Equipment theft is costing mid-size organisations £9.7 million a year in operational losses - for 37% of firms in the UK and Ireland, the damage does not stop there. Insurance premiums are rising directly as a result, new research shows.
The 2026 State of Connected Operations Asset Theft and Loss Report was commissioned by Samsara and conducted by Wakefield Research. It surveyed 1,500 financial executives in February 2026 from mid-size operations with revenues between £180 million and £740 million. Respondents came from construction, logistics, field services, and utilities.
The finding is likely to draw scrutiny from brokers and underwriters. Claims frequency data from the sector has been rising. The BauWatch Crime Report 2025 found that 67% of UK construction professionals reported an increase in site crime over the past year. That rate was nearly double the European average.
Heavy plant theft tends to attract the most attention. Yet the report found that 72% of operational costs stem from assets valued under £7,400: tools, sensors, generators, and specialised parts. Munich Re subsidiary HSB has separately placed the annual value of small tools stolen in the UK at £98 million, a 5% year-on-year increase.
Allianz Cornhill has estimated that theft costs the UK construction industry approximately £800 million annually when project delays and insurance impact are included. That broader cost base helps explain why premium pressure is concentrating at the mid-market level.
The survey found that 71% of operations without asset tracking experience equipment theft every quarter. Some 25% of new equipment budgets go towards replacing stolen or lost assets. Without real-time visibility, the average time to locate a missing asset is 25 days.
Additionally, 54% of organisations cannot recover even half of their stolen high-value equipment. At more than a quarter of organisations without tracking, employees spend more than 10 hours per week on asset searches. That is the equivalent of one full-time employee doing nothing but locating missing equipment for three months a year.
Project disruption adds further financial exposure to the loss picture. Globally, 77% of organisations said a missing critical asset caused a shutdown or delay in the past 12 months. The UK and Ireland figure was 71%, with emergency rentals, idle labour, and contract penalties compounding costs well beyond the initial loss.
John Chaccour, director of technology at Total Safety, described the operating environment before tracking was deployed. "Before deploying Samsara, a single missing piece of equipment could delay a job, idle a crew, and force emergency procurement, all without ever knowing where the asset actually was." Chaccour said the firm now expects a 90% reduction in days assets go unaccounted for, alongside a full recovery rate on unreturned equipment.
The report also found that organisations without asset visibility are 70% more likely to face major losses. The research covered the US, Mexico, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and Canada.
