Van Tool Theft: How to keep your tools secure

Tool theft was on the rise in 2022, with a third of van drivers falling victim, according to a study by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. This is an 8.33% increase on the previous year when it was a quarter of van drivers.

On average the equipment stored in vans amounts to around £2,500, which means UK tradespeople are at a loss of an estimated £4.4 billion for replacement tools every year. Even worse, the study discovered that when tools are stolen, it stops work for six days on average, that would mean that businesses lose up to £5.2 billion annually.

It is no wonder the numbers are increasing, with three-quarters of van drivers admitting to leaving tools in their vehicles overnight. Less than half of van drivers were doing this in 2020, this has created greater opportunity for thieves. Only half of van divers have additional security such as, extra alarms, locks, and vehicle trackers.

How to keep your van and its contents safe

1. Lock your vehicle and put your keys in a safe place:

It is an obvious one – but easy to forget to do after a busy day at work, make sure to lock your van before leaving it unattended and give the handle a try to check it’s secured.

Leaving your keys out of reach will also stop thieves from easily stealing them through a window or letterbox, or even breaking in if they can see the keys from outside.

Key cloning is being used more and more by criminals, through intercepting signals to unlock vehicles, so putting your keys in a safe place away from the door is vital.

Remove tools and equipment overnight

We don’t recommend leaving expensive tools and equipment in any vehicle overnight. If you can remove your tools from your van overnight and store them in a secure place to minimize the risk of theft. As well as tools, make sure to not leave other valuables or tech devices on show which can easily catch the eye of thieves.

Park Intelligently

Clever parking can make it difficult to enter your van. Try and park your van so that there isn’t room to get in at the side, and so the back doors are up against a wall or garage. Always aim to limit potential access points as much as possible.

If you can park in a place that is well lit and visible, it is less likely thieves will target your vehicle as there is higher potential for getting caught.

Invest in Locks

Extra locks are an excellent way to add further protection and to get peace of mind. There are lots of different types of additional locks that you can have fitted to your vehicle.

Slam lock: Slam locks work by locking immediately after the door is shut, so for those who forget to lock their van or do multiple drop offs (where the van is left unattended temporarily) this extra break-in prevention method is a must.

Steering Wheel locks: This is mostly a visual deterrent as it is quite an outdated security method. Attempting to remove these without a key generates lots of noise which is very risky.

Catalytic Converter lock: Van catalytic converter thefts are on the rise; regularly stolen for their precious metals which can be sold on. Installing a specialist anti- theft lock can prevent this happening and help you avoid costly repairs.

Deadlock: This is a more secure lock than the standard van lock, a deadlock has no spring in its locking mechanism and will give vans an extra layer of security. This is ideal for vans that are unattended for long periods of time – but of course you still need to remember to lock the vehicle.

Fit an extra immobilizer

An immobilizer ensures that the vehicle can only be started by the correct key and the engine won’t start if thieves try hot wiring it. Vans made since October 1998 will have a factory-fitted immobilizer, but thieves are getting more clued up on the ways to avoid or get around them, so it may be worth getting an intelligent immobilizer fitted, which will be harder to avoid.

Get a tracking device

It can be difficult to track down a van or the contents once stolen as our finding have proved. Installing telematics devices or GPS trackers can help you, the police, or your insurance company to locate your vehicle if it has been stolen.

As always, we hope that you aren't fimilar with the above issues, and highly reccomend taking as many precautionary steps as possible.