When costs rise and people are left in difficult situations crime rates especially theft typically also begins to increase. The cost of living has risen significantly which is impacting both households and businesses. Now is a good time as a business with vehicles to review your safety procedures and policies to avoid potential theft of items from vehicles or the vehicles themselves.
There are several ways you can protect your van from a break in or theft, some of these may be obvious but it is always good to remind drivers to be vigilant and follow the advice provided, especially at a time when people may look for easy targets to make extra money. These points can be taken and directly passed on to your drivers to help them take measures to protect vehicles.
Always lock the vehicle
This one seems obvious, but it can be easy to forget especially if you are transporting several goods from the vehicle to another location and already have your hands full. You may be tempted to leave the van open during this process. This provides an opportunity for thieves walking past to take items from your van when you aren’t looking. Always lock your van and check that it has locked properly. This will not only help save you from an issue but if the van isn’t locked you may not be eligible to claim on your insurance.
Avoid advertising van contents
Although van livery can be very helpful to advertise your business on the move, there are some instances where you may want to avoid openly advertising what is being kept in your van. If you carry very expensive equipment that is likely to be a target, then we suggest avoiding advertising this on the side of your van.
Avoid leaving items in your van
Where possible drivers should take expensive tools and equipment out of their van overnight. Stickers can be used to deter potential thieves and let them know that no tools are kept in the van overnight. Although this isn’t a guarantee it could be enough to deter thieves and encourage them to move on.
Secure parking
Choosing a secure parking space is essential to minimise the risk of your vehicle being stolen or broken into. Avoid leaving your van on the road or in poorly lit areas. If you leave you van on your drive overnight, you could consider installing CCTV or automatic lights to deter thieves. If vans are left in a central location installing fencing, locks, lights, and CCTV cameras are recommended to protect vehicles from theft.
Extra parking measure
Extra measures can be taken to secure a parked vehicle. These include backing up to a wall to protect the back doors or parking the side of your van close to a wall, if you have a van that opens at the side. Both measures will help to stop thieves being able to easily access your van doors.
Leave keys in a safe place
Thieves have been known to break into houses to steal keys and drive off with a van before the owner has had a chance to notice or stop them. It is important to keep your keys in a safe place and avoid keeping them near the door, if they are kept too close then thieves can use devices or hooks to retrieve or clone them.
Vehicle security measures
There are some additional measures you can take to protect your vehicle from a break-in these include the following:
- Adding slam locks and deadlocks
- Adding steering wheel locks
- Adding immobilisers
- Adding tracking devices to find your vehicle if it is stolen
- Some dash cams have parking mode which can record footage in the event of a break in.
Vehicle modifications
If you’re purchasing a new vehicle or have had persistent issues in the past you could consider buying vans without a window panel on the back. Or replacing the back window panel with a solid door. This will help to stop thieves breaking into the van through the glass and taking goods from inside. It also stops thieves having any visibility of what is kept in the van. Opportunist thieves may decide to break in and take items from the van if they can see they have been left through the window panel.
