Tools Worth £83,500 Stolen Every Day

THE EQUIVALENT OF £83,500 worth of tools have been stolen every day for the past three years in England and Wales according to insurer Direct Line for Business.

More than £83 million worth of tools have been stolen across England and Wales in the last three years, while just three per cent are reunited with owners.

Since 2017, an estimated 217,000 tools have been stolen, with a third (33 per cent) of these reported in London. Yorkshire and Humberside (21 per cent) and the North West of England (12 per cent) also account for a substantial proportion of stolen tools.

It is also expected that these figures could be higher as no police forces from the South East, which accounts for a sixth of the population, responded to the FOI request. Based on overall UK figures, this means that the actual figure could exceed 260,000 tools going missing.

Overnight theft from vans

More than a quarter (28 per cent) are stolen from vehicles, while 20 per cent are taken from private residences and just 10 per cent go missing from worksites or places of business. The average value of a reported stolen tool is £385.

Nandita Borkakoti, Product Manager for Tradesperson at Direct Line for Business, said: “Our analysis shows that tool theft is proving to be a real issue for tradespeople across the UK.

“It is not only the inconvenience of having to get new tools, but tradespeople could also be missing out on work if they do not have the correct equipment to complete a job.

“We have recently enhanced our tradespeople policy to offer overnight tool theft cover from a vehicle as an added extra. We hope this will allow peace of mind and prevent too much disruption to the working day for our customers should the worst happen.”

In response to this issue, Direct Line for Business has launched ‘Overnight Tools cover,’ which carries an additional premium, which insures customers tools in a locked vehicle overnight.