New data reveals car theft’s postcode lottery

New data has revealed the best and worst places to have your vehicle stolen in terms of recovery rates.

Following a series of Freedom of Information requests to constabularies across South East it has been found that London tops the polls for the percentage of stolen vehicle recovered, while neighbouring Kent is at the other end of the scale.

According to data analysed by Claims Management & Adjusting, the Metropolitan Police recovered 54.28% of all vehicles reported stolen to them last year. Police in Essex recovered nearly 31% of stolen vehicles and in Cambridgeshire the figure was 18%.

However, Bedfordshire Police recovered only 8.38% of reported vehicle thefts, and Kent Police just 5.65%.

Recovery rates

• London – 54%
• Essex – 31%
• Cambridgeshire – 18%
• Bedfordshire – 8%
• Kent – 6%

Philip Swift, technical director at CMA, said: “We know from our day-to-day work that some constabularies are much better than others when it comes to finding stolen cars. These new figures put that postcode lottery into shockingly sharp focus. It affects all makes and models, and it plays a significant role in increasing insurance premiums.

“There are big questions to answer here but the overall impression is that tackling vehicle theft just isn’t a priority.”