Car crime drives up insurance costs
Insurance policy prices have risen 5% in the last three months following a surge in vehicle crime.
AA Insurance claims premiums are increasing at their fastest rate for 15 years, with thieves targeting high-value cars.
Due to improved vehicle security on modern vehicles, thieves are now breaking into houses to steal ignition keys.
Once taken, the cars are commonly exported, cloned with fake registration plates, or stripped down for parts.
Common tactics employed by thieves include:
- Fishing for keys through a letterbox
- Breaking into a house at night or when it is obviously empty
- Pickpocketing or stealing handbags to get keys
- Breaking into places where drivers might have left 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.
AA Insurance also warned drivers against leaving their cars running to warm them up on frosty mornings.
AA Insurance director Simon Douglas said: "Keys are the weakest link in the car theft chain and modern cars can't easily be taken without them.
"Unfortunately, many drivers still leave keys in their cars even for a moment, for example, popping back into the house because they have forgotten something, at petrol stations or while feeding a pay-and-display machine or parking meter."