Thefts of premium cars have doubled in five years

The number of high-end cars stolen across the UK has more than doubled in the last five years.

Between January and October this year more than 14,300 premium models were stolen, compared with the 6,600 taken in the same period in 2015, according to insurance data.

In the first half of this year more premium cars were stolen than in the whole of 2015 and insurers are warning that 2019 could break records for the number of high-end vehicles targeted by thieves.

According to the latest analysis of data by Direct Line Insurance, premium cars now account for 37 per cent of all car thefts despite representing only 25 per cent of all cars on the road.

Direct Line’s definition of premium includes Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Lotus, Maserati, Mercedes, Mini, Porsche, Tesla, TVR and Volvo.

The insurer’s data shows that since 2015 more than 67,700 of these premium cars have been stolen, the equivalent of one every 38 minutes.

While the number of premium cars has grown in the last five years, the rate at which they are stolen has grown even more. According to its figures, there are 1.7 million more premium cars on the road now than in 2015. That’s a 26 per cent increase over five years but the number of reported crimes has risen 117 per cent in the same period.

Figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) show that overall payments for car theft claims reached a seven-year high earlier this year, with new technology thought to be partly to blame.

Many premium models were among the first to get “keyless entry” systems which use transmitters in a keyfob to remotely unlock and start the car. However, these systems have proved vulnerable to relay attacks where criminals intercept and mimic the key signal, allowing them to open and start vehicles without the key.

With their relatively high value, premium models are an obvious choice for organised gangs.

The figures show that London is the premium car theft capital, accounting for more than a third (34 per cent) of all premium car thefts over the past five years. It is followed by the West Midlands (15 per cent) and the North West (14 per cent), meaning that these three regions account for nearly two thirds (63 per cent) of all premium car thefts across the UK.