The Telegraph recently reported that the Government’s attempt to bring scrap metal thefts under control with the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 is not working. Churches continue to experience targeting by thieves and, according to specialist church insurers Ecclesiastical, these criminals have become bolder, seeing a rise in gangs stealing entire church roofs.
According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, the number of thefts has fallen by more than three quarters in the last four years since the legislation came into effect.
However, critics have flagged that these statistics are misrepresentative – they show only the number of thefts, not the severity. Although there has been a decline in low-value “opportunistic” scrap metal thefts, large scale pilfering is on the rise.
We posted about this metal theft epidemic back in August 2016 and recommend that you download Ecclesiastical’s metal theft protection checklist to make 2018 the year that this type of metal theft ends.
