Every 23 minutes a van is broken into and its contents are stolen in the UK. As a van owner, you’ll want to keep not only your contents safe and secure inside, but your van too. After all, for many owners, vans are the key to their business, and they’re what enables them to travel to their customers to carry out work.
Here, we’ll take a look at five top tips that will help you to ensure your van stays safe and secure.
Install Additional Locks
In addition to your standard door locks, one way to up your van’s security is to install reinforced deadlocks, or lock protection plates that will prevent criminals from prising out your locks.
Not only that, but whilst you should take out all tools from your van when you’ve finished for the day, the reality is that some equipment can be very heavy, and hard to manoeuvre on a daily basis.
This type of equipment can be stored in lockable toolboxes: steel safes with anti-drill locks that can be bolted to the inside of your van, keeping the contents inside safe from thieves.
Mark Tools With a UV Pen
Should the contents of your van be stolen, it can be extremely costly to replace them – or if you make a claim, you could see a sharp increase on your insurance costs.
Marking your tools with a UV pen can increase the chances of having your tools returned back to you. Whilst the ink itself may be invisible to the naked eye, it shows up clearly when exposed to Ultra Violet light. This makes it easier to identify and locate your possessions, should someone steal them.
Another thing to consider is keeping an inventory of everything that’s in your van, so you don’t lose track of anything. Keeping receipts for new items purchased can also be beneficial, should you find yourself needing to make an insurance claim.
Install Steel Window Grills
You can add in as many locks and alarms as you like, but the glass in your windows will still be the weak link in your van security system.
One simple way to make it stronger is to add in some steel window grills. They may be cheap to buy and quick and easy to install, but from looks alone they can act as a strong deterrent, not to mention they’re physically hard to get past too!
Take Advantage of Technology
When looking for a new van, bear in mind that they should be supplied fitted with both an alarm and an immobiliser as standard. These should be Thatcham Category 2 approved, which means that the immobiliser is included as part of the overall alarm system. However, there’s no harm in confirming this, so you can ensure your van meets the basic level of protection.
From there, you may decide to fit a tracker to your van, which will increase the chances of you recovering it, should it be stolen. More advanced systems can even alert the police about stolen vehicles, meaning you have a higher chance of having your van returned back to you.
Educate Staff on Van Security
If you’re a fleet manager in charge of a team of people, then the reality is that your van security is only as strong as the weakest link. Take the time to educate all staff on how they can keep their vans safe, by using the tips above.
If one person forgets to lock their van, leaves expensive tools in view, or doesn’t use security technology provided; then that gives thieves the opportunity to strike.
When you employ someone new, take the time to talk through them about van security as part of their on-boarding process, and perhaps schedule in some training on a six month or yearly basis, to ensure everyone’s knowledge is refreshed and up-to-date.
The total value of tool theft claims totalled £2.8 million in 2016, and you don’t want to be one of those victims. Follow these five tips to help keep your van – and the contents inside – safe and secure from criminals. For more tips and tricks on car safety and security, head on over to our FAQs page.