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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 3:44 am
Time: 3:44 am
Results for construction equipment theft
2 results foundAuthor: Sturmey, Tony Title: Plant Theft in the UK & the Industry Response Summary: Construction Equipment (usually referred to as Plant) is commonly found at building sites and roadworks. The term “Plant” covers a variety of equipment from handheld portable tools to large earthmoving equipment and mobile cranes. There are many types of plant covering a wide variety of uses including such items as generators, excavators, and access platforms. As technology progresses, Plant has become more compact. A side effect of this is that Plant has become easier to steal. Like anything which has value and for which there is a ready market, machinery and equipment is highly susceptible to theft. For Plant, the risk is greater, as most items can be either carried away or, in the case of a large proportion of mobile plant, started with the use of a single common key. The precise extent of the problem in financial terms is open for dispute, but it is accepted the problem is commonplace in the UK costing in the region of £1.5 million every week, with mini-diggers alone producing annual estimated losses of around £20.0 million. The principal victims of Plant theft are the contractors, the Insurers, banks and financial institutions. Uninsured losses to the Plant owner are estimated to be twice the value of the item stolen and reflect the cost of delays and administrative expenses that arise following the theft. Once stolen, equipment is rarely recovered. Until recently, the recovery rates for Plant were in the region of 5%. This compares to 70% for other vehicles such as cars. There are numerous causes for this wide discrepancy, not least of which is the lack of any uniform and centralised data registration system for recording Plant identification. In fact, even when it is recovered, items of Plant often remains unidentified by Insurers who lack specific details of what was insured and Owners who, having received monies from their Insurers, have already replaced the stolen items. In the UK Insurance market it is common practise to write policies on a “blanket” or unspecified basis. As a result Insurers often do not have the specific details of the Plant they are covering, no idea if the declared New Replacement Value is accurate and very little idea how it’s being protected against Theft. Only in situations when the Plant is hired out do Insurers retain, at least some possibility of recouping their losses under Hire Conditions that may make the Hirer responsible for loss or damage. In an effort to combat theft, the “Plant Theft Action Group” (PTAG) was formed in 1996 as a Home office advisory body under the auspices of the Vehicle Crime Reduction Team (VCRAT). The Home Office produced the first version of its Security Guidance Document in 2002. Despite the efforts of this and other industry groups, until recently little progress had been made, as Insurers, manufacturers and users failed to find a common basis to move forward. The picture that emerges is that overall Plant is poorly protected, with mini-excavators and trailer/towed Plant being particularly vulnerable. Details: International Association of Engineering Insurers, 2010. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 2, 2012 at http://www.imia.com/downloads/external_papers/EP44_2010.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.imia.com/downloads/external_papers/EP44_2010.pdf Shelf Number: 127100 Keywords: BurglaryConstruction Equipment TheftCosts of CrimeProperty CrimesTheft Offenses |
Author: National Insurance Crime Bureau Title: 2012 Equipment Theft Report Summary: his report, co-produced with the National Equipment Register (NER), examines heavy equipment theft data submitted by law enforcement to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and profiles that data according to theft state, theft city, theft month, equipment manufacturer, equipment style (type) and year of manufacture. The report also examines heavy equipment recoveries in 2012 based on those same criteria. NER is a division of Verisk Crime Analytics, a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) company. In 2012, a total of 10,925 heavy equipment thefts were reported to law enforcement-a decrease of 7 percent from the 11,705 reported in 2011. When compared with the 13,511 reported thefts in 2008, there has been an overall 19 percent reduction in heavy equipment thefts. Texas ranked number one in 2012 with 1,401 reported thefts. In second place was North Carolina with 1,037 thefts followed by Florida in third with 890 thefts. In fourth place was California with 686 thefts, and tied for fifth-Georgia and South Carolina with 595 each. The top five cities with the most thefts were Houston (163); Miami (107); Conroe, Texas (83); Oklahoma City, Okla. (79) and Fresno, Calif. (64). The three most stolen heavy equipment items in 2012 were: Mowers (riding or garden tractor: 5,363); Loaders (skid steer, wheeled: 1,943); and, Tractors (wheeled or tracked: 1,459). Heavy equipment manufactured by John Deere was the number one theft target in 2012 followed in order by Kubota Tractor Corp., Bobcat, Caterpillar and Toro. As for recoveries, only 20 percent of heavy equipment stolen in 2012 was found, making it a costly crime for insurance companies, equipment owners and rental agencies. NICB urges equipment owners to incorporate theft prevention strategies into their business practices and recommends the following theft prevention tips:Install hidden fuel shut-off systems; Remove fuses and circuit breakers when equipment is unattended; Render equipment immobile or difficult to move after hours or on weekends by clustering it in a "wagon circle," Place more easily transported items, such as generators and compressors, in the middle of the circle surrounded by larger pieces of equipment; Maintain a photo archive and a specific list of the PIN and component part serial numbers of each piece of heavy equipment in a central location. Stamp or engrave equipment parts with identifying marks, numbers or corporate logos; Use hydro locks to fix articulated equipment in a curved position, preventing it from traveling in a straight line; Use sleeve locks to fix backhoe pads in an extended position, keeping wheels off the ground. Details: Des Plaines, IL: National Insurance Crime Bureau, 2012. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 17, 2013 at Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://www.nicb.org/File%20Library/Public%20Affairs/2012-NICB-HEreport.pdf Shelf Number: 131784 Keywords: BurglaryConstruction Equipment TheftCosts of CrimeEquipment TheftProperty CrimesTheft Offenses |