How to Keep Your Van and its Con­tents Safe

Keep­ing your van safe from theft can be vital for the sur­vival of a small busi­ness, as both the van and its con­tents can be essen­tial for income, in terms of keep­ing busi­ness com­ing in, and replac­ing stolen equip­ment. Choos­ing the right secu­ri­ty mea­sures can save you thou­sands of pounds in missed work, and days of stress and insur­ance sorting.

Here’s 3D Autokeys top 8 tips to keep your van safe from theft: 

Invest in the best secu­ri­ty measures 

Whether you’re buy­ing a new van, or look­ing to make your cur­rent vehi­cle more secure, choose the best secu­ri­ty mea­sures for you. Some­thing that may seem like an expen­sive piece of kit now, could save you hun­dreds if it ful­ly pro­tects from theft. From immo­bilis­ers, to key­less pro­tec­tors to PIN entry sys­tems, there’s the per­fect sys­tem for you. Think about the most impor­tant secu­ri­ty ele­ments and choose the secu­ri­ty mea­sure that cov­ers that.

Choose your lock wisely 

Because vans can be such a tar­get to thieves, it’s advised that you install addi­tion­al locks. Slam­locks auto­mat­i­cal­ly lock a van door when it’s slammed shut to pre­vent thieves enter­ing the vehi­cle when it’s been left for a short amount of time. Dead­locks are fit­ted to van doors and work by using an exter­nal key to place a bolt into a receiv­er on the oppo­site sec­tion of the van. These locks are extreme­ly hard to pick as there’s no spring mech­a­nism that can be forced open. Lock pro­tec­tion plates go on your cur­rent locks and pre­vent thieves from break­ing them open. 

Don’t dis­miss the cheap­er options 

While the high-tech sys­tems are the best in pre­vent­ing theft, it’s impor­tant to use a com­bi­na­tion of secu­ri­ty mea­sures to ful­ly deter thieves. The cheap­er alter­na­tives can be used along­side a more com­plex sys­tem to give the appear­ance of obvi­ous vehi­cle secu­ri­ty. Steer­ing wheel locks, hand brake locks, stick­ers to warn that tools aren’t left in the vehi­cle overnight are all a good way to show poten­tial thieves you’re tak­ing van secu­ri­ty seriously. 

Always lock your van 

It may sound obvi­ous, but oppor­tunis­tic thieves are always on the look­out for unlocked vans. Espe­cial­ly in places where you’re like­ly to have left the car just for a few min­utes, such as petrol sta­tions and cor­ner shops. Ensure all doors and win­dows are closed and locked every time you leave the van, along with any addi­tion­al secu­ri­ty mea­sures you may have invest­ed in. You can also invest in extra locks, both inter­nal and exter­nal, along with dead­bolts for the door, to add an extra lay­er of security. 

Hide your valuables 

Hav­ing valu­ables on show inside your van can entice thieves and encour­age them to break in there and then, to get the valu­ables before you lock them away. Make sure all phones, lap­tops, bags, even sat-nav devices are hid­den away – or even bet­ter, tak­en with you. 

Keep an inventory 

If the worst does hap­pen, it can be use­ful to have an inven­to­ry to con­sult when mak­ing insur­ance claims. Keep a list of every tool you have in your van, so you can eas­i­ly check what has gone miss­ing, and what will need to be replaced. 

Think care­ful­ly about parking 

Park­ing your van in a well-lit, safe area can do won­ders in pro­tect­ing it from theft, as there’s plen­ty of vis­i­bil­i­ty which deters poten­tial thieves. Posi­tion­ing your van against a wall or rail­ing so the doors can­not be eas­i­ly opened is anoth­er good idea, as thieves won’t be able to eas­i­ly access the van and will move on to a dif­fer­ent vehicle. 

Pri­ori­tise security 

When pur­chas­ing a new van, make secu­ri­ty your num­ber 1 pri­or­i­ty. Don’t get side-tracked by fan­cy ele­ments such as heat­ed seats, focus on get­ting the best secu­ri­ty fea­tures for your mon­ey, such as alarms, immo­bilis­ers and deadlocks. 

Want more advice on how to pro­tect your van? Give our experts a call on 0115 952 2772 or browse our secu­ri­ty prod­ucts today!