In 2020 Logistics UK carried out research on Van crime, looking at the size of the problem and the impact it has on the industry, in a recent study by Comparethemarket.com they have forecast Van crime will increase by 60% by 2030!

In 2020 Great London was the worst place for Van Crime with the Metropolitan Police reporting almost 5000 vans stolen in 2019 with just over 13,000 incidents of contents theft during the same period. The van in 2019 which was the most vulnerable was the Ford Transit and it was still in the top 10 in 2020 along with Mercedes.

Van ownership in the UK has now passed over 1.5 million and the Ford Transit remains the most popular of all van purchases.

The impact of van crime on the business and the owners of small businesses weighs heavily, especially in areas like construction when most tradespeople will be running their business from their vans, packed with tools and equipment that takes them from job to job.

Axiom Personnel works with a wide range of tradespeople including electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and groundsmen, all whom will be carrying the vast majority of their tools in their vans overnight and especially on contract jobs. Many contractors, will work away from home during the week and travel to where the work is, we have contractors based all over the UK.

Sadly more than half of the builders in the UK have been the victims of van crime and have of those crimes were the windows being smashed, so often opportunist crimes.

In 2022 there were 33 vans stolen every day and the predictions are that this will go up to 56 a day by 2030, impacting van and tool insurance, this, in turn, will have an effect on daily rates for these subcontractors, who are already able to charge higher than average rates due to the lack of skilled tradespeople currently available.

There are a few simple things that can be done to reduce the likelihood of your van being broken into.

Think about where you park, the statistics are higher off-street rather than on a driveway and back up to a wall or fence and then can reduce the opportunity of peel and steal thieves.

If you can remove the most valuable items each evening, get a van safe and don’t leave things in the cab on the passenger seat.

 

If you are looking for competent tradespeople for your site or next construction project, get in touch with Liam in our Romford office.