315
How a fed up carpenter found his stolen power tools — and 15,000 others
(www.washingtonpost.com)
this post was submitted on 31 May 2024
315 points (98.5% liked)
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This has happened to myself as well as other friends in the trades where you are expected to buy and maintain your own tools. Not only do you to loose thousands of dollars in tools, it also effects ongoing and new work as well as a shit load of time spent rebuying and finding the right tools again. The police just don't care, the last time it happened I didn't even bother filing a report. I consider this one of the lowest forms of petty theft. It kills people's lively hoods and takes food out of their family's mouths.
You should be able to get insurance on your tools. I know a few of my locksmith buddies have done this. Keep a well itemized list of your tools.
It really sucks, and I for one don't even do this. If it is a huge worry though, it should be something you can look into.
If you’re a contractor, you should be carrying your own insurance anyways. Lots of beginners don’t bother setting up an LLC and insurance, because they don’t realize how bad it can be if they have an accident on the job. If you haven’t set up that LLC and have insurance at a bare minimum, then you’re in for a world of shit if someone gets hurt.
Source: Was a freelancer for a decade. Half of the goobers I worked around were sole owner/operators of an LLC, and the others were completely open to personal liability if they dropped something on someone.
I'm not a professional, but all my powertools are covered under my renter's/hone insurance. It's incredibly cheap compared to car or health insurance.
Edit: I guess this doesn't count if the tools are stored in a vehicle parked anywhere but in my garage. There's definitely some policies available that will cover the full contents of your vehicle though.