So you’ve bought a new caravan and now you have a massive list of tasks you need to complete, from arranging storage to sorting insurance. CRiS registration may or may not be one of the tasks on your list, but is it even necessary?
CRiS registration isn’t compulsory or legally required, although all caravan owners should register their caravan. Some insurers require you to CRiS register your caravan and it helps police quickly determine a caravan’s owner if a stolen tourer is recovered.
While CRiS registration technically isn’t required, you should register your tourer for a variety of reasons. In this blog post, I’ll explain why you should register your ‘van as well as how you can and how much it costs.
Why You Should CRiS Register Your Caravan
There are several reasons that you should CRiS register your caravan, despite the fact it isn’t necessary by law.
In some respects, you could argue that CRiS registration is necessary depending on how you look at it. Even if registration isn’t required by law, it is required for a lot of important processes.
For example, CRiS registration is requested by some insurers when you take out a policy and when you make a total loss claim.
As part of another blog post regarding CRiS registration, I had the opportunity to speak to Liz Harrison, PR & Marketing Manager at Caravan Guard. Here’s what she said.
“When a caravan owner takes out an insurance policy they must provide the caravan’s unique CRiS number as it links a caravan to its keeper.” Liz Harrison, PR & Communications Manager at Caravan Guard said.
“It doesn’t affect the insurance premium but the CRiS number or VINChip identification system helps the police to identify a caravan if it was stolen and then recovered. A total loss claim would also not be processed until the CRiS documentation was provided to Caravan Guard.“
As you can see on the inforgraphic below, I’ve given 5 reasons that you should register your caravan at CRiS.
I’ll explain each of the reasons above in more detail, but here are the key reasons that you should CRiS register your caravan:
- Easily verify ownership: With your CRiS documentation, you can easily verify that you own your caravan. There are numerous situations where you might need to verify ownership. For example, when you’re travelling abroad you may need to verify caravan ownership at some point. If you have your CRiS documents, which are recognised Europe-wide, you can rapidly demonstrate you own your tourer.
- Helps police quickly locate owners of stolen caravans: If police recover a stolen caravan, locating the owner can be challenging. However, if a recovered caravan is CRiS registered, police can check the system, locate the owner, and then return the caravan to them. Presumably, most caravan owners would want their stolen tourer returned, so this is a good reason to register yours.
- Speeds up the process of selling your tourer: If your tourer is CRiS registered, it can speed up the selling process. You can rapidly verify that you own the caravan, therefore making the process a little quicker.
- Needed for claims: This little-known piece of information is very important. Many caravan insurers will not pay out on a total loss claim unless you provide your CRiS registration documentation. If your caravan isn’t CRiS registered, this could cause big problems for you. The last thing you need in the event of a total loss claim is to find out your insurer won’t pay out!
- Needed to insure your caravan: While this isn’t true for every caravan insurer, some insurers will not insure your caravan if it isn’t CRiS registered. While CRiS registering your caravan isn’t legally required, it is quite essential if you’re going to purchase tourer insurance.
So while you don’t have to CRiS register your caravan from a legal point of view, it undoubtedly makes sense to do so. Particularly if you’re going to insure your caravan, you must CRiS register your tourer.
Next, let’s have a look at how much the CRiS registration fee is.
How Much Is The CRiS Registration Fee?
CriS registration isn’t free, but it doesn’t cost very much.
The CRiS registration fee is a one-time £15.00 payment. After CRiS registering your caravan, there are no additional payments.
CRiS registration is relatively cheap, especially when you consider all the benefits of it that I mentioned above. To be honest, I think CRiS registration really is necessary, especially when you consider some insurers necessitate registering your caravan.
On the other hand, some people argue that CRiS registration is a waste of time. In fact, a comment from one person said, “the £15 is better spent on a bottle of champagne.”
I think the main reason that you should CRiS register your caravan is because insurers often require it. Therefore if you intend to insure your caravan, CRiS registration is essential. If you don’t intend to insure your caravan, there’s no point CRiS registering it either.
Obviously one of the main benefits of CRiS registration relates to locating the owners of recovered caravans. However, I saw several caravan owners state that they wouldn’t want their caravan returned if it was stolen. One person went as far as saying, “that’s why I pay for insurance!” If you feel the same, it’s probably worthwhile considering whether you should CRiS register your tourer!
If you are interested in CRiS registering your caravan, click here to go to the registration page and get started.
How Can I Check If A Caravan I’m Interested In Is CRiS Registered?
If you’re looking into purchasing a second-hand caravan, it’s important to check if it’s CRiS registered. By performing a ‘CRiS Check‘, you can find out if:
- The caravan has been reported as stolen
- The caravan was recorded with outstanding finance
- The caravan has been written off by the insurer
- The caravan is actually registered to the person you’re purchasing it from
As well as all of the above, a CRiS Check will reveal how many previous keepers of the caravan there have been, the current registered keeper of the vehicle, and the make, model, and age of the tourer.
It’s simple for you to find out if the caravan you’re buying is CRiS registered.
- Go to CRiS.co.uk/cris-check/
- Select ‘start your CRiS check’
- Fill out the form
Once you fill out all the information required on the form, you will be told all the information you need about the ‘van. This is an essential step, particularly when you’re purchasing a second-hand caravan privately.
If you’re purchasing a second-hand caravan from a reputable caravan dealer, you won’t need to get a CRiS check. The dealer will have done all the necessary background checks prior to purchasing the caravan from the previous owner. However, this really is essential if you’re purchasing a second-hand caravan privately.
It’s worth noting here that you will have to pay a small fee for a CRiS Check. At the time of writing, a CRiS Check costs £14.95. For the peace of mind it will provide, however, it’s probably well worth the investment.
CRiS Registration: Is It Worth It?
While CRiS registration isn’t legally required, most reputable caravan insurers require you to submit CRiS registration documents as part of a total loss claim. Furthermore, some insurers won’t let you take out a policy if your caravan isn’t CRiS registered.
I’d say for the sake of £15, it’s worthwhile CRiS registering your caravan. Even if you never need to us your CRiS documents, you save yourself a lot of hassle for £15. For example, speeding up the sale process by easily proving you own the caravan.
If you’d like to read more about CRiS registration, it’s worth reading my article Is CRiS Registration Worth It? Thank you for reading!
