CRiS fees, checked 28 September 2026
| Service | Price | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| CRiS Check | £17.95 | Stolen, outstanding finance, insurance write-off and registered keeper, plus the number of previous keepers and the make, model and age, against the 17-digit CRiS number |
| Registering a used caravan in your name | £20.95, once | One fee for as long as you are the keeper; see CRiS caravan registration |
| Brand-new caravan | Free | The dealer registers the first keeper |
| Change of name or address | £15.95 | Issues a new security-marked document and Keep Safe card |
| Replacement registration document | £15.95 | Including VAT and postage; you need the VIN to order |
| Pre-1992 or imported caravan, check and registration | £72.99 | £53.00 of it is refunded if CRiS cannot register the caravan |
| Motorhome history check (CaravanCheck) | £4.99 | Motorhomes and campervans only, by registration: stolen, finance, write-off, mileage, plates and keepers |
What a CRiS check tells you
- Whether the caravan has been reported as stolen to the police.
- Whether it is recorded with outstanding finance with the specialist finance houses registered with CRiS.
- Whether it has been written off by one of the specialist insurers registered with CRiS.
- Whether it is registered to a named keeper. CRiS will not release the keeper's name without their authority, but it will confirm the name if you already know it, which is how you check the person selling it to you.
- How many registered keepers it has had, and its make, model and age.
What the check cannot tell you
It reads registers, nothing more. It says nothing about damp, the chassis, the tyres or the gas and electrics, and its finance and write-off results only cover the lenders and insurers that report to CRiS. The in-person checks are on how to check a touring caravan.
What is a CRiS number?
The CRiS number is the caravan's 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number. CRiS uses three names for the same thing: VIN, chassis number and CRiS number. Every caravan built in the UK since the scheme began in 1992 has one, and CRiS says it is made up of "the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI) code, axle description, manufacturer model codes, the date letter and a unique serial number". A touring caravan has no number plate of its own, so this is its identity: in CRiS's words, the VIN is "the first thing the police look for to identify a touring caravan".
What a CRiS number looks like
Seventeen letters and digits. The Caravan and Motorhome Club's identification guide gives SG7 S001CPN AB N 1234 as its worked example: SG7 is the manufacturer code (ABI), S001CPN the model and axle characters, AB the make, N the model year (1992) and 1234 the serial number. In the same guide Swift caravans start SGD, Bailey SGB and Elddis SGE. The year letter is decoded on our caravan age chart.
CRiS's system only accepts exactly 17 characters, and the etching is easy to misread: CRiS warns that 0 can be read as O, and 5 as S. Read it off more than one window and compare it with the paperwork before you type it in.
Where to find the CRiS number on a caravan
- On the main door to the habitation area.
- In the bottom right-hand corner of each window. CRiS notes the front windows are sometimes left out, depending on the model.
- Stamped on the chassis, often on the A-frame at the front. The Caravan and Motorhome Club's guide puts it on the nearside A-frame or chassis member.
- On additional markers around the caravan, for example in the door frame or the gas locker.
- On the CRiS Registration Document and its Keep Safe card, which should match the caravan exactly.
Caravans built since 2016 may also carry VIN CHIP® markings: CRiS says UK manufacturers adopted the scheme that year, and its kits add RFID chips, security labels, secure QR codes and microdots that carry the same VIN.
Fewer than 17 characters, or numbers that do not match
CRiS gives two reasons for a number shorter than 17 characters. A caravan built before 1992, or outside the UK, may never have been registered and will carry the maker's own serial number instead, which varies in length. Or the VIN has been tampered with. If the window etchings and the chassis stamp differ, CRiS asks you to contact it straight away. CRiS also notes that a replaced window can cause confusion. What to do next is on how to check if a caravan is stolen.
How to run a CRiS check
Read the 17-digit number off the caravan yourself
From at least two windows and the chassis stamp, not from the advert or a number the seller texts you. Every etching should show the same number.
Run the check online or by phone
£17.95 at cris.co.uk, or call CRiS on 0203 282 1000, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm. Have the VIN and a debit or credit card ready.
Compare the result with the seller and the paperwork
Give CRiS the seller's name and it will confirm whether they are the registered keeper. The CRiS Registration Document should be in that name, at the address where you are viewing the caravan.
Act on what it finds
Finance on the record means a settlement letter from the lender before any money changes hands; see caravan finance check. A stolen marker means walk away and tell the police. A write-off is covered below.
Register it in your name after you buy
The £20.95 keeper registration is a separate step, done online, by phone or by post; see CRiS caravan registration.
If the check shows a write-off
CRiS's own article on the check, published in 2018 and still on its site, splits written-off caravans in two. Category A or B caravans "cannot be registered and should only be scrapped/used for spares". Category C or D caravans need a CRiS Approved Workshop Scheme (AWS) workshop to inspect them after any repair "to confirm the caravan is clear to register", and CRiS advises they are inspected before being used on the roads. The insurance industry replaced categories C and D with S (repairable structural) and N (repairable non-structural) from 1 October 2017, and that CRiS article still uses the old letters, so phone CRiS with the VIN to confirm how a Cat S or Cat N caravan is handled before you buy one or pay for repairs.
If you find out after buying that the caravan is recorded as stolen
CRiS's advice starts with "don't panic". Call it on 0203 282 1000 with the VIN: it takes the details of your purchase, escalates the case internally and works with the police and insurers to establish who else has an interest in the caravan. Keep your receipt, the advert and every message from the seller.
CRiS check or a motorhome history check? One question decides it
Does it have an engine and a number plate?
If yes, you need a motorhome history check. If it is towed behind another vehicle, you need CRiS. There is no overlap and no product covers both.
| Touring caravan | Motorhome or campervan | |
|---|---|---|
| Registered with DVLA | No | Yes |
| Has a number plate | No (tows on the car's plate) | Yes |
| Has a V5C logbook | No: a CRiS Registration Document instead | Yes |
| Needs an MOT | No | Yes, class 4 whatever it weighs |
| Identified by | 17-digit CRiS number, etched on the windows | Registration number and VIN |
| Where its history lives | CRiS | DVLA, DVSA and the finance and theft registers |
| Cost of the check | £17.95 (CRiS) | £4.99 (CaravanCheck) |
There is no legal requirement to register a touring caravan with the DVLA, and no government process for doing so. That is why a caravan has no number plate of its own and tows on the plate of the car pulling it. The caravan industry's own register fills the gap: CRiS, the Central Registration and Identification Scheme, which describes itself as the national register of UK touring caravan keepers, "similar to the DVLA", and which has covered UK-built caravans from National Caravan Council members since 1992.
We do not sell caravan checks, and nor does anyone else
We would rather tell you this than take your money. If you are buying a touring caravan, go to CRiS directly. We get nothing from saying so.
Is there a free CRiS check?
No. The register belongs to CRiS and it charges £17.95 per check; no third party resells its data. A site offering a free caravan check by number plate is checking the tow car. What you can do free is read the etchings, compare them with the CRiS Registration Document and phone the Caravan and Motorhome Club's Theftcheck line, described on how to check if a caravan is stolen.
What a motorhome history check covers that CRiS does not
- Full MOT history, including every advisory and failure and the mileage recorded at each test.
- The DVLA record: tax status, MOT expiry, engine, weight and first registration.
- Mileage read across the whole MOT record, with rollbacks flagged.
- Outstanding finance, write-off category and stolen markers on the paid check.
Check a motorhome before you buy
Enter the registration for a free summary. Full history check £4.99.