How to mark and register your tools so you can prove they’re yours

Here’s a frustrating truth about tool theft: police do recover stolen tools. They find them in lock-ups, at car boot sales and in the backs of vans. The problem is getting them home.

In December 2025 the Met seized around 400 suspected stolen tools, worth roughly £80,000, from a car boot sale in Hounslow. After appealing for owners to come forward, officers could return only about £6,000 worth, because most people had no way of proving the tools were theirs.¹ When police recovered about £40,000 of power tools in Wednesbury, in the West Midlands, a few weeks later, they too asked victims for serial numbers and markings.²

Yet NFU Mutual found only 59% of tradespeople record their serial numbers, and just 41% keep photos of their tools.³ Marking and registering your kit takes one evening. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Record what you’ve got

Start with the basics, because they’re the strongest proof of ownership you can have.

• Serial numbers. Usually on the rating plate or label, often near the battery mount or on the motor housing. Batteries and chargers have their own serial numbers, and they’re stolen and sold separately, so record those too.
• Photos. Take one of the whole tool and a close-up of the serial label and any marks, scratches or repairs that make it yours.
• Receipts. Save invoices from your merchant or trade counter account. A photo of a paper receipt is fine.

Do this as you buy new tools from now on, too. It takes a minute when the box is still on the bench.

Step 2: Mark your tools visibly

Visible marks put thieves off and make stolen tools harder to sell, because buyers can see they belong to someone else.

• Engraving. Engrave your postcode and house number, or your company name, into the casing in at least two places, including one that’s hard to see. An inexpensive engraving pen does the job. Avoid engraving over vents, batteries or anything structural.
• Paint or colour-coding. A stripe of bright paint on cases, handles and batteries makes your kit instantly recognisable, at a car boot sale or across a busy site.
• Labels and tags. A durable label with your business name or a QR code shows the tool is registered and gives an honest finder a way to reach you.

Step 3: Mark your tools invisibly

Visible marks can be ground off or painted over. Invisible marks are there for when that happens.

• UV pen. Writes a mark that only shows under ultraviolet light. Cheap, but it can fade, so re-apply it every year or so.
• Forensic marking. Kits containing a uniquely coded liquid that’s registered to you. Police can read the code from a tiny trace, even after a clean-up.

Step 4: Make them findable

Marks help prove a tool is yours once it’s found. A scannable label helps it get found in the first place. A Regimate QR label or NFC sticker on a tool, case or battery opens a private page for that item when it’s scanned. Whoever finds it can message you there without seeing your name, number or address, and you won’t see theirs.

You can print QR labels on standard A4 Avery sticker sheets in three sizes, write the link to an inexpensive NFC sticker, or use pre-printed Regimate tags. See how tagging works.

Step 5: Register everything in one place

A shoebox of receipts is better than nothing, but a register is far better. When you register a tool with Regimate:

• It gets a permanent Regimate ID, and its serial number is locked to you. Serial numbers are unique across the registry, so nobody can register your tool after you.
• You can add up to ten photos and a private proof-of-ownership file, such as the receipt.
• If it’s stolen, you can mark it as stolen with your crime reference number. It then shows as stolen to anyone who checks the serial in Magic Search.
• If a dealer, marketplace or insurer checks the serial through our Finder API, you’re alerted straight away.
• Sell a tool on? You can transfer ownership to the buyer, so the record moves with it.

It’s free for up to 50 items, so most sole traders can register their whole kit at no cost. If you run a team, Regimate Enterprise gives you a shared asset register with locations, such as individual vans, and custody of every tool.

Which marking method does what?

Method	Deters thieves	Proves ownership	Helps it come back
Serial number record	No	Yes, strongly	Yes, if police check
Photos and receipts	No	Yes	Helps with insurance
Engraving	Yes	Yes	Sometimes
Paint or colour-coding	Yes	Partly	Easy to spot for sale
UV pen	No	Yes, until it fades	Sometimes
Forensic marking	Yes, with warning stickers	Yes, strongly	Yes
QR or NFC label	Yes	Partly	Yes, finders can contact you
Online register	Indirectly	Yes	Yes, when serials are checked

The one-evening plan

1. Lay everything out: tools, batteries, chargers, lasers, cases.
2. Photograph each item and its serial label.
3. Engrave or paint-mark each tool and battery.
4. Add a UV or forensic mark somewhere discreet.
5. Stick on a QR label or NFC sticker.
6. Register each item, with photos and receipts, in your free Regimate account.

Then keep it up: register new tools as they arrive, and remove ones you sell. If your tools are ever stolen, everything you need for the police and your insurer is ready. Our 24-hour checklist covers what to do next.

Frequently asked questions