I am going to get my tools stolen

[chris day]

Hello Guys

Its not if its when i get my tools stolen as there will be one night or day an unforeseen lapse in preventative measures will occur and i except that.

The van has dead locks, and an alarm however what is the best way to insure (i.e good insurance firm) my tools and has anyone had a positive turn around from having their gear stolen in terms of an insurance pay back?

 

[telectrix]

take all tools and valuable gear off van at night. my PL insurance covers tools to £2000, but not had the misfortune to make a claim as yet. the problem is not getting your money from insurers ( which could take months ) but being without , so as you can't work. i'm lucky in that i live in a low crime rate area, and the van is parked less than 20 yards from my bedroom window. 2 pieces of 20mm black pvc conduit, taped together sticking out the window would deter any scally.

 

[The Ghost]

Yeah a pain in the butt but tools on and off each day. I do have a storage cupboard I rent which helps, in a secure place. But there is no way I would leave valuables in Van or Car overnight it is an invitation to steal my stuff.

 

[ruston]

As above two posts.
It's a pain , but the best way.

 

[Flanders]

As others have said always take tools out of van at night, but i have had tools stolen when loading up a van in a town center in between going back and forward, so if you have to leave your tools on a van get a van volt, and ingrave all your tools with your post code

 

[Zdb]

Security cameras pointing at your van might be a good enough deterrent.

 

[Specialist]

Security cameras pointing at your van might be a good enough deterrent.

Probably not, that's what they invented hoodies for . If your worried about it when it's on your own property, good & correctly placed security lighting is always a good first line of defense. Little scroats love the dark, don't give it to them.

 

[The Ghost]

There was a guy or two in fact that had their van emptied. Some thief going around with a master key for fords. Incredibly the same thief advertised on facebook the ill gotten gains. A few guys went round to see him........ouch!

 

[Specialist]

There was a guy or two in fact that had their van emptied. Some thief going around with a master key for fords. Incredibly the same thief advertised on facebook the ill gotten gains. A few guys went round to see him........ouch!

Think he might have had a sudden change of occupation .

 

[Toneyz]

The issue with tool insurance is that they have so many conditions, your tools are not insured on site.If you make a claim you only get what the tool is worth at the date it gets stolen you also in most cases lose at least a day not being able to work.
The best thing is making it hard as possible to get stolen

 

[Phil Thompson]

It was £73 a year extra for £5000 tool cover, no need for additional locks etc, only stipulation was needed to be behind a gate or in garage at home.

 

[Rpa07]

Wouldn't be so bad if you had a second of everything ready to go in the unlikely event of the theft. Let's face it you wouldn't be back on the road by lunchtime the same day or the next if you had to get new tools.
Only thing to do is make it as difficult as possible in the first place.

 

[hightower]

Unload on a night, takes two minutes and also helps me keep van tidy. Then van gets backed tight to the garage doors. CCTV pointed at it too.

 

[Marti]

Currently running around in a people carrier. An open invite to theft but that's what apprenticeship money will fund. This means four load-ups / unloads per day. Hours wasted but it appears only a brick garage has any chance of keeping kit safe; even in a good van. Plastic boxes and crates help. Low value stuff in clear boxes left in the vehicle reduces some of the time lost and, as said above, it does keep the vehicle tidy. Fer gawd's sake; plaster's vans get done and they only have a few bits so sparky vans must be the crown jewels. Pity the ol' bill aren't interested.

 

[Sparkysoldman]

Had ours broken into while doing a 5 min job we were a bit lax on the security van was locked but no dead locks or van safe.

When we phoned insurance we couldnt see how they got in

Found out the next day they cut the wiring loom between passenger door and wing

Phoned assessor to advise just before he was about to phone us and reject claim as no sign of break in !!! LESSON MAKE SURE THERE IS DAMAGE TO THE VAN OR THEY WILL REJECT ANY CLAIMS SAYING VAN WASNT LOCKED
If it ever happens again there will be signs of a break in if you get my drift

apart from that the claim was straightforward,as we lost more than the coverage we just gave them copies of invoices up to value of coverage and they paid.

We also claimed on PL insurance and in fairness as we had lost a lot more than the covererage they even waived the £100 excess

That said the 2 claims didn't get close to the actual loss so still ended up out of pocket.

Note if you claim on both you have to tell both you are claiming on both they won't allow you to make a profit from double insurance which is fair enough

Security now.

1 Dead locks on all doors.
2 vansafe for high value items
3 Van emptied overnight and weekends
4 parked on drive with cameras (with audible warning) to phone
5 Van backed up to wall and cars parked around it so doors can't be opened
5 floodlights all round property
6 if I had my way dog would sleep in van but Mrs won't have that I would love to see the result of the scumbags being on the sharp end of him


As for the police complete waste of time !!

I'm resigned to the fact it will happen again but what can you do!! The world we live in is full of thieving scumbags who have no respect for other peoples property