How to protect your van and its valuable contents

It’s time once again to talk about keeping your commercial vehicle and its contents safe. It has been said before that the best way to protect your van and its valuable contents is to use common sense. If would-be-thieves can see and take stock of the tempting tools in your unattended van, then that is just asking for trouble. It’s best to store tools and equipment where they can be hidden and never leave expensive tools inside the van overnight. Of course, you do already know this, but I recently read statistics from Commercial Vehicle Direct Insurance Services, which showed that since 2008, UK tradespeople have lost over £75m due to thefts from their vehicles. That’s an astounding amount that also showed the average value of tools stolen from a van estimated at over £1,900.

According to Commercial Vehicle Direct Insurance Services, the hotspots which have been hit by the most costly thefts in the past five years are:

· London Metropolitan – £30.6m

· Yorkshire - £10m

· Essex - £5.3m

· West Midlands - £4.2m

· Greater Manchester - £2.9m

If your van doesn’t already have a security system in place, you may consider equipping it with visible and audible warning devices like a wheel lock, immobilization devices, or alarm system, as these are good deterrents. You can also use a tracking and recovery system, but as mentioned before, the best way to keep your van and tools safe, is to always utilise common sense approaches. To avoid becoming part of the statistic mentioned above, never leave keys in the van with the engine running, don’t hide a spare key in the vehicle, close all windows and lock all doors when not in the van, park in a well-lit area and when at home, keep your vehicle in the garage, and don’t leave valuables in sight.