Discuss I am going to get my tools stolen in the Electrical Tools and Products area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

Reaction score
92
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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.

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

And that is exactly the problem.

And to be fair, when the police do catch people, there is usually some well-paid defence laywer who will say that they had had a bad upbrining or some such excuse which will mean they only get a suspended sentence. Makes me mad.
 
I know this post isn't too recent but I had all of my kit taken earlier this year, our apprentice had all his taken in the same manor.

I have since adopted the "take it out" attitude, yes it's a pain, but it gives me massive peace of mind. I have two decent sized Makita bags, one of which has all my "daily" power tools in, the other which contains my power tools that I don't use as often. Both bags have shoulder straps, which makes it easier. Each night I carry in both bags, fluke tester box and makita radio, I can do this all in one trip now after getting the technique right. Then on certain days when I take 240v SDS or something similar, obviously it requires a second trip. But hey, I know I won't have to splash out again and replace it all!

Unfortunately the apprentice didn't adopt this attitude, despite being advised. Two weeks ago, dejavu took place and his van was empty again one morning.
 
'Like' button given but really intended - 'sorry for all the trouble but glad that you are changing the way that you look after your precious tools' - but there isn't a button for that yet @WillWX
 

Reply to I am going to get my tools stolen in the Electrical Tools and Products area at ElectriciansForums.net

Electricians Tools | Electrical Tools and Products

Thanks for visiting ElectriciansForums.net, we hope you find the Electricians Tools you're looking for. It's free to sign up to and post a question yourself to find a tool or tool supplier either local to you, or online. Our community of electricians and electrical engineers will do their best to find the best tool supplier for you.

We also have a Tiling Tools advice from the worlds largest Tiling community. And then the Plumbers Forums with Plumbers Tools Advice.

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock