Total passenger and light commercial vehicle thefts in Victoria shot up 16.3 per cent last year to 12,854. “In the last 18 months there has been a worrying upward climb in car thefts in Victoria and a trend of thieves breaking into homes to access keys. That’s because most vehicles now have factory-fitted electronic immobilizer and are not easily hot-wired,” Mr Hughes said.
“The movement began well before the current notoriety of the Apex gang.“This is likely to cause an impact on auto insurance premiums. It needs some time to flow through and may not be this year, but could be in the next 12 months.”
Mr Hughes noted less than 10 per cent of a premium covered car theft costs.
