Theft of materials

[Chris164]

Hi I am not sure where to post this question so hopefully this will be ok. I am a self employed electrician and on Wednesday night I had nearly £2000 of materials, lights, cable etc stolen from the lock up on a job I was working on. I only have public liability insurance so I cant claim from that ( I know I need to improve my insurance) I cant get hold of the chap in whose project it is to see if I can claim on his insurance as he is out of the country. I was wondering if I end up having to buy the whole lot again can I claim the money for the stolen material as a loss on my self assessment return. Any advice would be great.
Thanks

 

[trev]

Best ring your accountant with that one mate, that's the kind of info you pay them for but I'd guess it would be allowable.
What kind of lock up are we talking about here? Was it a container or just a shed?
All insurance companies are scumbags who will use any excuse to get out of paying up when you claim so be careful what you tell them.

 

[telectrix]

in my terms and conditions it states that all materials, once on site, become the responsibility of the customer but remain the property of Telectrix untill paid for.

 

[HandySparks]

in my terms and conditions it states that all materials, once on site, become the responsibility of the customer but remain the property of Telectrix untill paid for.

That's a good point, tel. I must update my T's and C's to include security of on-site materials.

 

[Octopus]

Ouch. Not sure I'd be leaving that much on a site - locked up or not!

 

[PEM]

My golden rule is I only leave on site what the customer has already paid for albeit only domestic setting.

 

[telectrix]

My golden rule is I only leave on site what the customer has already paid for albeit only domestic setting.

good plan. like it.

 

[Adam W]

If you have to pay for it all again I'd say you could certainly claim it back as a loss. Maybe worth phoning the filth for a crime reference number to cover your backside. I'd give them a call straight away.
Definitely see if you can claim it back on the main contractor's insurance though.

 

[Welchyboy1]

Wow, thats a big hit your likely gonna take, i can imagine what the client will say when you ask him if hes insured

i would never leave anything on site thats not installed, too many light fingers about

what happened was it a break in or did it just go walkies