Installer Support
Beating the thieves before they get you
The last few years have seen a major rise in theft from vans owned by installers and other trades . The impact can be quite significant and result in major disruption and cost . Ben Dyer of Powered Now looks at ways for reducing the chances of it happening as well as reducing the impact if it does .
According to research from Direct Line , tools are stolen from a tradesperson ’ s vehicle in the UK every 20 minutes . That ’ s over 28,000 cases a year . To use a personal example , my former house in Devon sits on a road mainly leading to housing and it gets very little through traffic . Despite this , in the recent past , a couple of different trade vans parked in the road have been broken into and their tools being stolen . The Northwest has the highest tool thefts per resident in the country , but the problem exists everywhere .
This article looks at the ways that you can reduce both your risk and the impact should the worst happen .
Do the simple stuff first
Because something is simple and cheap isn ’ t a good reason to ignore it . Some simple things to help with van theft are :
• Use a steering lock or a brake lock : it makes a statement to the potential thief
• Use wheel locks
• Always park your van overnight in a locked garage or in a well-lit area if possible
• If parking on your drive , at least fit some of the following : movement detecting lights ; cameras ; a lockable gate ; and CCTV
Thieves hate honest work . So , make sure that stealing from you will involve lots of hassle .
Get the right insurance Although it should only be your last line of defence , you need to consider your insurance cover . With costs rising due to increasing incidents , it ’ s important to align the things you do to reduce the risk of theft with minimising the cost of insurance . Remember that van modifications can invalidate your insurance so be careful .
Figures from the insurance industry say that the average claim relating to theft from light commercial vehicles is nearly two thousand pounds . Make sure you have arranged comprehensive insurance and that you keep the invoices for your most expensive items .
The insurance industry has a research arm called Thatcham which accredits security solutions . If you use accredited equipment you will benefit from a triple whammy – the solution should work well , will be acceptable to the insurance industry and should lower your premiums too . There are three levels of security : Category 1 , Category 2 and category 2 / 1 . These are well worth looking into .
Direct Line has some specialist policies including “ Tools Essentials ”. This aims to get tradespeople back to work quickly , replacing essential stolen tools within 24 hours , although conditions apply .
You should check exactly what ’ s included in your insurance and whether a replacement van will be provided in the case of theft .
Choose your van wisely
It ’ s worth prioritising van security in choosing your vehicle . No van is 100 % secure , but the Association of British Insurers ’ ( ABI ) has a Group Rating system , administered by Thatcham . The ratings are available via their MyVehicle search tool . This means that you can easily check how
secure any potential van is which will also help to minimise the insurance cost .
Don ’ t let them simply drive away or help themselves
If thieves can avoid physical exertion and risk then they will both be much happier much more up for targeting you and your van .
One of the most embarrassing failures can happen where a van is left unlocked and thieves either help themselves or simply drive away . This can happen when picking up materials , on site or when paying for fuel . So , when you are loading , unloading or paying for petrol , keep the van locked and the windows closed as this is actually when it can be at its most vulnerable . One protection is to fit slam locks so that doors always get locked by default . It stops reliance on you ( or your staff ) bothering to lock the doors explicitly every time .
In pursuit of an easy job , thieves can steal or buy skeleton keys , or scan for the wireless signals that your key fob generates . They then replicate it to fool your van into thinking the key has been pressed . This is mostly silent , and the system sometimes will even disable any alarms .
72 AUGUST 2022 CLEARVIEW-UK . COM