Plant managers can cut insurance premiums by up to 45% using a sophisticated anti-theft system from Thiefbeaters.
Plant managers can cut insurance premiums by up to 45% using a sophisticated anti-theft system from Thiefbeaters.
Following pilot trials, which showed that theft of properly protected high-risk plant and equipment decreased dramatically using the system, Norwich Union has launched premium discounts on engineering insurance of up to 45%.
Designed to manage the risk of plant theft, Thiefbeaters provides plant equipment with an irremovable identification system combining immobilisation, physical locking and tracking devices. Visible warning stickers act as a powerful deterrent to would-be thieves.
Cliff Drury, engineering underwriter at Norwich Union commented: "Premium discounts for anti-theft products have been available in the contractors plant insurance market for some time but these have generally stayed around the 10% mark.
"Unlike the other deterrent systems on the market, the Thiefbeaters approach offers tailored levels of protection for the huge range of plant and equipment out there and matches the right anti-theft device with the right machine, making a distinction, for example, between hire and owner-operated plant. The system is professionally installed to make it virtually impossible for thieves to remove any of the identity points; it’s also the most user-friendly option we have found, as you don’t need a scanner to verify the identity of equipment."
"Over the past five years, only a tiny fraction (0.02%) of Thiefbeaters customers have reported a theft. As a result, we now feel confident enough to offer our customers up to 45% discount in return for taking a more proactive approach to beating theft. We’ve also reduced the theft excess to nil. The discount we are offering generally pays for at least half the cost of setting up the Thiefbeaters risk management programme in the first year, although the benefits, of course, last much longer."
Bernard Humphrey, director at Thiefbeaters added: "The theft of construction plant, equipment and trailers is estimated to cost the industry at least Ł650m every year and some estimates put the figure as high as Ł1.2bn. Yet preventing the majority of these thefts is possible. Norwich Union is leading the way in this by rewarding those companies who do effectively protect their equipment to a level which makes the necessary investment commercially viable. We’re confident that this initiative represents the turning point in winning the fight against construction plant theft."
Thiefbeaters has undergone rigorous testing by the insurance industry’s own test centre at Thatcham and is a Thatcham and Sold Secure qualified company.
For further information, please contact Norwich Union on tel. 0207 558 0236 or Thiefbeaters on tel. 0870 7940111, or visit the websites: www.norwichunion.co.uk or www.thiefbeaters.co.uk
For further information, please contact: Debbie Wells at Staniforth on 0161 274 0100 or David Ross at Norwich Union on 08703 66 68 65/07786 526350.
Notes to editors
Norwich Union Insurance
- Norwich Union is the UK's largest insurer with a market share of around 14 per cent
- With a focus on insurance for individuals and small businesses, Norwich Union insures:
- one in five households
- one in seven motor vehicles
- more than 800,000 businesses - Norwich Union products are available through a variety of distribution channels including brokers, corporate partners such as banks and building societies and Norwich Union Direct.
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