Tool Theft Now Costs UK Tradespeople an Average £2,646, Simply Business Reveals

• Tool theft cost UK tradespeople an estimated £98.9 million in 2025, according to insurer Simply Business, with the average claim up 24 percent on 2020’s figure.
• Over half of the 645 tradespeople surveyed had experienced tool theft, and 94 percent of victims never got any of their equipment back.
• Whole-van theft has fallen 98 percent in the two years to 2025 as vehicle security improves, but thieves have switched to “peel and steal” break-ins that target the tools inside instead.

Anyone who drives a van full of tools for a living is carrying a business asset that thieves have got faster at taking. Simply Business, one of the UK’s largest insurers of tradespeople, says tool theft cost its customers an estimated £98.9 million in 2025, with the average claim for stolen tools up 24 percent on the 2020 figure. Separate analysis puts the average individual claim at £2,646, a figure that covers the tools themselves and not the earnings lost while a tradesperson is off the road waiting to replace them.

The scale of the problem is laid out in a survey of 645 tradespeople carried out for the insurer: more than half said they had been a victim of tool theft, and 94 percent of those said none of their stolen equipment was ever recovered. Nearly two in three (65 percent) believe the problem is getting worse, against just 2 percent who think it is improving, and three in ten said the threat of theft was putting people off entering a trade in the first place. Those findings sit alongside a wider count of 87 different trades that Simply Business has identified as victims of tool theft over recent years, from builders, carpenters and electricians to plumbers, heating engineers and joiners, underlining that this is not a problem limited to any single corner of the industry.

Thieves have changed tactics, and vans have not kept up

The nature of the crime has shifted sharply in the past two years. Whole-van theft, where the entire vehicle is stolen, has fallen 98 percent over that period as immobilisers and tracking systems have made driving off with a van far harder. Thieves have adapted rather than given up: Simply Business’s claims data shows “property damage” is now the most common recorded cause of a tool theft claim, the signature of a “peel and steal” attack, where a van’s rear or side doors are forced open with a crowbar or similar tool, and the tools inside are taken while the vehicle itself is left behind. Early 2026 claims data confirms the trend has continued rather than faded.

Geography plays a real part in the risk too. Simply Business’s claims data shows East Anglia accounts for 17 percent of its tool theft claims, the highest of any region, followed by the Midlands on 15 percent, South East England on 13 percent, North East England on 12 percent and South Central England on 11 percent. A tradesperson working across one of these regions is statistically more exposed than one working elsewhere in the country, though the survey makes clear that all 87 different trades identified in earlier Simply Business research, from builders and electricians to carpenters and joiners, have reported losses.

Julie Fisher, UK chief executive of Simply Business, said the company paid out more than £57 million in claims last year to support its nearly one million customers, of which some 300,000 are tradespeople. For many of them, she said, tools are not simply equipment but their livelihood, and losing a van full of kit costs more than the replacement bill: it costs the working days spent unable to take on jobs while new tools are sourced and insurance claims are processed.

The mental toll is measurable too. Among tradespeople who had experienced tool theft, 77 percent said it had negatively affected their wellbeing, a figure the insurer links directly to the financial exposure involved: most trade insurance policies have excesses and cover limits that mean even an insured claim rarely covers the full cost of replacing a complete set of tools at short notice.

The economics behind the rise are easy enough to follow once the claims data is laid out. A tool theft claim is expensive for an insurer to settle relative to many other small business claims, which is part of why premiums for standalone tools cover and combined trade policies have been climbing broadly in line with claim costs. A tradesperson who has never made a claim can still end up paying more at renewal simply from a wider claims environment that has worsened around them, even where their own risk profile has not changed at all. That pattern, insurers argue, is exactly why prevention is worth the effort: every claim avoided keeps the pool of premiums lower for everyone paying into it.

Can you avoid it

No security measure makes a van’s tools completely theft-proof, but Simply Business’s own claims data points to a handful of steps that measurably reduce the risk. Locking every door and window every single time, even for a two-minute stop, removes the single most common opportunity thieves rely on. Parking with the van’s rear or side doors flush against a wall, fence or railing physically blocks the “peel and steal” method that now accounts for most claims, and choosing a well-lit spot with visible CCTV adds a further deterrent thieves tend to avoid.

Removing tools from the van overnight, rather than leaving them locked inside, eliminates the risk entirely for the hours when a van is most likely to be targeted and unwatched. Where that is not practical, heavy-duty padlocks or specialist locking devices that fasten tools to the vehicle’s bodywork make it far harder for a thief who does get inside to leave with anything valuable. Upgrading factory-fitted locks to aftermarket deadlocks or slamlocks, and fitting a smart alarm system rated Thatcham CAT 1, the highest tier the Thatcham Research group tests, both raise the effort required to break in far beyond what an opportunist thief is usually prepared to put in.

Marking tools with paint or a permanent marker and recording their serial numbers, make and model does not prevent a theft, but it materially improves the odds of recovery and speeds up any insurance claim if the worst happens: 94 percent of currently unrecovered tools were never marked or logged in a way that let police trace them back to an owner. Keeping van keys in a signal-blocking Faraday pouch away from front doors and windows closes off the electronic relay attacks that have made some keyless vans vulnerable without a single window being broken.

Finally, checking that a trade insurance policy actually includes tools cover, and understanding its excess and any per-item limits before a claim is needed rather than after, is the difference between a genuine safety net and an unwelcome surprise. The average claim has risen 24 percent on the 2020 figure, so a policy taken out even a few years ago could well no longer reflect what a full set of tools would actually cost to replace today.

A growing number of tradespeople are also turning to small Bluetooth or GPS tracking tags attached to individual power tools, which can alert an owner’s phone if a tool moves outside a set radius and, in some cases, help police locate stolen kit before it is sold on or stripped for parts. Registering high-value tools on a free national property database such as Immobilise means a serial number is already logged and searchable if police recover unmarked or dumped equipment in a later, unrelated stop, closing part of the gap behind that 94 percent non-recovery figure. None of these extra steps cost more than a modest one-off outlay, and each one stacks on top of the basic locking and parking habits that already account for most of the difference between a van that gets targeted and one that does not.

Sources: Simply Business, tool theft research and claims analysis (reported via Installer Online, published 31 March 2026, updated 30 March 2026); Simply Business Tool Theft Hotspots regional claims data, 2025 and early 2026.