Caravan theft spikes in 2022 – Atec Group

Caravan thefts rose by 7% in 2022 as camping and caravanning holidays boomed following a relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions.

That was according to insurance group Atec, which highlighted in its InsureMy Caravan Security Report that there were 375 of cases during 2022, up from 351 in 2021.

The report, which was released today (14 August 2023), also revealed that out of those incidents, people aged 60 and over experienced the most loss.

The average value of theft was £6,135 for those aged 60 and over – this dropped to £3,064 for those over 20 years old.

James O’Hara, commercial director at Atec Group and InsureMy, said ”insurers and any firm with an interest in leisure insurance will find this data useful”.

“It suggests patterns to where the risks lie that could result in a claim and action that can be taken to mitigate it,” he added.

Risk mitigation

The research further highlighted that security alarms in caravans were not the most effective crime preventative measure.

Over 70% of those aged 70 and above had a security alarm, compared to 41% for those aged under 30.

However, out of the caravans stolen in 2022, only 11% were recovered.

Meanwhille, just 2% of reported thefts resulted in a perpetrator being charged, while in 7% of cases a suspect was found but charges were dropped.

Atec’s research followed market researcher Mintel highlighting earlier this year (13 April 2023) that the total number of camping and caravanning trips reached an estimated 16.7m in 2022, a return to pre-pandemic levels.

Atec Group compiled the report using quote and claims trend data from InsureMy, crime data from 10 UK police forces and survey data through CaravannersUK, the Caravan Storage Site Owners’ Association (CASSoA) and Zoho Survey.