Continuing its analysis of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) vehicle theft data for 2022, obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, Claims Management & Adjusting (CMA) has listed the top five most stolen cars in Essex last year.
Top 5 most stolen cars in Essex in 2022
Model
Stolen
1
Ford Fiesta Titanium
195
2
Ford Fiesta Zetec
183
3
Land Rover Range Rover Sport
135
4
Ford Fiesta ST
94
5
Land Rover Range Rover Evoque
76
Source: Claims Management & Adjusting analysis of DVLA data
Philip Swift, a former detective and now managing director of CMA, commented: “According to the DVLA data, Essex police recorded 3,771 vehicle thefts in 2022, the fifth highest total in the UK, behind only The Met (London), West Midlands, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. It is clear that Fiesta and Range Rover models are being targeted by organised criminal gangs, as are Ford Transits, although we restricted this analysis to cars. While not back to the ‘joyriding’ epidemic of the 1990s, well over three and a half thousand vehicles in a year is way too many, and recovery rates are lower than ever too.
“Why is Essex suffering so badly? It is surely no coincidence that it reported six times as many vehicle thefts as Merseyside last year. A communication we received recently from Essex Police sheds unfortunate light on the situation. During our day-to-day insurance claims handling, we frequently ask police services for crime reports. We track the delivery times and Essex take by far the longest – sometimes over a year! Essex Police recently emailed us blaming the holdups on “a back log of applications due to an unprecedented workload in other priority legislative areas”. They are literally saying they’ve got better things to do. I was appalled and have written to the Chief Constable, Ben-Julian Harrington, about it.”
