Ford Transit Remains Top Of The Thief Hit List

Ford Transit Remains Top Of The Thief Hit List


The Ford Transit remains at the top of a car thief’s hit list reveals the UK’s police unit dedicated to vehicle crime, the ACPO Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (AVCIS).

Thieves’ Favourites

The workman’s favourite is the most popular vehicle to be stolen in the first quarter of 2011,* illustrating that it’s not just those with high-end vehicles that need to be wary of theft. Not only does a van such as the Ford Transit prove to be valuable in terms of spare parts or as scrap metal, but the lure of potential tools and other contents stored in the back makes it irresistible for thieves.

“Vehicles appearing in the list may surprise motorists,” said Head of AVCIS, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Hooper. “Although high-end cars are stolen to order by criminals, those driving more affordable vehicles should not be complacent. Whatever vehicle you drive, security should always be a priority.”

The list has been released as part of Car Crime Awareness Week, which runs 13-19 June 2011, in order to raise general awareness of vehicle crime and remind motorists to be vigilant and security-conscious.

Top ten stolen vehicles in Q1 2011
1) Ford Transit
2) Vauxhall Astra
3) Ford Fiesta
4) Volkswagen Golf
5) Vauxhall Corsa
6) BMW 3 Series
7) Ford Focus
8) Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
9) Ford Mondeo
10) Honda Civic

As part of Car Crime Awareness Week, AVCIS is advising motorists to follow these guidelines to prevent their vehicles from being targeted by criminals:

• Ensure that car keys are not left in sight within your house: thieves often fish keys through letterboxes and open windows
• If you have a garage, store your car there whenever possible
• With the summer months approaching, people often leave doors and windows open: ensure your keys aren’t easily accessible for opportunist thieves, but equally do not hide them and put yourself at risk of harm from a determined thief
• Lock your car whenever you leave it. Even if you are simply unloading the car, make sure that you remove the keys and lock the vehicle. If your car is stolen through these means if often invalidates your insurance
*1 January – 31 March 2011 AVCIS data on file

Almost 9,000 vehicles across the UK were stolen in just 36 days at the beginning of 2011, reports the Association of Chief Police Officers Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (AVCIS).

The statistics have been revealed ahead of AVCIS’ Car Crime Awareness Week, which takes place on 13-19 June 2011. The initiative aims to raise the public’s awareness of vehicle crime methods in order to drive down offences.

This new data illustrates that 50 per cent of thefts were made when a vehicle was left at the owner’s home address or close by, including 17.6 per cent through the burglary of properties to obtain car keys.

A third were stolen when vehicles were away from the home and four per cent of crimes during the 36 day sample were made by opportunist thieves, where keys were left in or within easy reach of the vehicle. Shockingly, this would mean that annually 3,400 thefts could be easily prevented through heightened awareness.

These figures demonstrate that vehicle crime continues to be an issue across the UK,” said Detective Chief Inspector Mark Hooper, Head of AVCIS. “Criminals will use a variety of means to steal cars, from towing them away or simply driving them off when owners leave the keys in the ignition to burgling houses and sophisticated attacks on manufacturers’ security systems.

“Our aim is to increase general awareness, including encouraging motorists to take simple precautions and advise manufacturers of criminals’ methods so they can continue to help drive down vehicle crime.

In the lead up and during Car Crime Awareness Week AVCIS will release information on the current state of vehicle crime relating to freight vehicles, agricultural equipment, caravans and motorhomes, as well as to the general motorist.
For more information on vehicle crime and AVCIS visit http://www.avcis.police.uk/  or the Car Crime Awareness Week Facebook page www.facebook.com/CarCrimeAwarenessWeek  .

UK lost or stolen vehicles 1 January 2011 – 5 February 2011
(36 day sample*)


Number & Method of theft

• 2,916 (33%) Home address or vicinity where the owner claims to have the keys
• 2,824 (32%) Unattended away from the home where the owner claims to have the keys
• 1,555 (17.6%) Car key burglary
• 1,037 (11.7%) Unrecorded details/unconfirmed loss/vehicle not stolen
• 342 (3.9%) Unattended with keys
• 98 (1.1%) Direct robbery of vehicle
• 54 (0.6%) Acquired by fraud
*Statistics have been generated from the Police National Computer using keywords. Additional offences may have occurred and are not identified within this report. Read more! Read more: http://www.blogdoctor.me/2007/02/expandable-post-summaries.html#ixzz0PTplKsFN

BRITAINS CAR CRIME HOTSPOTS

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CAR CRIME RISING

Car crime is rising and it's having an impact on car insurance premiums. It is one of the main factors that are contributing to the fastest rise in car insurance premiums for 15 years.

 

Theft of cars is of particular concern to insurers as thieves are targeting expensive and the more popular marques. Once they are stolen, they are often never found – they may be taken abroad, cloned or dismantled for parts that can fetch large sums of money overseas.

 

Yet car owners often leave themselves open to thieves who may be waiting for an unguarded moment to steal them, or opportunist thieves who just see a chance and grasp it.

Why you shouldn’t believe the Home Office “declining car crime” hype

 

Car crime represents a large percentage of overall crime. In 2008/9 the total number of offences reported to the police was 4,703,814. Car crime represented a massive 13% of that total at 592,117 incidents, that is a rate of more than 1 per minute.

 

The average age of vehicles on the road is increasing as their values decrease. Victims with lower value cars are increasingly less likely to report a theft, lacking confidence that anything can be done, combined with the increased insurance cost when weighed against the value of the car.

 

Cars are being cloned at an alarming rate. Some 30,000 sets of number plates were reported stolen last year with the most common result being that a similar make and model of vehicle is then stolen and driven around with little prospect of being easily identified by the police.

 

300,000 V5 (registration documents) were stolen from the DVLA last year, which has resulted in many of the vehicles to which they apply being cloned.

 

The police routinely suppress car crime statistics as they form part of a larger group of offences that can have a major “apparent” downward effect on crime rates. Car theft will often not be crimed initially, merely reported as an incident. There is a huge difference. A crime sits on the books as part of the larger crime picture, whereas an incident does not. The incident is frequently left as such, not upgraded to a crime until the victim makes a written statement.

 

Car crimes are often redefined and allocated to other categories, such as “theft other”, which covers a multitude of sins, and in doing so conveys the impression of falling car crime rates. When a thief breaks into your house to steal your car keys, this is reported as burglary, not car theft. If the vehicle is taken from you by force on the street, it is reported as robbery or theft other, not car theft, as will be seen later in this article. There were over 18,000 such instances last year alone, that is 14% of car thefts with this new modus operandi, and this is a growing phenomenon.

 

Insurance companies are witnessing a massive upsurge in car crime claims. This is perhaps a better indicator, as it is not always a requirement to report the incident to the police.

The weakest link

Keys are the weakest link in the car theft chain and modern cars can't easily be taken without them. Thieves are getting more determined and violent in their tactics too.

 

Every day, 50 cars are stolen by burglary of homes or robbery of people to get keys and then steal the car. Insurers have witnessed a 15% increase this year in claims for cars stolen in exactly this way.

 

Common tactics include:

• Fishing for keys through the letterbox - so never leave keys on a hall table or a convenient rack by the door
• Breaking in to a house at night or when it is obviously empty - they might steal your spare keys and wait until returning home before taking the car
• Pick-pocketing or stealing handbags to get keys
• Breaking into places where you might have left your keys such as gym lockers or cloakrooms
• Taking keys from desks, jacket pockets or drawers in workplaces
• Violently pulling drivers out of their car when parking

 Taking chances

 

Unfortunately, many drivers still leave keys in their cars even for a moment, for example, popping back into the house, because you have forgotten something; at petrol stations or while feeding a pay and display machine or parking meter.

 

Always take the keys out, lock the car and put the keys deep in your pocket especially in a busy public place like a car park.

 

This winter, thieves will once again be looking for drivers who have left their car running on frosty mornings, to warm up. Every year hundreds of cars disappear in this way.

 

Every car insurance policy has a clause that negates any claim for theft of a car where the keys were left in the ignition and you won't get a sympathetic hearing if your has disappeared in this way.

 

But it's not just cars that disappear. If you leave your car with anything on display, such as a laptop, gifts or packages of any sort, sat-nav or even shoes or other clothing, you are asking for a brick to be pushed through a window and your property stolen.

 

Many insurers are cutting back on the limits of personal property taken in this way and unless you have an extension on your home insurance to cover property away from your home, you will have only yourself to blame.

 

Quick tips 

• Never, ever leave keys in the car.
• Park in well lit car parks that ideally, have reasonable security such as CCTV.
• Fit your car with a Tracker – that will help recover the car if it is stolen.
• Consider using a simple visual locking equipment, such as a 'crook-lock' device.
• Lock your car in a garage at night if possible; or shut your gates if you leave it on the drive.
• Never leave property on display in the car. Lock it in the boot or better still, don't leave anything in the car at all.
• Collect all your purchases at the end of the day. (Most retailers will allow this.) Don't make repeated trips to your car filling it up with items just waiting to be taken. Reverse into parking spaces - It makes it more difficult for thieves to open the boot or tailgate. 

Courtesy Cars In The UK - Fact vs Myth

• A vehicle related theft occurs every 21 seconds in the UK 
• Over half of those taken without consent are never restored to their owner.

How would you cope if your vehicle was stolen tonight?

 

We sincerely hope that it never happens to you, but the fact is that no matter how much is thrown at vehicle protection, the determined vehicle thief continues to ply his trade. In the time it takes to read this article, three more vehicles will be stolen or taken without the owners consent.

 

MYTH: Every customer who has their vehicle stolen in the UK will be provided a replacement vehicle by their car insurance company.

 

FACT: It is remarkable that only a small number of insurance companies offer any kind of solution, leaving the vast majority of the 30 million UK motorists exposed.

 

MYTH: But surely I will get a courtesy vehicle?

 

FACT: No courtesy vehicle will be provided whilst your car remains un-recovered (typically 10-14 days, if at all) and NOT when your vehicle is written off.

 

We are delighted to introduce you to Theft Protect , not previously available in the UK, protecting you in the unhappy event of your vehicle being stolen. For a small annual fee, you can now obtain a like-for-like replacement vehicle facility for up to 28 days allowing you to get mobile again with the minimum of fuss.

 

For more information click  http://www.theftprotect.co.uk/intro.html

 

Or visit the Theft Protect Website  http://www.theftprotect.co.uk/

 

How Much Does Theft Protect Cost?

 

Prices start from as little as £25 plus IPT (insurance premium tax - 5%) depending on the group of replacement vehicle and the hire period required. The agent that contacts you will tell you the price.

 

How Do I Get Theft Protect Cover?

 

Theft Protect is available from through our national network of FSA authorised insurance brokers, finance companies or motor dealers.

 

E mail us from these pages enquiries@theftprotect.co.uk  or via the website http://www.theftprotect.co.uk/

for details of how you can obtain cover now. Theft Protect will contact you with details of your nearest authorised agent.

 

Alternatively, click the "Contact Me" button below. Complete the form that opens and click send e mail. We will e mail you details & you can be on cover within a few minutes.

 

(Theft Protect is only available to UK residents)

 

Questions about Theft Protect? Again, click the "Contact Me" button below and complete the enquiry form that opens. We will respond to your query as quickly as possible.

 

With Theft Protect you’re covered.

Read more! Read more: http://www.blogdoctor.me/2007/02/expandable-post-summaries.html#ixzz0PTplKsFN

A Minute For Madelaine McCann

We would call upon every visitor to these pages to click the link below to Inspector Gadgets' site to see the post he has entered -
http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/4258/
On the site you will see a short video about Madelaine. There are some interesting comments below that post. One of which has a lists some very good points. There is a lot of unanswered questions about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and we sincerely hope that someday the world will know the full truth of the matter and pray for her safe return to her parents.

Crime Analysis Team
Nice 1 Limited Read more! Read more: http://www.blogdoctor.me/2007/02/expandable-post-summaries.html#ixzz0PTplKsFN