Documenting Tools and Equipment for Tradies

For a tradesperson, the most valuable space is rarely the living room. It is the garage, the workshop, and the van, and they hold tens of thousands in tools and equipment that is almost never documented. Tools are also a prime target for theft, often taken off-site from a vehicle. After a break-in, proving what was taken becomes its own ordeal. This guide explains how to be ready before it happens.

It applies our guide to proving what you owned to the specific world of trade tools.

Key takeaways

• Tools represent serious value and are a frequent target for theft, especially from vehicles.
• After a theft, a list written from memory is weak evidence. A pre-theft record is strong.
• Serial numbers and receipts are especially valuable for tools.
• Check how your policy treats work tools and tools stored off-site, because cover varies.

Why tool theft claims are so hard

Tools accumulate over years, often dozens or hundreds of items across many brands. When a van or workshop is broken into, you are expected to list exactly what was taken and what it was worth, quickly, while also dealing with the disruption to your work. Almost nobody can do this accurately from memory.

The result is a familiar shortfall: you claim what you remember, you cannot prove some of it, and the settlement falls well short of replacing your kit. Meanwhile you may be unable to work until the tools are replaced, which compounds the loss.

Check your cover first

Before documenting, understand what your policy actually covers, because tools sit in an awkward spot:

• Personal vs business use. Tools used to earn a living may fall outside standard home contents insurance and need specific business or tools-of-trade cover.
• Location. Tools stored in a van overnight, or taken to job sites, may be excluded or limited unless you have cover for items away from the home.
• Single-item limits. Expensive individual tools may exceed unspecified-item limits.

Confirm the details with your insurer so there are no surprises at claim time. WHIG does not recommend policies or a sum insured.

What to document

For a trade kit, aim to capture:

• Every significant tool and machine, by brand and model.
• A dated photo or video of each, establishing possession and condition.
• Serial numbers for power tools and equipment. These uniquely identify the item, strengthen the claim, and can help recover stolen gear. See why serial numbers and receipts matter.
• Receipts where you still have them, especially for recent or high-value purchases.
• The contents of the van, not just the workshop, since that is where theft often happens.

The fastest way to inventory a kit

Photographing and listing a full trade kit by hand is a long job, which is why it almost never gets done. A video walkthrough is far quicker: open the van and the toolboxes, talk through what is there, and capture it all in one pass.

This is where WHIG fits a tradesperson well. You record a walkthrough of the workshop and van, naming the tools as you go, and it builds a structured, valued record, reads visible serial numbers where it can, and flags the high-value items worth a receipt or a recorded serial. The record is dated and stored in your own storage, so if your kit is stolen you have real evidence rather than a memory. The values are estimates, not professional valuations, but they turn an impossible after-the-fact list into a record you made when everything was still there. See how WHIG works.