February 2007

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Vehicle vandalism costs Scottish business

‘VAN-DALISM’ COSTS SCOTTISH BUSINESS £2.2 MILLION A YEAR

Petty criminals and vehicle vandals are costing Scottish businesses £2.2 million a year, according to figures released today by small business insurer MORE TH>N BUSINESS1. The firm revealed that 10 per cent of all business vehicle claims in Scotland are caused by crime such as theft and malicious damage, with the average claim costing around £2,000.

The impact on the Scotland’s small businesses doesn’t just stop at damage to the vehicle, however. Owners also lose valuable business when vans are off the road and in repair, sole traders are unlikely to be able to work at all and micro business owners with small fleets will find that productivity is severely affected.

‘Van-dalism’ makes up nearly a quarter of all UK crimes2, despite being punishable by immediate arrest, an on-the-spot fine or in some cases, an Anti-social behaviour order (ASBO). The crime costs the UK’s purse over £2 billion every year in clean-up and other associated costs3. Yet despite this, a significant proportion of crimes go unreported. According to the Federation of Small Businesses, crime against small businesses is reported in less than half of cases

Mark Christer, director of MORE TH>N BUSINESS, said: “Van-dalism is a problem for Scottish small businesses. It often leads to postponed work and may even result in firms having to turn down work. This doesn’t bode well in terms of future cash flow but more importantly it may damage a company’s good reputation. Not only is this type of crime an added stress, but often theft of a business vehicle means that owners of small businesses have to invest in new tools to replace those that have been stolen – the average cost of a tool box is around £4,0004″

As an incentive to make sure vans are properly protected, MORE TH>N BUSINESS will be offering a £50 free fuel voucher to all new van insurance customers that sign up before 30th April 2006. For more information on MORE TH>N’s van policy, please call 0800 072 0077 or log onto www.morethanbusiness.com.

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