It will come as no surprise to most that London has the highest incidence of vehicle theft in the UK – with a population of about 9 million, 3-times that of West Midlands, the capital is awash with vehicles … and this does not take into consideration the wealth concentration. In London, the vehicle theft rate, per 100,000 of the population is 290.
But the headline figure belongs to West Midlands, with a staggering 417 vehicle thefts per 100,000 of the population, or almost 50% more vehicle thefts per head of population than London.
Essex gets a special mention, with 3,771 vehicle thefts in 2022, 204 per 100,000 of the population, or a theft in just over every hour of the day. A substantial figure when compared to Kent, at almost half this. But Essex victims, who are unlikely to see the vehicle returned to them ‘as was’ (recovery rates have fallen) may also have to wait longer for their insurance pay-out … the constabulary is possibly the slowest to respond to requests from insurers for copy crime reports which are often required to validate claims – taking more than a year in some instances!
Read more about the statistics and the ‘Essex double-whammy’ here.