Quote: Originally posted by NottmSteve on 18/2/2012
So, people could fit this £50 device and possibly get their van back If its stolen, but they would rather not and let it disappear so they can claim a new one on their insurance? It's a weird World
Weird, yes. It's called "the Throwaway Society".
Personally I think there is some value in a budget tracker like this for owners of well-loved older vans, insurance or no insurance. I'd certainly have wanted my old camper van back if it had been nicked.
Quote: Originally posted by iscacamper on 20/2/2012
Quote: Originally posted by NottmSteve on 18/2/2012
So, people could fit this £50 device and possibly get their van back If its stolen, but they would rather not and let it disappear so they can claim a new one on their insurance? It's a weird World
Weird, yes. It's called "the Throwaway Society".
Personally I think there is some value in a budget tracker like this for owners of well-loved older vans, insurance or no insurance. I'd certainly have wanted my old camper van back if it had been nicked.
We are due to take delivery of a new van, and I did look at trackers. My wife's first comment was that she would not want the van back if it had been used and/or abused. This is why I thought of a tracker; because it might be recovered almost immediately and with no 'fouling' of the interior. But what if it wasn't?
This isn't about the 'throwawy society'. People who have suffered house burglary have, if they could afford it, moved home as a result. For most people, that's not a choice; as is a caravan. Whatever you live in, it's personal, and its violation is hard to imagine until after the event.
The extra paid for 'new-for-old' on the insurance is probably no more expensive than buying a tracker and its annual renewal costs. So we favour this approach - a clean restart and no shuddery feelings of dirtiness.
So, people could fit this £50 device and possibly get their van back If its stolen, but they would rather not and let it disappear so they can claim a new one on their insurance? It's a weird World
Don't have a tracker and know nothing about the merits of the one on this thread so cannot comment. However, I just thought that the above comment had an unusual view of insurance.
It's a pretty basic approach. We pay our insurance premiums year in year out and hope that we never have to claim. However, if we have to claim then we certainly want our insurers to pay us for what we have insured against. So we get paid out for the loss of our van and use that insurance money to get a new one. Isn't that how we want our contract of insurance to work?. Wouldn't regard that as "wierd" or a "throwaway society" . Pretty basic contract law arrangement
For insurers who require a Tracker, we have a choice of finding another insurer if we wish. Then, maybe the "wierd" thing is why does an insurance company insure you for theft, but require a tracker so that the van can be returned so you do not lose your van? They may pay for the damage but will they pay out on a returned van after you have paid those premiums for theft? Probably not....but take the premium anyway so we are paying for nothing. Wierd?
No, we don't want to lose our vans, so many of us will store it in a secure site and still put our hitch and wheel locks on., but only because our insurance policy says that we have to. Seems a bit pointless behind those electrified fences, CCTVs, lasers alarms etc. Then we set the caravan alarm because the insurers say that we have to even though no one can possibly hear that alarm as the storage site is miles from anywhere!!! That has struck me as odd and maybe "wierd"
For those who wish to fit a tracker I am sure they all shop around and take a view on the merits of the systems on offer, even £50 ones.
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
If you have one of these £50 "trackers fitted which is basically a mobile phone, how do you manage to convince the police that the caravan has been stolen and the location of your caravan?
If it is in storage, it may be weeks before the theft is discovered. If on your driveway, hours before the theft is discovered.
I does seem pointless and a waste of time having a cheap non monitoring system fitted.
some of the cheaper phone type ones, send a text to set numbers to let the owner know that the vans has been moved , normally via a contact switch on one of the legs,
Something that has not been mentioned is that the police are really not interested in recovering your caravan. If you contact the police and tell them my caravan has been stolen and it is in wherever, they will probably suspect you of trying to pull an insurance con. They certainly wouldn't be sending a team of armed police officers to recover it for you.
I am not sure I would be too happy arriving without a lot of backup to reclaim a caravan from the thieves either.
This could be the £50 that finds your caravan but costs your life.
I think that maybe you are missing out a step along the insurance process. If your caravan is stolen and you know where it is, then, under your insurance policy, you need to let your insurers know. They then recover it etc.
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
I think DaveCoaches has a valid point. How many times have we heard of the police either being late or simply not turning up when a serious theft is reported? as for your insurance, they do not themselves recover the van; they simply pass on the job to the police.
Recovery could take enough time for the van to be sriously abused. Provided that every precaution is taken (anti-theft devices/location of van - stored or in use) to the satisfaction of your insurers, and you have paid out a new-for-old premium then, providing that the necessary reporting to the insurer and police has been correctly followed, preference to getting a new van is perfectly legitimate and natural to one's feelings about what is/might be done to it.
Yes, I think this was my original point. What sounds like a good idea does need to be thought through & the reality is as pointed out. Theres little point in fitting a cheap tracker to an old caravan for a number of good reasons that have all been covered in this thread.
Quote: Originally posted by DaveCoaches on 18/2/2012
As people have already said; if their caravan is stolen, they would rather have the insurance pay them out and get a new caravan rather than have the old one back. I think this is a fair comment. If they have a tracker fitted and know where their caravan is then there is a good chance they will get it back and hate using it as they found it felt "dirty" afterwards.
If the owner would rather have the insurance pay them out to replace the caravan, why would they want to fit a tracker unless the insurance company asked for it or offered a discount for it?
If a tracker were fitted at the insurance company's request, the insurance company would insist on it being fitted professionally and being monitored by an approved company.
Without wishing to deride the product, no matter how good it is, if it does not fulfil the insurance company's criteria then they will not accept it. Furthermore, if the insurance company insist on a professionally fitted and monitored proprietory tracker and it later turns out that the actual tracker was one that was not professionally fitted, not monitored by an approved company and a was a diy fitted item from ebay then they would refuse to pay out.
Why then would anyone want to spend £50 on sometcan agree with hing it was not in their best interests to have?
The only people in the caravanning fraternity I can see this appealing to are those who have an older caravan with no insurance who would have to take the full loss if their caravan were stolen.
After already having had one van stolen, I can agree with most that Davecoaches has said, and those with similar views. After we found our van had been stolen we were actually keeping our fingers well and truely crossed that it wasn't recovered. Niether of us really wanted it back, and had it have been recovered, I'm 99% sure we would have got rid of it - so much so, that I reckon it would have been sold irrespective of whether we could have afforded a new van.
As far as I'm concerned, I will do everything I can to stop my van from being stolen (I keep my van at the same place as Tango55 and Chilephilly)....but once it's gone, it's gone. Trackers, whether they be £50 or £500 are for my insurance company not for me. I'd put a sticker in the window to say there was one fitted though! Cheaper then £50 and would service my purpose better.
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Topic: GPS Trackers only £50 so why ?
