Even if you buy the best security device in the world, you’ll find it will be completely useless if it hasn’t been fitted properly. So says the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre, based in Thatcham in Berkshire and usually referred to by the name of its home town.

Accreditation

It’s now planning to accredit a number of security system installation specialists under the Thatcham Recognised Installer (TRI) banner. To obtain recognition they will have to meet a variety of requirements; everything from being able to show that they’ve been trained to fit the products they’re installing to passing criminal record checks.

Once they’ve jumped through all the hoops they will be listed on the Thatcham web site — light commercial owners will be able to

tap in their postcode and locate the nearest one to them — and will be allowed to use the TRI logo. They will also be able to produce a certificate once they’ve finished an installation job on a Thatcham-listed aftermarket product so that the customer has got something he can show his insurer.

Thatcham has started this scheme in the wake of last year’s demise of the Vehicle Systems Installation Board.

“We’ve had over 30 businesses express an interest in it varying from one-man-bands to big companies with hundreds of installers on their books,” says a Thatcham spokesman. “At present we’re processing 11 applications.”

Thatcham tests and rates anti-theft devices and the security of entire vehicles; light commercials as well as cars. Its conclusions can be seen on its web site.

According to its most recent findings the most secure small van is Peugeot’s 207, the most secure panel van is Renault’s Trafic while the most secure pick-up is Mitsubishi’s L200. The manufacturer with the most secure vehicles overall, however, is Nissan.

Even vans with a high level of built-in security can benefit from a few additional anti-theft devices, especially if they’re carrying valuable cargo. That doesn’t just mean mobile phones, leather jackets or booze; a tradesman’s tools are highly desirable so far as some thieves are concerned and their loss can be devastating to the victim.

Deadlocks

One of the best ways of making it less likely that you’ll become a victim of crime is to kit your vehicle out with some good-quality ancillary locks.

Deadlocks are certainly worth thinking about. Like a mortice lock, they can only be locked and unlocked if you’ve got the right key.

“Even if somebody breaks the glass in the cab door and reaches inside, they still won’t be able to open it if a deadlock has been fitted,” says Expresslock managing director, Tony Withey.

Slam Locks

If you deliver packages around town, however, and you’re in and out of the cab every five minutes, then it may be worth fitting your van’s rear doors and sliding side doors with slam locks. Once they’re in place, all the driver has to do is shove the door shut and it will lock immediately; handy if you’re juggling a couple of parcels and you can’t reach your keys.

They cost around £120 a door, including installation. Deadlocks cost from £120 to £150 per door, installed.

“Slamlocks can be fitted to the cab doors, but I wouldn’t advise it,” says Chris Batterbee, managing director of Locks 4 Vans. “There’s always the risk that the driver will leave the keys in the ignition, slam the door and lock himself out.”

If you want even more security, then it could be worth investing in Activlock Secure from Maple Fleet Services. It’s a transponder-controlled, electro-mechanical system of shoot-bolt locks for a van’s load area doors that works independently of the vehicle’s own locks. Shut the doors and the bolts engage automatically.

If you don’t want to have supplementary locks installed, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t provide the ones you’ve already got with better protection.

Armaplate can offer a beefy steel plate that surrounds a van door’s lock, and possibly the door handle too, and protects them against attack.

Providing five doors with protection will set you back roughly £250.

Carelessness

All of the foregoing is of course pointless if the driver has been careless enough to leave the cab doors open, the keys in the ignition and the engine running. Even under those circumstances, however, it’s possible to prevent the vehicle from being stolen by installing Maple’s Drivelock.

Anybody not carrying a transponder that tells Drivelock that they’re authorised to drive the vehicle will find that it’s immobilised the minute they release the handbrake. Cost is approximately £580 fitted.

If that’s too much for you, then at least ensure that you attach the keys to one end of a chain, and the other end of the chain to the driver. “That way, he won’t be able to leave them in the ignition when he steps out of the cab,” observes Withey.

Anti-Hijack