Motorists worry about car crime
Despite incidents of car crime consistently falling over the last five years, a large majority of motorists are still worried about their car being stolen or broken into. Research by insurance expert Admiral, in conjunction with YouGov reveals 78% of us still worry about car crime.
According to Admiral's own statistics based on nearly 400,000 claims, the percentage of its customers who have had their car stolen is less than half what it was five years ago. The percentage who have had their car broken into has fallen even more dramatically - by two thirds in the last five years. However only 15% of motorists are convinced that car crime is falling, in fact 26% think it has increased in the last year.
Admiral and YouGov surveyed 2,100 people as part of its 2010 Survey of British Motorists. It found one type of crime which is particularly concerning motorists is where car keys are stolen from a house during a burglary and the car just driven away. In 2009 39% of motorists questioned said they hid their car keys at night, this figure has risen to 43% in 2010.
Admiral managing director, Sue Longthorn, said, "Our car is one of the most valuable things we own and for much of the time we leave it unattended parked on the road or in a car park. It's only natural we worry about its safety when we're not around.
"The good news is that car crime has been falling for several years now, improvements in car security have had an impact and the message that you should never leave anything on display in your unattended car has got through to many car owners."
Admiral's survey shows some motorists are fearful of crime when they are driving their cars too. Three in ten people surveyed said they frequently or sometimes worry about their car being car jacked while they are driving. It worries some drivers so much, they lock their car doors when driving through a built up area. More than half of those surveyed (52%) said they do this. Thankfully car jacking is still an extremely rare crime and Admiral only sees a handful of cases each year.
As well as a fall in car crime, Admiral's own statistics also point to a fall in the number of cars being vandalised. The percentage of Admiral customers who have made a claim for malicious damage has fallen by one third in the last five years. However Admiral's Survey of Motorists shows that nearly half (42%) of us have had our cars vandalised at some time.
Sue Longthorn commenting on this said, "It could be that these instances are so minor many people don't think it is worth claiming on their insurance."
Even though car crime is decreasing Admiral has also looked at which types of vehicle are the most likely to be targeted by criminals and vandals. It looked at statistics from the last year and found the Nissan Sunny, Audi S3 and Citroen C8 were the three cars most likely to be stolen. The Citroen C8 is also the car most likely to be broken into this year. The Peugeot 807 and Nissan Figaro complete the top three.
When it comes to malicious damage, the Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota IQ and Audi A5 are the three cars most likely to be vandalised.