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Truck crime: UK is seen as the pariah of Europe
Page 11
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• by Guy Sheppard
Haulage customers are still unwilling to cover the cost of protecting their goods in transit even though the LK is now seen as the pariah of Europe in terms of truck theft.
That is the view of Rob Cook, an insurance underwriter who sits on the Joint Action Group on Organised Lorry Theft (JAGOLT), a working party which is backed by the Home Office.
You occasionally get good customers who work together with hauliers but in the majority of cases haulage is regarded
very much as a commodity purchase,'' he says.
Cook, who specialises in freight liability insurance with Royal & Sun Alliance, says customer attitudes will have to change if there is to be any hope of establishing a network of secure truck parks across the country. This is because haulage rates are too low to cover any costs for enhanced security.
Tony Allen, another member of JAGOLT, says some motorway service station operators would want to charge about £25 a night for secure parking— which is four times the current level (CM 21-27 Feb).
Cook says as far as he is aware most insurance premiums for commercial vehicles only cover third-party liability and external damage. Theft is not yet a major premium issue but this could be about to change.
He reports that earlier this month a group of German underwriters told him the UK is now the worst country in Europe for haulage theft. "Historically, Italy was regarded as the pariah of Europe for haulage theft," he says.