do I need an alarm? (1 Viewer)

[CWH]

I have a 1-year-old MH with Tracker but with no alarm fitted. Do I need to get one? If so, what should I expect to pay?

 

[Hollyberry]

No idea about cost but I'd say yes. I thought all new vehicles came with alarms? ( you can tell age of vehicles I own)
After what has been on here last few days I'd say alarm it and chain it to your house.

 

[Jaws]

Would not be without.. and I always go for the best out there.. Eddie Van Bits does a really good one backed up by a top notch service.

It might not be cheap but what price peace of mind ? ( and it will reduce your insurance.. not by much but every little helps )

And it is REAL easy to buy tracker blockers nowadays.. Will not post details or where from for obvious reasons but I will say you can get them for under £20.00

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[grumps147]

It's probably a requirement of your insurance, or your premium will go up, that's if they will cover you with a newish vehicle. If you say you have one and havn't, be prepared to not have cover.

 

[peter marshall]

Hi
Yes same as above my Insurance Co wanted Cat 1 before Insuring my vans. Pete

 

[CWH]

No we haven't told our insurers that we have an alarm (I'd never risk giving insurance companies an opt-out!) however Grumps & Pete's posts above did make me phone them to check! They say they "don't set much store by alarms" and don't give any discount for it.
Reading various posts on Fun it seems that OWNERS feel alarms are necessary - so I'd be interested to hear reasons for (I don't imagine there'd be any against) but also I'd like to know the expected price range - I've had a quote which seems rather high, as with anything to do with MHs, but I want to check I'm not about to be ripped off! (It's not only criminals that do this.....)

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[Judge Mental]

waste of money IMO no one take any notice of a sounding alarm, just looked at as an annoyance. If not an insurance company stipulation why bother. As long as you have a Cat 1 immobiliser. cheap sleep safe window alarms and a safe does me. + £3 Scorpion alarm stickers on window from ebay

 

[DBK]

Our insurance also does not require an alarm. Lots of expensive vehicles like BMWs have alarms - and they get pinched. The thieves are just high tech these days. An alarm might deter an opportunist thief looking for a way to get home from the pub but are they going to choose a MH for that?

But I would be happy to admit it is very much a personal thing, we used to live somewhere where we often didn't bother to lock the front door of the house, not sure I would do that where we live now but there are no doubt high crime areas where an alarm might be sensible, or at least give some peace of mind even it might be a little illusory.

If you would feel better with an alarm - get one.

 

[wizzer59]

Needn't be that expensive, I think it was Brian (Hilldweller) who recommended this company, obviously you then need to facter in fitting the thing

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[MikeD]

Whether you have an alarm, tracker, wheel and steering clamps does not really matter.

All you need to do is make yours more hassle to nick than the other guy's motorhome down the road.

 

[Chockswahay]

We have an alarm but probably more a placebo than anything....

However each time I get insurance quotes the companies are more concerned with having a tracking device

The only bit I don't get is that is AFTER the horse has bolted

I agre with MikeD........ anything that makes yours MORE hassle than the next van is OK

 

[Barclaybasher]

....................


Asked Caravan Guard to quote with and without an approved alarm - £20 less with an alarm

Alarm would cost £300 minimum to fit..........

I haven't bothered fitting an alarm but will get the cheap battery door alarms

Edit - just bought 3 magnetic sensor alarms with remote from ebay £12.09 from China

........................

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[Roryboys Dad]

We have fitted an alarm.
If they try to break into the MH, during the day or night, when it's on the drive and we're at home I'd be outside and trying to stop them when the alarm went off before they could remove anything from inside the vehicle or stop them reversing off the drive.
If we were out they might pinch something, but I can't think of anything worth more than a few pounds that's permanently left in the MH, before anyone noticed but of such low value as to not be worth worrying about.
If we were in bed at night on holiday and they broke in the alarm would certainly wake us and the dog and deter them from entering once the alarm went off.
If they want to get in they will – it's the damage they do getting in that's the worry and if they know there's an alarm fitted they may look elsewhere and avoid your MH.
We fitted a relatively cheap alarm, compared to Strikeback, and it does give peace of mind.
But, and it's a big but, making sure your keys are virtually impossible to find by any thief is the best way to stop the theft of your Motorhome and that should be priority number one whether fitting an alarm or not.
If they have your keys – they have your Motorhome.

 

[Jaws]

We have an alarm but probably more a placebo than anything....

However each time I get insurance quotes the companies are more concerned with having a tracking device

The only bit I don't get is that is AFTER the horse has bolted

I agre with MikeD........ anything that makes yours MORE hassle than the next van is OK

Similar with motorcycle insurance. They are more worried that you have an alarm fitted than it be locked to something solid.

bike alarms are a REAL waste of money.. So it goes off.. when was the last time you went outside when you hear an alarm going ?
And they drain a bike battery in about 2 weeks if the bike is not used

More that once I have heard an alarm going inside a white van.. Always take the number and dial plod straight away cos you can bet your life there is a stolen bike in there

 

[mikebeaches]

We don't have an alarm on the van, although we take various other security measures when using it. I got the impression from our insurance company - Comfort - that there is a value threshold above which their underwriters insist on an alarm being fitted AND used.

Fortunately, from our perspective, our van is below that value. Alarms can be a hassle for a variety of reasons - the faff of setting them correctly, depending on whether in the van or not; battery drain when vehicle not in use; false alarms; something else electronic to go wrong etc etc. We prefer to keep things simple - we're on holiday after all.

We do take care of the keys at home and make sure they are well hidden.

Mike

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[Judge Mental]

If we were in bed at night on holiday and they broke in the alarm would certainly wake us and the dog and deter them from entering once the alarm went off.
If they want to get in they will – it's the damage they do getting in that's the worry and if they know there's an alarm fitted they may look elsewhere and avoid your MH.
We fitted a relatively cheap alarm, compared to Strikeback, and it does give peace of mind.
But, and it's a big but, making sure your keys are virtually impossible to find by any thief is the best way to stop the theft of your Motorhome and that should be priority number one whether fitting an alarm or not.
If they have your keys – they have your Motorhome.[/QUOTE]

even with alarm on if sleeping in van they can still force a window easily, reach in and fish out goodies without opening a door and setting the alarm off. How may just leave jeans a (wallets) and bags in front of van...... cheap window alarms help

 

[CWH]

Some fantastic advice everybody, thank you.
We're still uncertain - I think 'no', but Him Indoors is definitely a 'yes'! I'm re-posting here (should I just type "BUMP"???) to try to catch any poor Funsters that have been out working, or any lucky Funsters who've been out in the sun all day (we've had torrential rain all day). What do you think - do we need an alarm as well as immobiliser and Tracker, or is this a waste of money as Judgemental & others think?
In case H.I. wins out, we had a good look at Eddie VanBitz' Strikeback (thanks Jaws) which looks awesome. Are there others that Funsters would recommend?

 

[Gorse Hill]

Would not be without.. and I always go for the best out there.. Eddie Van Bits does a really good one backed up by a top notch service.

It might not be cheap but what price peace of mind ? ( and it will reduce your insurance.. not by much but every little helps )

And it is REAL easy to buy tracker blockers nowadays.. Will not post details or where from for obvious reasons but I will say you can get them for under £20.00

I have a tracker locate which is a monitored version that I pay a yearly subscription for do you think these blockers apply in my case
Thks

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[Fragle]

waste of money IMO no one take any notice of a sounding alarm, just looked at as an annoyance. If not an insurance company stipulation why bother. As long as you have a Cat 1 immobiliser. cheap sleep safe window alarms and a safe does me. + £3 Scorpion alarm stickers on window from ebay

You've not heard the the alarms from Eddie van bitz then. Can't fail to take notice and no false alarms. Helps me sleep at night anyway. Worth every penny

 

[Baggers53]

I agree with many off the comments on here....we do not have an alarm fitted but do use window alarms with flashing leds ( cheap on fleabay ). One thing We do on occasion ( depending on where we are, if you know what I mean ) is we fit a webbing ratchet strap fastened between the two front doors....then no one can get in either door and if anyone is close enough to look in then it is a visual deterrent .....Mike and Les

 

[joner8888]

A battery isolation switch --- they wont find it, they can`t start it

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[Judge Mental]

I agree with many off the comments on here....we do not have an alarm fitted but do use window alarms with flashing leds ( cheap on fleabay ). One thing We do on occasion ( depending on where we are, if you know what I mean ) is we fit a webbing ratchet strap fastened between the two front doors....then no one can get in either door and if anyone is close enough to look in then it is a visual deterrent .....Mike and Les

we have the milenco sleep safe alarms on all windows. Now have a pair of the Maplin door alarms that Jim mentioned on front doors. dont matter how loud an alarm is as you wont hear anything if they come through the windows. like I said most ignore alarms as a nuisance... especially the thieves......

 

[Jaws]

I have a tracker locate which is a monitored version that I pay a yearly subscription for do you think these blockers apply in my case
Thks

Yes, I am afraid so..
What they do is flood the vehicle with a broad powerful spectrum signal which does not stop the tracker signal getting out but stops the tracking device receiving a signal ( they work off of fone masts ).. So what you say..
Well all such things work on something called handshaking protocols
Your tracker sends a signal
The closest tower will receive the signal and retransmit it back to the tracking device with an added bit of data called a checksum bit

Your device cannot 'hear that so retransmits the first packet (depending on which protocol is used the packet will usually be only 8 bits plus check sum long ) of data again... and keeps doing so ad infinitum never getting past that first data burst.. And without any follow up answers it no usable information is ever actually transmitted

 

[eddievanbitz]

Lots' of personal opinions, which incidentally don't concur with the professional advice of most institutions that actually deal with crime on a day to day basis.

There are products on the market that, prevent theft of a motorhome by "key theft" You could have my ignition keys and my alarm key fob and not be able to start my motorhome.

Not all tracking systems use GSM signals to communicate. Jammers are not an issue in the real world of motorhome crime, I doubt if there is a single example of a motorhome being stolen, with the use of a jammer being pivotal. The Motor Industry Repair and Research Centre (MIRC) based in Thatcham, (Hence Thatcham approved) owned by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) don't see jammers as a credible threat to modern tracking systems.

If you were a thief and you were walking down the road surreptitiously trying door handles on cars and an alarm went off, do you honestly think that the thief would stand their with his hands up saying "It was me, take me away officer" !

Conversely, I personally don't think for one minute that if the majority of the posters on this site for example, would, if they saw a motorhome with it's alarm sounding take no notice!

Lets not confuse vehicle crime with motorhome crime. Over 70% of theft of ALL vehicles is theft from the vehicle. Now, that's ALL vehicles. Motorhomes are going to be in their own category. People will not steal your motorhome to go joy riding, nor for as a getaway vehicle, nor as a ram raiding vehicle. Neither is it sensible to expect that you could "nick" the majority of modern motorhomes and expect to sell it for a couple of grand in a pub "no questions asked"

The market is simply too small, and motorhomes too specialist.

You will, however, be far more likely to encounter some one who is a chancer, creeping round late at night wishing to avoid confrontation! These people are the easiest to deter. If they weren't afraid of confrontation, they'd simply knock on the door and threaten to stab you if you don't hand over your valuables! Consequently risking triggering an alarm system and waking people up, risking a confrontation is too much of a risk for many.

For many! That's the rub here. Professional gangs can steal anything right? Wrong! I broke into and hot wired a Compass Drifter motorhome in the late 1990's for MMM in 19 SECONDS! So I do know what I am talking about having been involved in the security of motorhomes since the late 80's

If I wrap your motorhome in steel re-inforced concrete and drop it in the Mariana Trench, the deepest hole in the Atlantic Ocean, no one would steal it! But it would be rather inconvenient for the owner as well, so all else is a compromise! But it makes the point, you can make it impossible to steal. But who is likely to be a risk to motorhome owners? Admittedly a few are stolen and it is frustrating for those people, and again to be frank those that are stolen tend to have no or inadequate security equipment installed.

The "retail" value of the contents of your motorhome, may be high, but imagine what a potential thief would actually "bother" to take? Money, cards, passports? a high end camera perhaps, iPad? iPhone? The truth of the matter is that none of these goods really have much of a value second hand, let alone stolen. Consequently, again, hardly likely to attract the attention of international super criminals.

There is an on going thread on Fun at the moment, where a con man has driven a van away and left a dodgy cheque. Imagine the peace of mind you'd get knowing that as it drives down the road, you can send it a message, which will track it, and as soon as the engine is stopped, it will be immobilised! All covertly, and noiselessly, leaving the Con man to assume he's "nicked" a motorhome that has broken down. Also, having nicked a motorhome that had broken down, he's hardly likely to call out the "AA" is he! This makes for a far more positive conversation with the Police.

Thieves can pick locks we are told, but we still lock our houses, and when we catch thieves we put them in jail and "lock them up" Why don't the thieves simply pick the lock and let themselves out? Probably because not ALL thieves can pick locks, and not ALL locks are equal!

Perhaps like alarms, they vary in effectiveness!

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[Jaws]

Cheers Eddie.. good post mate

 

[CWH]

Eddie, thanks so much, how fantastic to have such a detailed, objective & professional analysis of my question. Very much appreciated.