Auto theft remains a persistent problem for insurers – but if you are a broker in this city, you probably aren’t getting a lot of sleep at night.
According to Hamilton, Ont. police, you’re more likely to have your car broken into or robbed in the Hamilton area than anywhere else in the province
Insurance fraud and auto theft is big business in Ontario. According to KPMG estimates for the Ontario anti-fraud task force, the amount of insurance fraud in Ontario is as much as $1.6 billion a year. In 2014, IBC and Canada Border Services Agency seized over $8 million in stolen vehicles intended for export.
Numbers from a recent KANETIX.ca report show that although Hamilton does make the top 10 among Ontario cities for high insurance rates, it still lags behind a few communities in the GTA:
• Brampton – $2,393, +44%;
• Woodbridge – $2,342, +41%
• Vaughan – $2,342, + 41%
• Toronto – $2,017, +27%
• Mississauga – $1,998, +26%
• Hamilton – $1,987, +26%
• Thornhill – $1,884, +20%
• Markham – $1,829, +17%
• Richmond Hill – $1,755, +13%
• Ajax – $1,718, +11%
“Urban areas tend to have higher insurance rates because there are more cars on the road, higher frequency of accidents and greater severity,” says Janine White, vice president of Marketplaces. “Insurers set their premiums based on claims and actuarial data from a given region. These areas had the highest incidence of claims so this is reflected in the premiums.”
Which would seem to be the case, given that communities like Belleville, Kingston and the towns of Cobourg and Napanee were found to have the cheapest auto insurance rates, averaging $1,014 per year – a whopping 81 per cent lower than Brampton.
In the case of Hamilton, the recent spate of auto theft and auto break-ins has spurred local law enforcement to launch a car door locking campaign blitz to curb the problem.
The ‘lock it or lose it’ campaign is a provincial initiative that has been particularly well implemented in Hamilton, says crime prevention coordinator Sgt. Barry Mungar. And it’s a necessary one, it would seem – because the area has a car theft problem. (continued.)
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Between 2009 and 2012, stolen vehicle statistics went up by a whopping 114 per cent in just four years. Those rates dropped by 22 per cent in 2013 (the most recently available data year) but that still leaves us with a car theft rate that is 92 per cent higher than it was in 2009.
According to Statistics Canada data, the Hamilton and Brantford census metropolitan areas have the two highest rates of motor vehicle theft in Ontario. “It’s true, the likelihood of your vehicle being stolen in Hamilton is greater than other cities in Ontario,” Mungar told CBC News.
Those cars are stolen for a host of different reasons – to be used to commit other crimes, to be broken down in chop shops and used for cheap parts, and sometimes just for joyrides. Some nicked Hamilton cars are even shipped overseas, says Mungar.
“It’s a billion dollar business. It’s a massive industry,” he said.
However, Canada-wide motor vehicle theft has been trending downward.
There were about 73,000 incidents of motor vehicle theft reported by police in 2013, representing a rate of 207 per 100,000 population, according to Statistics Canada. This was a decrease of 8 per cent from 2012, and was 62 per cent lower than the rate of motor vehicle theft in Canada in 2003.
The rate of police-reported motor vehicle theft also declined across most of the country, with the exception of Yukon (+29 per cent), Alberta (+11 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (+2 per cent). With this increase, Alberta recorded the highest provincial rate of motor vehicle theft in 2013 (395 per 100,000 population).
Between 2003 and 2013, the largest decreases in motor vehicle theft were recorded in Manitoba and British Columbia (both -74 per cent). In each of these provinces, there are specialized police programs that target motor vehicle thefts.
For example, the Winnipeg Police Service, Manitoba Justice, and Manitoba Public Insurance have developed a comprehensive strategy that targets high-volume offenders, the most frequently targeted automobiles and programs to address underlying causes of vehicle theft.
In British Columbia, police services have implemented a bait car program to aid in prevention and in the apprehension of accused persons.
