CRIME WATCH
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Every week CM'S Crimeline column carries a litany of misery in its reports of truck theft. But do insurers ease the pain by paying claims promptly or do hauliers pay a double penalty in the form of hiked premiums?
Clint Irving of Irving Transport Services, Newcastle upon Tyne could be forgiven for feeling picked on. Since moving to his present depot at Swalwell in October 1900 his company has suffered a series of 33 crimes including the loss of three vehicles. The latest to go was his 7.5-tonne Ford Cargo which was stolen in June (Crimeline CM 23-29 June).
Last year Irving faced a 100% hike in his insurance premiums and he attributes at least half this to the vehicle thefts. Now he is bracing himself for yet another rise when his premiums become due at the end of the month. But he feels no animosity toward his insurers and says he can understand why the premiums have had to go up.
Irving reserves his criticism for the police who, he says, have been of little help: "The police are just not interested. This time they didn't even send anyone along. We phoned up, they took the details and we've heard nothing from them since."
Fearing that an organised gang was operating because of other lorry thefts from the same area in the same week, Irving wrote to his local police station to ask for advice.
"Certainly two, if not three, other vehicles were stolen. One of those was also a red Ford Cargo like mine. It seems to me to be more than coincidence. They are taking commercial vehicles for a particular purpose and in my opinion it warranted some sort of investigation," says Irving So far he has received no reply. "Even if they investigated and came back at the end of the day and said sorry we have found nothing, you would feel better about it. Hearing absolutely nothing you get the impression that they just don't care."
Irving's depot is situated in an industrial area and he runs a general haulage fleet of five Ford Cargos and two MANs on tight operating margins which don't allow much spare cash to spend on security.
Break-ins
Despite the history of break-ins at his yard his insurance company has not offered any advice on security, an area in which he would welcome help: "If the insurance company had said 'if you fit security devices it would bring down your premiums', I would go out and make the investment and spend the time having them fitted," says Irving. "I am sure that would spur everybody into action."
But the fitting of anti-theft devices doesn't always deter the more determined thief, as Alan Lewis of Harvey Container Company found out when his Mercedes-Benz 1317 curtainsider went missing from his Tottenham yard in May (Crimeline, CM 19-25 May). The thieves cut through the hasp on the padlocked gate in a
10ft fence and then overcame both an alarm and immobiliser to take the vehicle. This was the second vehicle to be stolen from the company this year—a Daf curtainsider disappeared in April and last year the company lost another Daf curtainsider. Lewis estimates that in the past 17 months the company has had more than £100,030-worth of vehicles stolen.
As usual it is the victim who has to pay the price of truck crime. Lewis has hired a truck at £1,000 per week to replace his missing Mercedes.
"We feel we have been set back three or four years by these thefts," says Lewis. "We were just starting to buy new lorries and now Ws back to searching for secondhand ones. It guts us really" Lewis is considering fitting tracker units. The speed with which the thieves overcame both the immobiliser and alarm on the Mercedes makes him suspicious about what happens to the vehicle's keys when they are out of his sight.
The company's new Mercedes-Benz cost nearly £40,000 nine months ago but Lewis only got £27,000 from his insurers, and even though he expects to see a hike in his premiums he is not bitter. "The insurance company has been really good about it, and you can't lose that amount of value in lorries and not expect your insurance to go up. Because we are in Tottenham, which is one of the highest risk areas for break-ins and fires, we were afraid that they would refuse to insure us anymore which meant we would have to go to contract hire. You pay three times as much doing that as you would buying your own lorries," says Lewis.
Also in a high-risk area is Ellis Distribution in Essex. This general haulage and distribution company operates eight vehicles from its depot on an industrial estate in Shoeburyness. The yard is fenced and a mobile security firm checks every hour throughout the night. Despite this thieves took a Mercedes-Benz 1617 after cutting a hole in the fence (Crimeline CM 30 June-6 July). The company usually fits immobilisers but the vehicle had only been with Ellis for three days and he had not had the chance to fit one before the theft.
Transport director Simon Ellis shares Clint Irving's opinion of the police: "The police came round on the night it was stolen and I haven't heard a thing since. I thought that at least they could show some interest. We had one vehicle on the site which we had forgotten to tax for 10 days and we are getting done for that. But they won't come and see if they can find our Mercedes. I don't mind being done for the tax if they would just show some interest in our missing Mercedes but it seems that that's about all they can manage to do," says Ellis.
Ellis is facing the loss of his no-claims bonus and expects to see an increase in his premiums. However he too has no complaints about the way his insurers have treated him: "The insurance company treated us reasonably well. They sent the assessor round who has done the paperwork, but we are still looking at a couple of months at least before they pay out" Third-time unlucky seems to be the case for selfemployed fruit and
veg wholesaler Christopher Rigg. In June his Ford Cargo 0813, his only vehicle, was stolen for the third time from the Ashford, Kent industrial estate where he parks it (Crimeline CM 30 June-6 July). The vehicle was stolen and quickly recovered twice before, but this time Rigg doesn't hold out much hope of seeing the truck again.
Now he is faced with having to hire a truck three times a week to stay in business. After the previous thefts Rigg's insurance premium went up £200 and he had to spend £450 to have new locks and a replacement steering column fitted. The Cargo was fitted with a heavy-duty steering wheel lock but to no avail: "It's true that the steering lock can't be cut with bolt cutters but all they do is remove the steering Wheel or cut through it and slide the thing off. If they want a commercial vehicle they are going to take it," says Rigg.
Rigg too is unimpressed by the way he has been treated by the police: "I had a letter from the inspector in charge of the case saying that as the vehicle had been stolen twice before they would be taking a close interest in it and would keep me informed. But since that letter I have not heard a thing from them.
When the vehicle was found twice before Rigg says "The police phoned and said 'we've found your lorry' and that was it, case solved. To my mind the police attitude is if the vehicle is recovered that's it. 'No matter if we catch the people, the good news is we have got your vehicle back—end of story'. I had to go and pick up the truck from a council estate where it was left unlocked and unattended with no sign of any police. For all I know the people who nicked it could have been sitting round the corner watching."
Faced with the current surge in
interested'
Clint Irving Irving Transport Services
commercial vehicle theft fears are growing that insurance companies will consider attaching conditions to policies. A crackdown has been announced on luxury 4x4s by Norwich Union. The top-end off-maders have replaced 'hot hatches' as the most likely vehicle to be stolen in the UK so the company is offering discounts to existing customers who fit alarms and immobilisers. Vehicles registered after 1 August will not be considered for cover unless they are fitted with approved security devices.
Discount
At present Norwich Union offers a 10% discount on individual commercial vehicle polices if the vehicles are fitted with tracker systems, but there are no immediate plans to extend the type of restrictions imposed on 4x4s to CVs: "We are not aware of any particular type of truck that is especially at risk," says James Duffell of Norwich Union. "However, if suddenly we see specific commercials being targeted then it would be a possibility." If asked for advice the company refers policy holders to the Thatcham-approved list of security devices.
Eagle Star Commercial offers 10% discount on vehicles fitted with Thatchamapproved devices and can arrange a risk management survey of a haulier's fleet operations and premises. The company also publishes a commercial fleet risk manage-ment booklet which is sent to all fleet policy holders.
Royal Insurance has a range of advice on offer including its Fleet Management System. Experienced motor engineers give advice on repair and theft prevention as well as the management of the fleet.
General Accident says it is looking at the problem of growing CV theft and is currently reviewing the situation.
El by Paul Newman