22% Of Cars Stolen Using Stolen Keys
22% of stolen cars taken by burglary or robbery
Vehicle crime rate soaring but investigation decreasing
CMA MD praises Nottinghamshire Police, slams Kent
A Freedom of Information (FoI) request to Nottinghamshire Police by the UK’s oldest specialist motor insurance loss adjuster, Claims Management & Adjusting (CMA), has revealed that 21.93% of stolen cars are taken in relation to a burglary or robbery – that equates to over 28,500 vehicles a year nationwide.
Philip Swift, a former detective and now managing director of CMA, commented: “This discovery, that more than 1 in 5 cars are taken with keys acquired by theft, force or threat of force, is important for both consumers and the insurance industry.
“For motorists, it is a reminder that good old-fashioned precautions – like keeping house and car doors locked, hiding keys out of sight, and fitting trackers – are as valid as ever. For insurers, it provides hard evidence that, despite the huge focus on sophisticated keyless techniques like relay attacks, many criminals are still using more rudimentary and opportunistic methods. These range from trying door handles on the off-chance, or swiping keys from a worktop, to targeting certain houses specifically for the cars on the drive, or nastier violent crimes.
“Unfortunately, with ever more constabularies failing to record the vehicle theft modus operandi (MO), quantifying the prevalence of various methods is increasingly difficult. Hats off to Nottinghamshire Police for their data collection diligence, although their process could be improved by logging ‘security compromise’ incidents. Sadly, delving deeper into the numbers only confirms that the UK vehicle crime picture is getting significantly worse.
“The total number of vehicles stolen rose by a shocking 25% last year, to 130,389, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). What’s more, data from Kent Police indicates that just two of 622 car theft allegations were ‘no crimed’ last year i.e. cancelled due to new evidence suggesting something was awry. Is any investigation taking place there? Their lack of MO recording and apparent aversion to transparency does them no favours. Even in Nottinghamshire, one of the better constabularies in this regard, ‘no crimes’ are down by around 50% year-on-year. It’s a worrying trend.
“20 years ago, Operation Igneous showed that up to 30% of all vehicle theft claims might be dishonest in some way. We therefore welcome the Home Secretary’s recent statement that there is no such thing as minor crime and the police must follow every reasonable line of inquiry. With car insurance premiums soaring, we urgently need to see these words transformed into action.”