Motorhome Insurance from Shield Total Insurance
We are proud to announce that Shield Total Insurance are our preferred insurer for motorhome insurance. As a CaSSOA storage site...
Owning a caravan or motorhome is a great way to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, but it’s important to have peace of mind that your home is safe and secure. Ian Clark, head of smart security sales at our security partner SECOM, goes through his advice for protecting your property while you’re off in your leisure vehicle.
I’ve recently enjoyed trips to Cornwall and the Highlands in a motorhome and understand that feeling of freedom you get from this type of holiday. But the only way you can truly relax is if you know you’ve made all the right security preparations before you’ve set off.
My first piece of advice is to secure all your windows and doors. That way you can be sure no opportunist thief will try and get in without using any force. Also, make sure it’s not immediately clear you’re away, as these two factors together can be a welcome mat for burglars.
Things like mail visibly piling up by the letterbox or deliveries sitting on the doorstep are a clue you’re not at home. You can enlist the neighbours to help you out on these points, but SECOM’s smart doorbells also lets you talk to delivery drivers to ask them to reschedule your parcel for another time.
Even if you’re not going to ask your neighbours to take parcels in for you, it’s always a good idea to tell them when you’re going away. If I hear something in a neighbour’s garden while they’re on holiday I always go and investigate.
SECOM’s external cameras come with analytics that identify the type of entity coming on to your property. For example, you can set up notifications to tell you if a person or vehicle is coming up the drive, but you won’t be disturbed if it’s something else.
After all, you don’t need to know there’s a fox on your drive while pitched up in your caravan at 3am. If it were an intruder and you were camped somewhere remote with no signal, however, SECOM’s monitoring team would notify your designated keyholder instead.
External cameras are also a good idea if you’re going to keep your caravan parked on your drive when you’re not using it. Knowing a vehicle is on your property could stop thieves hitching your caravan to their tow bar and driving away from it.
Have you ever had that nagging feeling that you forgot to lock the front door? It’s a difficult one to check if you’re already several hours up the motorway en route to your favourite caravan park. Luckily, SECOM’s smart security allows you to set up a geofence - this half a mile parameter is linked to your mobile device and lets you know if you leave it without locking up.
It’s not the only thing you can control from your phone, as the Smart Security app lets you set your alarm remotely. This can be particularly useful if you’ve organised for someone to come and feed the fish or turn your lights on at various points in the day. Once they’ve gone, you can reactivate the alarm.
Alternatively, you can complete multiple operations with the press of a single button on the app by using scenes. A ‘Home’ scene for example may turn off your alarm, light up your porch and open the garage door as you’re coming up the drive. That’s just the welcome home you’d want from a relaxing caravan or motorhome break.
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