Hi, I have registered with the forum to ask just this one question. Please be assured this is a genuine request and I am not a caravan burglar! I have a farmyard on which the previous owner let someone store a caravan - a Swift Challenger. It has been here 3 years without moving and the owner is untraceable - no reg plate etc. I need to move it and have been in touch with the Local council who will take it away for a fee. I displayed a notice in it for the owner to get in touch for months but to no avail. I would like to get inside to see if there is anything that points to an owner but it is locked. Does anyone know how I can do this without causing any damage? If so please could you private message me. Any help gratefully appreciated.
Check the windows, there may be a number etched into the plastic. This is called the CRiS number. Many caravans are registered with CRiS and they will know the last registered keeper. Provided of course it's registered.
Google CRiS, they are based in Coventry I believe.
Quote: Originally posted by Tidburyboy on 29/10/2017
Check the windows, there may be a number etched into the plastic. This is called the CRiS number. Many caravans are registered with CRiS and they will know the last registered keeper. Provided of course it's registered.
Google CRiS, they are based in Coventry I believe.
That's what I would do. There should also be a small plate usually by the door with the CRiS number on.
They may know the last registered owner but they won't be able to pass details on to you as it would be a breach of data protection. However they may be willing to contact the last owner and pass your details on. Purely down to their discretion if they do though.
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If the caravan was purchased via a dealer then the CRIS number should be registered to the new owner but if bought privately it may not be the case if the previous owner didn't inform that they had sold the caravan on. Besides, even if it is registered, the previous post that said that CRIS won't pass on any details due to a breach the data protection act is spot on so it's going to be difficult in law to trace the legal owner anyway. However, the legal owner could have left the country or even passed away in which case is going to be impossible so I would be inclined to approach the Police and ask for advice on how to proceed. Although you won't be able to retrieve information from CRIS, the Police may have the authority to do so in order trace the legal owner or give permission to proceed in how to gain entry into the caravan.
If the caravan is on your property & you have made reasonable attempts to trace owner then you are entitled to dispose of it. If you want it gone then just get council to remove it.
Tango, the police are not legal advisers. They will not be remotely interested in the caravan.
Doesn’t the previous landowner not know how to contact the owner, seems rather strange that there is no known owner unless the previous landowner died.
Quote: Originally posted by miss baritone on 30/10/2017
They may know the last registered owner but they won't be able to pass details on to you as it would be a breach of data protection. However they may be willing to contact the last owner and pass your details on. Purely down to their discretion if they do though.
I think this is the best approach as reasonable effort should be made to contact the owner before disposal. Its been there 3 years, but might only be 3 years old and therefore have significant value.
If the op assumes ownership and were to sell it rather than the council taking it away, that would put a stolen caravan out there, which CRIS would hardly want to happen. Maybe they would be willing to pass on a letter advising disposal unless a response within a stated period?
Quote: Originally posted by miss baritone on 30/10/2017
They may know the last registered owner but they won't be able to pass details on to you as it would be a breach of data protection. However they may be willing to contact the last owner and pass your details on. Purely down to their discretion if they do though.
I think this is the best approach as reasonable effort should be made to contact the owner before disposal. Its been there 3 years, but might only be 3 years old and therefore have significant value.
If the op assumes ownership and were to sell it rather than the council taking it away, that would put a stolen caravan out there, which CRIS would hardly want to happen. Maybe they would be willing to pass on a letter advising disposal unless a response within a stated period?
I totally agree with chrisn7. The caravan is someone's property, so approaching CRIS would definitely be the way to go. They will certainly know the last registered owner, even if not the current one, and I'm sure they would pass on a message. However, I don't know when Challengers were first built, but if there is no CRIS number on it then it is pre-1991 and probably not worth much. Maybe the owner owes more than it is worth and this is why they have abandoned it. In any case, approaching CRIS would prove that reasonable attempt had been made to establish ownership, and when this was done.
Rather than tow it away it would be worth trying to get inside if there is no CRIS number etc, to see if there is any documentation inside to identify the owner. But three years does suggest the owner is long gone. However I would hate to suggest ways to break into a caravan on a public forum - I can merely suggest you don't bother with the door!
Quote: Originally posted by Martin Gover on 03/11/2017
Rather than tow it away it would be worth trying to get inside if there is no CRIS number etc, to see if there is any documentation inside to identify the owner. But three years does suggest the owner is long gone. However I would hate to suggest ways to break into a caravan on a public forum - I can merely suggest you don't bother with the door!
The O/P says 3 years without being moved, but that doesn't necessarily mean that nobody has been to it. Can the owner get to it easily without being seen? If they can then maybe they are going to it from time to time but keeping themselves out of sight deliberately, as they know they owe money?
I think a lot depends on how much it is worth. If not much then it's probably been dumped, but if it's worth a fair bit then probably not. If it is deliberately damaged or removed, and it turns out to be worth quite a bit, then legal action could result.
In the storage site that I store my van there are a couple of vans that I'm sure have been abandoned. To say that the roof is green is an understatement. The algae has covered the whole of the roof and has started growing down the sides.
It hasn't been moved in the two years I've been storing my van there, and I know for a fact it hasn't moved its parked next to my van and the tyres are in exactly the same place (I made a mark to the centre of the tire in the gravel, mark still there, no movement)
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Topic: Abandonned Caravan
