Tools and equipment damaged in an accident
The van is only half of it. If your tools, stock or equipment were damaged in a non-fault accident, that is a separate claim, and it is one of the most commonly missed.
If somebody else caused the accident, they are responsible for what it cost you. That includes the vehicle and the contents: tools, stock, equipment and anything else damaged in the impact.
It is a separate head of loss from the vehicle itself. It has to be claimed for specifically, and if nobody raises it, nobody pays it.
Why this gets missed
Everyone focuses on the vehicle. It is the obvious damage, it is what the engineer inspects, and it is what the insurer wants to talk about.
Meanwhile a snapped SDS drill, a bent laser level and four hundred pounds of copper in the back go unmentioned, and the claim settles without a penny for any of it.
By the time most people think of it, the van has been cleared out and the damaged kit has gone in a skip. That is the moment the claim becomes very hard to prove, which is why this belongs at the start of a claim rather than the end.
What can normally be claimed
If it was in the vehicle and the accident damaged it, it is worth raising.
Hand and power tools
Drills, grinders, saws, levels, testers and the rest of the kit. Individually modest, collectively substantial.
Stock and materials
Copper, cable, timber, tiles, plasterboard. Anything you had bought and could not use afterwards.
Racking and van fit out
Shelving, ply lining, drawer units and load restraints, which are rarely covered by the vehicle valuation.
Specialist equipment
Test meters, thermal cameras, surveying kit, laptops and tablets used for work.
Customer goods
Items you were carrying for somebody else, including deliveries and goods being taken to a job.
Personal items
A child seat, a phone, glasses, clothing. Small individually, but they belong in the claim.
Lost tools as well as the van?
Call us before anything is cleared out. Getting the evidence right at the start is what makes this claim recoverable.
What to do, in order
Do these five things and this part of the claim becomes straightforward.
Photograph everything before it moves
In the van, where it landed, before anybody tidies. Wide shots showing the context, then close ups of each damaged item.
Do not throw anything away
Damaged tools are the evidence. Bag them, box them, keep them somewhere dry until you are told they are no longer needed.
Write the list while it is fresh
Every item, make, model, roughly when you bought it and what it cost. Do this in the first few days, not in six weeks.
Find whatever proof you can
Receipts, bank statements, trade account history, order confirmations, even a photo of the tool in use on a previous job.
Get replacement prices
What the same item costs today from a normal supplier. That is the figure the claim is built on, not what you paid five years ago.
New for old, or wear and tear?
This is where these claims are usually argued.
The principle is that you should be put back in the position you were in before the accident. An insurer will often say a five year old drill was worth a fraction of a new one and offer accordingly.
The counter is practical rather than theoretical: you cannot buy a five year old drill in working order at a discount. To carry on working you have to buy a new one. Where the item is genuinely essential to your trade and no realistic second hand market exists, replacement cost is the fairer measure.
Whether that argument succeeds depends on the item and the evidence. A well documented list of essential trade tools with current replacement prices is a great deal harder to knock down than a vague figure written on the back of a claim form.
An electrician is hit at a junction. The van is repairable. In the back, a tester, two power tools and a drum of cable are damaged in the impact.
He photographs the load before it is moved, keeps the damaged items, and produces his trade account history showing what he had bought and when.
The tools claim was settled alongside the vehicle claim rather than as an afterthought. Had the van been emptied and the kit binned at the roadside, there would have been nothing to show and nothing to recover.
Claim for what you actually lost, and nothing more. Every claim is subject to identity, fraud and anti-money laundering checks. Inflating a list of tools is a common form of claims fraud, it is checked for, and it can mean the whole claim is refused as well as being a criminal offence.
What about theft after the accident?
It happens more than people expect. A van is left at the roadside overnight with a damaged door or a broken window, and by morning the contents have gone.
That is a different argument from impact damage, and it turns on whether the loss flowed from the accident. If the vehicle was left insecure because of the collision and could not reasonably be secured, there may be a case. If it sat unlocked on a street for three days when it could have been recovered, that is much harder.
The practical answer is to get the vehicle recovered to a secure site quickly. That is free on a non-fault claim, and it removes the problem entirely. Our page on free vehicle storage explains how that works.
Why people use us
Nothing to pay
No cost to you, whatever the outcome of your claim.
No claim on your policy
Run against the other driver’s insurer, so no excess and no effect on your no-claims.
One point of contact
We deal with the insurers, the engineer and the compound. You deal with us.
Nationwide, 24/7
Recovery and replacement vehicles arranged anywhere in the UK, day or night.
Common questions
Yes. The at-fault driver is responsible for the losses their negligence caused, and that includes the contents of your vehicle as well as the vehicle itself. It has to be claimed for specifically though, as it is a separate head of loss.
Yes, but the evidence you can gather matters more. Bank or card statements, trade account history, photographs of the tools in use, and a clear written list all help. A claim with some evidence is far stronger than one with none.
It is argued both ways. Insurers often start from a depreciated figure. Where an item is essential to your trade and there is no realistic second hand market for it in working order, replacement cost is the fairer measure. Good evidence is what shifts that argument.
Harder, but not automatically hopeless. It turns on whether the theft flowed from the accident, for example where the vehicle could not be secured because of the damage. Getting the vehicle recovered quickly to a secure site avoids the issue entirely.
On a non-fault claim run against the other driver’s insurer, you are not claiming on your own policy, so there is no excess to pay and no effect on your no-claims discount.
No. Keep them until you are told they are no longer needed. They are the evidence, and once they are gone the claim becomes much harder to prove.
Terms and conditions apply to all services described on this page. Free recovery, storage and replacement vehicles are provided on the basis that the charges are recovered from the at-fault party’s insurer. We will explain the terms in plain English before anything is arranged.
Before we act for you we are required to verify your identity and to carry out fraud and anti-money laundering checks. This may include checks with credit reference and fraud prevention agencies, which will leave a record on your file.
Where fraud is suspected, information may be shared with fraud prevention agencies, insurers and law enforcement. Providing false or misleading information in support of a claim may mean your claim is refused, and can be a criminal offence.