Data has recently revealed that in 2022 across England, Wales and Northern Ireland tools were stolen every 15 minutes. This amounts to an enormous number of thefts. The consequences being: work carried out late or not completed at all as well as the stress and time lost sourcing replacements for the stolen items.
One source states that there was a 13% year on year increase in tool theft between 2021 and 2022 – which will have further increased the disruption caused to construction businesses across the United Kingdom. More than half of the tool thefts took place from a vehicle, some 55% – meaning there is also the added issue of having vehicle locks and windows replaced, damages repaired and so on. The most common location for tool theft is London, unsurprising to many given that the capital also has the single highest concentration of tradespeople and mechanics – with almost 60% of incidents occurring there.
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“Theft of tools is highly disruptive and incidents are clearly on the rise, something we have noticed over the past 18 months especially”.
“This highlights the importance of keeping tools secured at all times, especially while left in vehicles – as well as perhaps the importance of not keeping tools in vehicles overnight. The problem also highlights the need to ensure that hardworking tradespeople and mechanics who rely so heavily on their tools are fully insured and have the right type of cover in place that can then be triggered in order to get them back to a position of being able to carry out works”.
John Elliott
Head of Commercial
Plan Insurance Brokers
The impact and how to mitigate risk
It goes without saying that the vast majority of tradespeople and mechanics rely heavily on their tools. Once an incident of theft has occurred, the time and cost of arranging replacements can essentially halt their projects and even their business. So having adequate cover in place is paramount. As well as a policy that’s with an insurer that offers a fair, efficient claims service, that will help reduce potential delays and avoidable inconvenience. Equally, having a broker partner that understands their business and the risks involved in order to adequately protect their assets, bottom line and ultimately their reputation is also of comparable importance.
At Plan Insurance Brokers we have been protecting tradespeople and their businesses for over 30 years, we fully understand what is required to protect them and what it means to them when they fall victim to theft. We pride ourselves on being able to give our clients peace of mind that, should they need to, making a claim for stolen tools is both swift and effective – getting them back to business as quickly as possible.
Working with reputable insurers is a key element of this and we urge all tradespeople and mechanics to review their insurance arrangements to ensure that they have the right cover in place for any such incidents. For a full, free and no-obligation review of your business insurance arrangements, get in touch with us today and one of our experts will take you through the process.