Car Crime UK - Going Up Not Down? Analysis of the UK official crime figures reveals that there is good reason to doubt the Government claim that car crime is on the decrease.
BigNews.Biz - Aug 16,2009 - ANALYSIS of official crime figures has led one industry
expert to question the Government’s statistics.
Carl Brandrick, MD of Nice 1 Ltd, has been looking at the justpublished British Crime Survey figures, and comparing it to official Police Recorded Crime.
He’s discovered big disparities – with a huge relevance to to the owners of the 30million+ licensed vehicles on UK roads.
British Crime Survey figures, he says, show there were 10.6 million crimes last year. Police data, however, puts this figure at 4.7 million.
Why the huge difference? Simple: Police data shows recorded crime only.
‘When you consider that only 65 percent of house burglaries are reported (and, thus, recorded) –
and just 45 percent of car crime is reported, you can see how concerned I am.’
Indeed, the difference, he suggests, runs contrary to headlines claiming crime is going down.
And there’s even more to it than just that, says the replacement vehicle insurance company boss.
A big car crime growth area is the theft of keys from houses. Which is reported by the Police as…
house burglary…
… and thus NOT included in car crime stats.
The former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith released the number of car key thefts in 2008. There were a hefty 18,600 of them.
‘When these numbers are factored into the car theft figures, it reverses the headline-grabbing -14 percent decrease in car theft, to -2 percent’ reveals Brandrick.
Looking at other factors too, it’s led him to state that ‘it is almost certain we are talking about a car crime increase, not a decrease.’
The findings come as Sir Trevor McDonald fronts a big six-part ITV1 series on car crime Series producers say the series highlights the 170,000 cars stolen in the UK each year – with Police forces in Manchester dealing with a ‘huge increase in criminals who break into houses to steal keys’.
Within all of this are several areas UK motorists should consider. After seeing the shows on TV, customers may well be asking how they can protect themselves from becoming a victim of car crime… best to be prepared!
Worryingly, though, Brandrick also points out that car key theft by robbery doubled in 2008 – from
2 percent to 4 percent. Could this be the start of a violent trend?
Nice 1! - Theft Protect fills a gap in auto insurance
Brandrick said: “Demand for our Theft Protect product has exceeded our expectations and reflects the concerns of the UK motorist about the lack of facilities for victims of vehicle theft.
“Replacement vehicle services are now almost standard in the event of an accident where the other party is at fault. But where a car is stolen it can take the insurance company weeks to pay out while waiting to see if it can be found. That can leave the individual concerned without any means of getting to work, having to pay out for a hire car or use public transport.
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