Have you ever wondered what you would do if someone stole your vehicle, camper or RV if you live in it? I am writing on this subject because last night, while my friends and I were at a movie, their car was stolen. We are seen parking and getting out of our vehicle. An hour later, a group of young individuals come from off camera towards the row the vehicle was parked in. They tried three cars before successfully getting into my friends. This got me to thinking about emergency preparedness.
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The first thing they asked us when we talked to security was “was it unlocked?” They also asked us silly things like “are you current on payments?” and “does anyone else have keys that might have taken it?” Once those things were ruled out (they also checked to see if they had any cars towed) they reviewed security footage and saw what I summarized above.
What would happen if my vehicle (or worse) my camper was stolen?
If you haven’t read my article about being safe while traveling, now would be the time. In my safety plan I have the information I need such as the make, model, color, and my license plate of both my vehicle and my camper, including the camper’s serial number and my vehicles VIN.
Obviously, since I live in my camper and I need my vehicle to tow my camper, I have a different plan depending on which is stolen and also if both are stolen.
- Camper: I will stay in hotels for a bit and then make plans to acquire a new one.
- Car: I will hire someone to tow my camper to a campground spot and use the rental vehicle from my insurance to get around as needed.
- Both: I think I would migrate back to a relative or friend and just have to start over. The idea is for it to never come to this by making it difficult to steal or not worth the time and energy to risk getting caught stealing it.
Make It Hard To Steal
I have taken precautions to ensure nothing happens to my camper. To answer the first question, everything is locked all the time. When not connected to my vehicle, I have a tow hitch lock, similar to this one here with a combination lock. I don’t have to worry about misplacing my key or someone picking the lock. I only have to worry about them figuring out the combination. But one thing I have always been told, mainly because I am female, is that you want to make it hard for someone to do harm to you. In self defense, it’s scream, kick, fight, don’t leave yourself vulnerable, etc. Make it more trouble than it is worth. The same is no different for your camper. Make it as hard as you can for a thief to take it. Give them no reason to want it.
The u-shape trailer lock is made of heavy-duty steel and superior quality aluminum, won’t be broken by thieves. The tight fit of ratchet and the insertion hole will prevent thieves from prying open and drilling. Pretty much, unless you jack it up and put it on a flatbed, you’re not towing it out by the hitch.
Make It Identifiable
When we were filing out the police report they asked us to identify the car. Asked if we had stickers or anything to signify that this was their particular car and not the next persons. They told us they would have more luck finding it and getting it back to us because likely the people who stole it will scratch the VIN and put a fake one on there to mask that its a stolen car. Sure they might try to take off the stickers but the idea is to slow them down.
I used to think the people who make it obvious that they are living in their van or that it’s a touristy thing by putting a huge logo on it would make it a target for someone to want to break into it. Apparently, it would also be a deterrent for theft! So make your camper stand out and be obnoxiously obvious that it’s your camper. Don’t let it look like any other. Put stickers on it. Paint it a crazy color. Make it super identifiable. It would be easy to spot a bright yellow camper with a bright yellow tow hitch going down the road.
Make Sure There Is Evidence
Everyone knows that you need to have your vehicle and camper insured. However, in order for your insurance to process the claim quickly they need video evidence and a police report that it was indeed theft. How else do you prove that it isn’t just around the corner and you’re trying to make money with a false claim? Insurance fraud is illegal just in case you didn’t know.
If they took your vehicle and your camper was attached because you were out on a hike in the middle of nowhere, it isn’t like you would have access to security camera footage from a building like in our case. Our friend only parked where they did because of my injury. If it hadn’t been because I couldn’t walk a long distance, they might have parked farther way and it wouldn’t have been caught on camera! Out in the rural areas where people tend to camp, it’s unlikely there will be much footage to use but throwing an Apple tag somewhere might not be a bad idea!