Fewer cars are being stolen in the UK, and more are being recovered

The number of cars being pinched in the UK has dropped, according to new figures released by the DVLA. Car thefts are down from almost 66,000 to just under 63,000 – a 4.5 per cent decrease... and possible underestimation we’ll come onto.

In more good news, the number of cars recovered after being taken has increased to just over 20 per cent.

The Ford Fiesta remains the most commonly stolen car - followed by the VW Golf and Ford Focus - but Philip Swift, an ex-detective and technical director at Claims Management and Adjusting (CMA, the firm that analysed the stats), highlighted the 47 per cent drop in the number of Range Rover Sport thefts, acknowledging both the commendable police work involved and the focus given to the issue by carmakers.

“The prestige vehicle manufacturers especially deserve praise. Their latest security upgrades do seem to be working, for now,” he said.

CMA looked at the DVLA figures, which reported a total of 106,000 stolen vehicles including agricultural machines, bikes and caravans. They noted a significant discrepancy between those figures and the 130,000 recorded by the Office for National Statistics. This suggests the decrease in thefts could be even greater.

“The difference is due to the data processes, for example, vehicles recovered before being reported stolen might never be added to the DVLA database," said Swift. "Over the coming weeks we will be undertaking more in-depth analysis of the figures.”

On the topic of cars being reported stolen, Swift notes an increase in 'weeding': not a cathartic garden activity, but in police terms it's when a car inadvertently loses its 'stolen' marker on the Police National Computer (PNC) because the theft isn't confirmed by a human on the Lost and Stolen register within six weeks.

"This archaic process has always caused problems but, presumably due to the pressure on police resources, we are seeing a dramatic increase in six-week weeding errors," said Swift. Aside from recoveries being less likely, used car buyers get false negative results on the checks they do, and stolen cars aren't picked up by ANPR because they're no longer considered stolen.