Car thefts have soared by over 50% in the last five years, with a car being stolen every five minutes, according to new figures.
Data from police forces around the UK reveals there has been a 45% rise in reported thefts since 2014, before which there had been a six-year decline in crimes.
In 2017/18 alone 112,174 vehicles were stolen – equivalent to 307 a day.According to Direct Line’s claims information, English regions are driving the increase. The West Midlands has seen the number of stolen vehicles triple in the last five years, making it the fastest growing region for car crime and the North West, North East and Yorkshire also saw rates more than double from 2014-2018.
However, London remains the UK’s worst overall spot for thefts, with around 33 claims per 10,000 registered on the road – a 61% rise from 2013/14
Conversely, in Scotland claims have reduced by 23% over the same period and in Northern Ireland they have remained static.
According to Direct Line’s data, five London postcodes appear in the top 10 for the highest number of theft claims over the past five years: E4 (Chingford), E6 (East Ham), E17 (Walthamstow), E11 (Leyton and Wanstead) and IG1 (Ilford).
Birmingham has four postcodes in the top 10 (B31, B90, B62, B13), while Manchester has one – the M20 area – although it experienced the highest number of car theft claims in the UK over the five-year period.
From I – 14/06/2019
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