Caravan is stolen from a storage site, but insurer says security conditions have been breached

Caravan insurance

We took on Ralph’s complaint when his insurer rejected his claim for his stolen caravan.

What happened

Ralph’s insurance company declined his claim after his touring caravan was stolen from its winter storage site. The insurer said Ralph hadn’t complied with the security conditions on his policy as he hadn’t fitted a wheel clamp to both axles.

How we helped

We checked the terms of his policy, which clearly explained that the caravan needed a wheel clamp fitted to each axle if it was left unattended.

The investigator’s report included a statement from the site owner confirming that he’d fitted a single clamp when he put the caravan into the storage site. Ralph also confirmed that he’d supplied the site owner with the single wheel clamp. However, the caravan had twin axles.

We looked at whether there was any evidence to show that Ralph’s caravan had been targeted. We found that other caravans had similar security in place and his was the nearest to the thieves entry and exit from the site. Because of this, we thought it unlikely it had been specifically targeted.

We agreed that as Ralph hadn’t fitted a clamp to each axle, he was in breach of the policy’s security condition. The purpose of the condition was to reduce the risk of theft, and as the caravan was stolen, we thought the insurer was entitled to rely on it.

Putting things right

We told Ralph we didn’t think he’d been treated unfairly and didn’t think the theft was covered under his policy.