’s far better to prevent theft like this in the first place and you can do this with cheap physical products
A note about padlock keys
The keys of any padlocks, pedal locks etc would always be separate from your ignition key. Ideally with no ring attached making it easy to hide and easy to get at. I like to add a bit of velcro to the key so I can hide it well but get at it quickly.
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