My van got broken into. Here is what insurance actually covers (and what it does not).

The morning you walk out and the side door of your van is hanging open is the morning every trade owner dreads. After 8 years working with Canadian trade businesses, I can tell you it happens to roughly 1 in 5 owners every year. Sometimes multiple times.

The hard part is what comes after. Here is what insurance actually covers, what it does not, and the clauses in your policy that most owners do not know exist until they file a claim.

The number

Canadian construction theft cost $46 million in 2024, according to Northbridge Insurance. Less than 10 percent of stolen tools are ever recovered. The shops that I have talked to who have been hit average $8,000-$14,000 per incident. Some have lost $30,000+.

The thieves know what is in your van. A plumber's truck has copper fittings, ProPress tools, and torches. An electrician's truck has wire, drills, and meters. A framing crew has nail guns, saws, and ladders. They target you specifically because the contents are predictable and resellable.

The "locked vehicle warranty" trap

This is the clause most owners do not know about until they file a claim. Most Canadian contractor insurance policies include a "locked vehicle warranty." That means:

• Your van must be locked at all times
• There must be visible signs of forced entry for the claim to pay out

If you left it unlocked, even for 30 seconds while you grabbed a coffee, your claim can be denied. If the thieves picked the lock cleanly without leaving marks, your claim can be denied. I have talked to owners who lost $12,000 in tools to a clean break-in and got $0 from insurance because the lock was not visibly damaged.

Check your policy. The clause is in the long-form wording, not the summary. If it is there and you can negotiate it out, do it.

What insurance actually pays for

When the claim does pay out:

• Replacement cost vs actual cash value. Most policies pay "actual cash value," which means depreciated. A 3-year-old Milwaukee impact driver does not get replaced with a new one. You get what it would sell for used. If you want full replacement, you pay extra for that endorsement.
• Documented tools only. "Approximately $15,000 in tools" does not pay a claim. "Milwaukee M18 Fuel impact driver, model 2998-22, serial AB123456, purchased June 2024 for $419" pays the claim. Most denials I have seen are because the owner cannot prove what was stolen.
• Deductible eats the small stuff. Most contractor policies have a $1,000-$2,500 deductible. If $4,000 was stolen, you pay the deductible and get $1,500-$3,000 back. Worth filing. If $1,500 was stolen, you pay the deductible and get nothing.

What insurance does not pay for

• Tools left at a job site overnight. Different policy (commercial property), and most contractor packages do not include it by default.
• Loss without theft evidence. If a tool just "disappears" during a job, that is not covered.
• Employee theft. Inland marine policies almost always exclude this. You need a separate crime policy.
• Wear and tear damage. The battery that died, the saw blade that dulled. Obvious, but worth saying.

The boring fix that pays back the moment you file a claim

A serial-number tool inventory.

Open a Google Sheet. Every tool worth over $200, write down: make, model, serial number, purchase date, purchase price, and the receipt photo if you have it. Update it every time you buy or sell.

Total time investment: maybe 4 hours up front, 10 minutes a month after that. The first claim where you can hand the adjuster a complete inventory pays this back 100x over.

The owners I have talked to who got full payouts on stolen tool claims all did this. The owners who got partial payouts or denials almost never did. This is the kind of admin work that pays for itself, which I have written more about in tracking your admin hours.

Deterrence

For what it is worth, these are the things shop owners have told me actually work:

• Cage systems inside the van. A second locked barrier between the side door and the tools. Adds maybe 60 seconds for a thief. Most do not bother.
• AirTags hidden in expensive tools. Will not stop the theft, but a surprising number of recoveries come from this.
• Park where there is foot traffic. Most break-ins happen in residential driveways and quiet job sites overnight. A public lot with people walking by is safer than your driveway.
• Empty the van every night when possible. I know, the time cost is real. But the owners who have been hit twice usually start doing this.

The honest take

You will probably get hit at some point. The question is whether you have a 60-minute inconvenience or a 6-month financial setback. The difference is the prep work you did before it happened. Inventory list, replacement-cost coverage, locked vehicle clause negotiated out if you can, deterrent measures inside the van.

The $200 of prep work pays back the moment you file your first claim.

Sources: Northbridge Insurance Canadian construction theft data, 2024. Canadian Contractor magazine on locked vehicle warranties. Industry standard inland marine policy terms.