EQUIPMENT THEFT INCREASES
What can dealers do to help customers?
by Service Dealer Editor, Steve Gibbs
 
Steve Gibbs

In what has been a thoroughly miserable week, I'm sorry to dwell on another depressing subject, but it's one which unfortunately persists in the outdoor power equipment industry - theft.

Agricultural insurers NFU Mutual have released their latest rural crime claims data which reveal that the cost of farm theft claims doubled in March compared with the same month in 2016, to more than £800,000.

Tim Price, the insurance firm’s rural affairs specialist was quoted in the Eastern Daily Press saying, “The sharp (national) rise comes after months when theft claims remained broadly static - largely due to increased security measures taken by farmers to protect their tractors and quads.

We’re currently drilling down into the figures to get a clear picture of what is behind the increase - but it’s already clear that the theft of a small number of very high-value tractors stolen with attached implements are responsible for around £200,000 of the month’s theft claims bill."

According to NFU Mutual, Quad and ATV thefts continue to make up the largest number of agricultural vehicle claims that they have to deal with. "Thieves are continually finding new ways of getting round security devices," Tim Price said, "and are also staking-out farms to find opportunities when quads can be stolen with little chance of them being spotted and challenged."

At this busy time of the year for farmers NFU Mutual believe that thieves are touring the countryside looking for opportunities to steal - so they are stressing to users just how important it is to secure quads whenever they are not in use.

With determined criminals there is of course a limit to what equipment owners can actually do to protect their property. Manufacturers including John Deere and Suzuki now use the Datatag powered CESAR system at source - factory fitting the security marking technology to Gators and ATVs.

Co-incidentally this week, dealers E Buckland Garden Machinery contacted us at Service Dealer to say how they, like a lot of other machinery dealers, have seen an increase in theft from customers properties recently.

As a result of such an incident Bucklands were visited by a local police officer, who during the conversation mentioned a scheme to record serial numbers on a dedicated website - www.immobilise.com.

Rich from Bucklands told us that they always record serial numbers on invoices and paperwork, but they have now begun suggesting to owners that they may want to register their equipment on the Immobilise site themselves.

In terms of what dealers can actually do to in the fight against equipment theft, advising customers to consider this scheme seems like a practical step.

It certainly can't hurt.

If you have any tips which you give your customers to protect their equipment from thieves, please feel free to share in the comments below.

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In this issue
EDITOR'S BLOG
EQUIPMENT THEFT INCREASES
NEWS
MTD MERGES WITH F. ROBOTICS ACQUISITIONS LTD
E.P BARRUS TO EXPAND
HUSQVARNA OFFER ROBOTIC TRAINING
NEW TEAM MEMBER FOR GGP
SWARDMAN CHOOSE KAWASAKI
CLAAS TO BUILD NEW TEST CENTRE
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