Report: Many Stolen, Unrecovered Autos Lacked Insurance

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA, October 05, 2010 (Press-News.org) The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) recently released its yearly report detailing the types of vehicles that were most frequently stolen in the past year, noting that a large percentage of those yet to be recovered are not protected by a car insurance policy. Nearly 100,000 vehicles were listed as stolen and not yet recovered as of August 2010, according to the NICB, and 62 percent of those lacked any type of coverage. And the reason for this may be the age of the types of cars that thieves take most often.

Drivers who have taken out a loan to purchase a new car likely were required by their lending institutions to get comprehensive insurance in order to protect it against theft and certain types of damages. The benefits of having this type of coverage, however, may decrease along with the value of the car -- since comprehensive may pay only up to the actual cash value of a vehicle -- and the advantages of protection need to be weighed against the price.

Consumers who have conducted auto insurance comparisons for different types of vehicles likely noticed that premium prices vary depending on, among many other things, the type of car to be insured. If the car has a high value or makes the list of those most likely to be stolen, comprehensive premiums likely will be higher. In order to bring down this cost, many state regulators advise considering raising the deductibles that come with such policies.

But, though insuring against theft may seem like a good idea if the car is statistically more likely to be stolen, the actual value of the car should be taken into consideration. According to state regulators in Washington, consumers need to survey the difference between what they would pay for comprehensive premiums and what they would have to pay to replace the vehicle.

Source: http://www.insurance.wa.gov/publications/auto/ConsumerGuideautoIns.pdf

Taking this aspect into account, owners of 1994 Honda Accords -- the most-stolen vehicle in 2009 -- and owners of 2009 Toyota Corollas -- the 10th most-stolen -- may come to different conclusions about the value of adding comprehensive coverage to a policy.

To learn more about different types of coverage and to compare rates on comprehensive and other types of protection, shoppers can go to http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/compare/ and conduct a free and quick quote comparison.