Rental and leasing trade association BVRLA has reported a 22% jump in the number of cars stolen from its members last year. Of the 212,378 cars on member’s books, 0.84% were stolen, a total of 1787 units.
The figure is levelled out by a 29% and 2% fall respectively in the number of HGVs (27) and vans (100) stolen to leave the number of vehicles stolen overall at 12% up on 2007 at 1937 units. BVRLA claims the thefts cost the industry £7m in vehicle replacement and recovery charges and lost income.
Good news for the industry was a slight rise from 76% to 77% in the number of vehicles recovered, but that still left 446 missing.
Almost half (48%) were taken from the hirer, with a further quarter stolen by the hirer. Of the rest, 14% were taken from the company premises and another 11% stolen during delivery or collection.
The association also claims thieves are downsizing, now targeting a higher proportion of small and medium-sized vehicles.
“With the recession biting hard, rental company vehicles are at even greater risk of being stolen,” said BVRLA chief executive John Lewis. “Rental members using our RISC Online risk management database have reported a 45% increase in ‘problem’ renters compared too last year. Sharing this data among the industry has helped us prevent 230 potential crimes so far this year.”
Click through for the full 2008 BVRLA Theft and Fraud Member Report