Could a drop in car thefts be good news for the cost of insurance policies?
Recently released car theft statistics for 2010 in the UK could be welcome news for car owners looking for cheap motor insurance. The figures showed that levels of car crime had dropped significantly over recent years to a new low figure of 107,000 per year. This was a decline of 37 per cent since 2006 and an 80 per cent fall over the last twenty-years.
This drop in car theft related crime has been attributed to the introduction of sophisticated innovations and security improvements by the motor manufacturing industry. These enhancements include coded car keys, superior locking systems, alarms, immobilisers, stronger glass, tracking devices and a general sturdier construction of vehicles.
Surely, anything that makes cars harder to steal has to be good news for motorists and good news for the insurance industry.
Well, because of the cost of personal injury claims continues to rise and there is a lack of underlying profitability across insurers, there is unlikely to be a decrease in the cost of car insurance despite this good news.
The statistics also revealed that when car crime is committed, 80 per cent of it now involves the use of car keys, so drivers have to make sure that they keep all sets of keys as safe as possible. This is never more so important than where in the house they are kept as one in five household burglaries results in the theft of a car.
As inflation continues to run at a high level, it has never been so important to shop around carefully for the best deals for their car insurance policies.
