Motorhomes and campervans are incredibly popular at the moment and if you were one of the many thousands who visited the most recent NEC National Motorhome and Caravan Show, you’ll have been pretty amazed at the footfall.
Due to Brexit, Covid, war, silicon chip shortages and the energy crisis, there is a distinct scarcity of vehicles and parts. Coupled with the continuing high demand, this has created a perfect opportunity for criminals.
The price that they can get for selling on stolen vehicles and parts has never been higher. So there’s currently a far greater incentive for them to target leisure vehicles.
As well as stealing entire vehicles, though, thieves can also purloin items from your ’van. Motorhomes are an appealing target because they often carry more in the way of high-value equipment than cars and once inside – with the blinds down – the thieves can rifle through it at their leisure.
In many ways, the theft of items from inside your vehicle is a more insidious crime than the whole vehicle disappearing – it’s as if somebody has violated your home space. This can be a deeply disturbing experience.
WHO IS STEALING VEHICLES?
It’s difficult to describe the typical leisure vehicle thief – they can range from the solo opportunist to large gangs of professionals – but specialist law enforcement teams dealing with stolen vehicle recovery often have to focus on those gangs of professional thieves, who will usually steal vehicles in Europe to sell in the UK, or vice versa. They are highly specialised and have connections to organised crime
