Really only posting to see if anyone has had this problem or anyones thoughts. Recently went to look at a caravan we were very interested in. Had a good look around the caravan to get a feel for it and jotted down the numbers on the window. Phoned up the CRIS security check to make sure their was nothing outstanding on the van but when I read out the numbers to them they said the van was not on there system. They said from the numbers they could tell the make, model and year but other than that they could'nt tell me anything else. They informed me that the only way this could be was either the caravan was never CRIS registered (by the way its an 05 year) or the numbers have been altered. Whist I was looking over the van I checked wether the numbers had been tampered with but there was no visible evidence. Any thoughts would be welcome on this.
ask the seller for the cris registration certificate or an explanation why it has not got one ..reasonable explanation would be that the dealer never did it ..as people think that it is the dealers reponsibility, when in fact it is the new owners as a fee is payable ...also if it is the sellers first caravan it could be a feasable excuse ..my thoughts only ..
If it is a British made caravan then the manufacturer will have given Cris the details when new but if it has never been registered with them could it be possible it was nicked off a dealers forecourt while brand new? What have the current owners got to say? if they bought it second hand they should have registered it with Cris. Its possible they could have bought a stolen 'van in good faith. If this is true & you report it they will lose the caravan.
Unless it is a European made 'van that was purchased abroad by a private buyer, then it will not be Cris reg unless the original buyer did it himself once it was in the UK. its possible the numbers you are reading off the glass is the serial number or summat that identifies make/model of 'van.
All I can say is if you cannot establish absoulutely that the present owner has legal title to the 'van then walk away, you have plenty of choice of caravans at the moment. Whether you want to report a possible stolen caravan to the police is your choice.
Unfortunately in this country Cris is all we have. If a new owner of a caravan cannot be bothered to register with Cris as the new owner then the whole system breaks down.
------------- Sell my camper? I'd rather eat school semolina!
If a new owner of a caravan cannot be bothered to register with Cris as the new owner then the whole system breaks down.
There may be many owners, who like me who knew nothing about the Cris scheme when they purchased their van secondhand. I had owned my van three years before I found out about registering ownership with anybody, by that time the people I bought it from had left the country, (That was the reason for selling the thing in the first place.) So how do I register, with out any proof of purchase except a hand written receipt, that could have been written by anybody at any time.
just me maybe,i would walk away if no proof of ownership or conformation from the dealer as to its legality.you stand to lose a lot of money.ask which dealer he got it from and they will have a log of the CRIS number from when it was sold by them.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
When we bought our van some years back from a dealer (the van is 1992 model) we were given all the info with it and it had been registered previous to us...... we had to pay a small fee to have it re registered in our name and then received all the relevant documents to prove this from CRIS. Maybe people aren't told to registered or can't be bothered paying.
Steve W 77 you still will be able to register your van with CRIS, I bought a secondhand van and all I had was a scruffy handwritten receipt to prove ownership, I phoned CRIS and they said I had to send a cheque for £12.00 and they would re-register the van into my name after they made some enquiries, it took about 6 weeks in total as they had to write to previous owners and check it hadn't been reported as stolen, they did say that even if they could not contact a previous owner that as long as it didnt show up as stolen it could still be registered to my name, this was only last year and now the van is CRIS registered to me.
CRIS is a voluntary scheme for UK caravans; there's no obligation for anyone to register. If you have the VIN number you can still do an HPI check to see if there is any financial interest in the 'van.
Many if not most Eribas aren't CRIS registered - when I enquired they wanted to issue me with a new VIN number as the Eriba one is incompatible with their system I could see this causing more problems than it solved (different number on windows from chassis) so I didn't bother.
You are correct of course Steve W 77, Cris is little known outside the world of caravanning so yes I agree a new caravanner may not know about about Cris & it is up to the selling dealer/private owner to tell him.
At the risk of repeating meself on several current threads. the way forward imho is DVLA registration & numberplating of caravans, then buying/selling of caravans would be no different from buying/selling cars with reg docs being filled in & sent off.
As far as the government is concerned caravan ownership is a black hole. The theft of a £15k caravan is regarded as no more serious than stealing a jar of coffee from Tescos, so we are stuck with Cris I guess.
------------- Sell my camper? I'd rather eat school semolina!
Quote: Originally posted by dadsbeaniemad on 27/9/2008
What sort of schemes do they run elsewhere then?
In most other European countries, caravans are registered same as cars & have their own numberplate. the same systems that licence cars also licence caravans. so in this country this would mean DVLA registration of new caravans whith their own numberplate by the selling dealer exactly like a new car.
If you look at Dutch/French/German caravans you will see its numberplate is not the same as the towcar, this because the caravan itsself has its own numberplate.
In France for instance all trailers over 500kg must be registered & the are also subject to a 2yearly MOT which would be a good thing here.
------------- Sell my camper? I'd rather eat school semolina!
Steve W 77 you still will be able to register your van with CRIS, I bought a secondhand van and all I had was a scruffy handwritten receipt to prove ownership, I phoned CRIS and they said I had to send a cheque for £12.00 and they would re-register the van into my name after they made some enquiries, it took about 6 weeks in total as they had to write to previous owners and check it hadn't been reported as stolen, they did say that even if they could not contact a previous owner that as long as it didnt show up as stolen it could still be registered to my name, this was only last year and now the van is CRIS registered to me.
I am in exactly the same position as Steve I have a receipt from the
Dealer and most of the information for the van but no CRIS docs or handbook I managed to get a photocopy of the hand book from Swift
and I,m not sure if its worth getting a Cris Document?
------------- Cheers Jim.I Reserve The Right To Be Wrong.
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Topic: CRIS Number advice
