Auto Theft

Insurance Bureau of Canada has been helping Canadians fight auto theft for more than 80 years.

Regrettably, some people still have a very misguided notion as to what auto theft is and isn’t. Let’s set the record straight.

Auto theft is not:

• just an insurance or a policing problem
• just a victimless crime
• just a property crime

Auto theft is:

• a global problem
• profitable for criminals
• expensive for law-abiding citizens
• dangerous and a threat to our safety

Auto theft defies all boundaries - jurisdictional, political, geographical and administrative. And it is a big and lucrative business; on average, a car is stolen every three and a half minutes in Canada - that's approximately 420 per day. Because of the changing trends and complexity of the issue, the fight against auto theft requires the cooperation and involvement of many partners. It starts with automobile owners and includes the law enforcement community, automobile manufacturers, dealers of new and used cars, salvage operators, car repairers, automobile insurers, theft deterrent system manufacturers and installers, licensing and customs authorities, and the judicial system.

Auto theft is not a victimless crime – or just a property crime. First, on average, it costs each policyholder an additional $35 on his or her insurance premium. On top of that, auto theft costs all Canadians at least $1 billion per year, if one also considers health care, court, policing, legal and out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles.

Second, and more serious, auto theft costs people their lives. Car thieves have absolutely no regard for public safety and the rules of the road. Every year approximately 40 people die and 65 are injured as a direct result of auto theft. When it’s in the hands of a thief, a stolen car is like a loaded gun.