Tools stolen from the ute overnight: how to get back on the job before the insurance pays

6.10 am. The ute’s canopy is open, the lock is snapped, and the drawers are empty. Drills, saws, the laser level, the batteries, the chargers. Everything you earn with.

The job you quoted three weeks ago starts at 7.30. The customer has taken the day off to let you in. The builder you sub to has you pencilled in for Thursday.

The insurer will want a police report, receipts and a list. Then it will assess the claim. That’s its timeline. Yours is the start date you promised, and it’s measured in hours.

This guide is about the gap between those two clocks: what to do in the first 48 hours, how long the insurance money usually takes, and how to get the essential kit back in the ute without wrecking your cash flow.

What should you do in the first two hours?

Before you think about money, lock down the paperwork. Every later step depends on it.

1. Don’t touch the vehicle more than you need to. If police may want to look at it, leave the damage as it is and take photos from every angle.
2. Report it to police. Ring the non-emergency line or use your state’s online report. Write down the event or report number. Insurers usually won’t move without it.
3. List what’s gone, while you remember. Brand, model, battery platform, rough age, and serial numbers if you have them. ACT Policing recommends marking business property with your business name or ABN so recovered items can be identified. If you did, say so in the report.
4. Ring the customer. Tell them what happened and give them a realistic new start time. Most people are reasonable about a theft. They aren’t reasonable about silence.
5. Find your policy schedule. You need to know which policy covers the tools before you lodge anything.

Will insurance actually cover the tools?

It depends on where the cover sits, and this is where many tradies get caught.

Many motor policies don’t cover tools of trade, or cap them at a small amount. Cover for tools usually sits in a separate section of a business insurance pack. Depending on the insurer, it may be called tools of trade, portable equipment or general property. Check these on your schedule:

Check	Why it matters
Which section covers tools	Lodging under the wrong policy wastes days
The sum insured or item limit	A total limit or per-item cap can leave you short
The excess	Comes off the payout, so it’s yours to fund
Theft conditions	Some policies require forced entry, a locked canopy, or tools out of sight. Some exclude overnight theft from an unattended vehicle unless it was garaged
Replacement or indemnity value	New-for-old pays to replace. Indemnity value pays what the old tools were worth
Insurer’s own suppliers	Some insurers replace items through their supplier rather than paying cash

If you’re not sure, ring your broker or the insurer and ask two questions in writing: “Am I covered for this theft?” and “Can I replace the tools now, and on what basis will you reimburse me?” Their answer is the difference between a timing gap and a real loss.

How long does an insurance claim for stolen tools take?

Longer than you’d like, even for a simple claim.

Under the General Insurance Code of Practice, once an insurer has all the information it needs and has finished its enquiries, it should tell you its decision within 10 business days. Overall, it must decide within four months of receiving the claim, with limited exceptions. While the claim is open, it must update you at least every 20 business days.

So the realistic timeline looks like this:

• Day 1: Police report, claim lodged, claim number issued.
• Days 2–10: The insurer asks for proof of ownership: receipts, bank or card statements, photos of the tools in use, serial numbers.
• Weeks 2–6: Assessment. Bigger or messier claims, such as missing receipts or a question about whether the canopy was locked, can take longer.
• After approval: Payment or replacement, minus the excess.

The fastest claims are the ones where the owner has receipts in a folder and a photo of the drawers. The slowest are where the insurer has to piece it together.

If the theft has left you in real financial trouble, tell the insurer in writing. The Insurance Council of Australia says that if an insurer is satisfied you’re in urgent financial need, it will fast-track the claim, make an advance payment within five business days, or both. It’s worth asking. Just don’t plan Monday around it.

Which tools do you replace first?

Not everything. Replace what earns money this week, and let the insurer handle the rest.

Sort the stolen list into three piles:

• Can’t work without: The core kit for the jobs booked in the next 10 days. For most trades that’s a drill and driver set, the main saw, the battery platform and chargers, and any specialist testing or measuring gear.
• Slows me down: Things you can borrow, hire or work around for a few weeks.
• Can wait: Spares, older tools and anything you rarely use.

Then price the first pile with your supplier. That number, not the full claim, is your funding target. Hire can cover big or one-off items for a week or two, but it adds up quickly on a long job.

If you need the core kit today, start a 60-second enquiry or ring 1300 752 188 once you know the figure.

How do you pay for replacements before the payout lands?

Here’s what’s realistically possible, sorted by how much time you’ve got:

Window	What’s possible	Best for
Today	Same-day funding is possible for smaller unsecured amounts	Core kit for tomorrow’s job, with recent bank statements ready to share
This week	Unsecured cash-flow funding, typically $5k to $500k, sized on turnover and bank statements	Replacing the full working kit, or kit for a whole crew
This week, with property	$20k to $250k possible same day with property security	Larger crews, a whole trailer of gear, or when cash flow is also tight for other reasons
This month	A line of credit you draw as you replace items and repay as the claim pays	Staged replacement while the claim is assessed

Other routes owners use, with their trade-offs:

• Supplier trade account: Good if you have an account with room on it. Check the payment terms against the likely claim date.
• Business credit card: Fine for a small top-up, but the limit often won’t stretch to a full kit.
• Equipment finance: Suits one big item, such as a new laser or a press, rather than a drawer full of tools.
• Your own savings: Fine if the money isn’t earmarked for your BAS, wages or payday super.

Whichever route you use, size it to the essentials and match the term to the claim. The insurance payout is your exit, so write down when you expect it and what happens if it’s less than you hoped. Our page on writing an exit plan covers that in one page.

What about tax and GST on the replacements?

Two things are worth a quick call to your accountant.

The write-off. The ATO says the $20,000 instant asset write-off is now law for 2026–27. Small businesses with aggregated turnover under $10 million can generally deduct the full cost of each eligible asset costing less than $20,000 in the year it’s first used or installed ready for use. The limit applies per asset, so a replacement kit is often covered item by item.

The payout. Losing a tool is a balancing adjustment event, and the ATO says an insurance payout can count as the asset’s termination value (disposing of a depreciating asset). If the tools were already written off, the payout may be largely assessable income. That’s not a reason to avoid claiming. It’s a reason to know the number before tax time.

If you’re registered for GST, keep the tax invoices for the new tools so you can claim the GST credits on your next BAS. Tell the insurer your GST status when you lodge, as it affects how the claim is settled.

What should you have ready before you ring?

Documents and decisions, not the story:

• The police event number and the insurance claim number
• Your policy schedule, open at the section that covers tools
• A list or quote for the essential replacements, ideally from your usual supplier
• Your booked jobs for the next few weeks, with start dates and values
• Recent business bank statements, with online access ready to share
• The insurer’s written answer on whether you can replace now, if you have it
• Your exit: when you expect the payout and roughly how much

Our same-day documents checklist covers the rest. If the theft has knocked out a vehicle or machine as well as the tools, the equipment breakdown page covers that side. If the excess is the problem, see insurance excess and uninsured losses.

A worked example

Illustrative example only. A two-person electrical business has its ute broken into outside the owner’s house on a Sunday night. Gone: two cordless drill kits, an SDS hammer drill, a multi-tool, an installation tester, a cable locator, six batteries and three chargers. Replacing everything costs about $14k.

The owner reports it to police at 6.30 am and lodges the claim at 8. The schedule shows tools are covered under the portable equipment section, with an excess and a per-item limit. The insurer confirms in writing that it will reimburse new-for-old against receipts, but it needs proof of ownership for the tester first.

The jobs booked over the next fortnight are worth about $26k. Without the tester, the business can’t sign off any of them. The owner prices the essentials, the tester, one drill kit, batteries and a charger, at about $7k, arranges short-term funding sized to that amount, and hires the cable locator for a week. Monday’s job starts at 11 instead of 7.30.

The claim is approved five weeks later. The payout, less the excess, repays the funding, and the rest of the kit is replaced from it.

Tools gone, job booked? Let’s keep the start date

A theft feels personal. The worst part usually isn’t the lost tools, though. It’s losing the next job, and the builder who quietly gives your next start to someone else.

We talk to tradies in this exact spot: claim lodged, police number in hand, and a customer waiting. Enquiring takes about a minute, and your credit file isn’t touched just for asking. We won’t send your details to a pile of lenders, so you won’t spend the week fielding calls from strangers. A real person looks at what you need to replace, the jobs you’ve got booked and when the claim is likely to pay, then rings you to talk through what’s possible.

Please fill the form in accurately: what was stolen, what the essential replacements cost, your claim number if you have it, and when your next job starts. Accurate answers mean we can match the right option the first time.

See if you qualify →

Prefer to talk it through? Ring 1300 752 188.