Recovery of stolen vehicles leads to increase in prestige car insurance premiums

According to Claims Management Adjusters, the fall in the number of recovered stolen vehicles is leading to an increase in car insurance premiums. Over the past 10 years the proportion of vehicles recovered following theft has fallen from 70% to 50%. Of the 500,000 vehicles stolen 6 years ago, only 150,000 were unrecovered. Last year only 360,000 vehicles were stolen but 180,000 remain undiscovered.

This leaves the cost of an extra 30,000 vehicles to be paid by insurers who inevitably pass the costs onto the motorist. As many of these vehicles may be prestige cars, it is likely that these increased costs are reflected in the cost of prestige car insurance.

However, despite the decrease in number of car thefts, the number of thefts from vehicles has been increasing, also contributing to higher car insurance premiums. One reason offered for the decrease in recovered vehicles is the increase in cloned cars which may be stolen in one area and sold on in another making it more difficult for police to trace and adding to the cost of prestige car insurance.