Agriculture and Plant Security

Plant theft is a highly organised activity. Professional thieves may ‘steal to order’, targeting specific plant items in advance and using the services of legitimate haulers, freight forwarders and shippers to move the equipment to the desired destination.

It is impossible to ascertain the true financial cost of plant theft. It has been estimated to cost the UK between £600 million and £1 billion per year but, as much plant is self-insured, accurate figures are hard to obtain and the true figure is much higher.

It is estimated that 10 or more items of plant are stolen in the UK each day. If an average value of £10,000 is applied to each piece of equipment stolen then plant theft typically costs insurance companies on average £100,000 a day and recovery rates are very low.

The theft of plant is perceived by criminals to be low risk/high profit because of:

• Low levels of plant security
• Low risk of detection and prosecution

Whilst prime responsibility for reducing plant theft must lie with plant operators, manufacturers and insurers also have roles to play.

Thatcham’s Vehicle Security Department are working to reduce the incidence of plant theft in the UK, under the direction of the Vehicle Security Steering Group (Plant) and in partnership with the following companies and organisations

• Construction Industry Theft Solutions (CITS)
• Construction Plant Hirers Association (CPA)
• Plant Theft Action Group (PTAG)
• Datatag (CESAR)
• ACPO Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (AVCIS)
• Stolen Plant and Agricultural Equipment National Intelligence Unit