Car vandals hit Britain’s roads     

Vandals have caused £563million* worth of damage in the last year to British cars, according to Direct Line’s second vehicle vandalism report.

Over 3.5 million drivers have been a victim of car vandalism in the past 12 months and of these close to a third (31 per cent) have had their vehicle defaced twice.

The most common type of damage is the car being keyed (39%), followed by windows being smashed (17%) and wing mirrors being broken (17%).  The average cost of repairing the damage is £150 although drivers who claim on their insurance will additionally face paying out an excess and possibly losing their no claims discount.

The research has found that vandals have moved away from areas likely to have CCTV cameras, as the cameras become more common in car parks and town centres, with nearly half of all vandalism incidents (45%) now happening outside the owner’s home on residential streets, compared to only six per cent of cases in shopping centre car parks. 

Direct Line has identified the top five vandalism hotspots: London tops the list followed by Manchester, Wirral, Edinburgh and then Birmingham.

Concern about vandalism is a major issue for drivers with almost one in five (19) saying they wouldn’t even consider buying a prestige-looking car because it would be targeted and six in 10 (62 per cent) reporting a belief in vandalism that it has increased in their area, leading to drivers calling for harsher penalties for the perpetrators. 

The majority of drivers (92 per cent) believe offenders should be forced to pay for the damage they’ve caused as this would act as a deterrent to doing it in the future.  More than four in ten (41 per cent) drivers believe ASBOs would be a sufficient punishment, and a further quarter (24 per cent) are calling for custodial sentences for vehicle vandals.  
 
Many victims (56 per cent) don’t tell the police about the damage, with nearly two thirds (64 per cent) stating that it’s simply not worth the hassle of going through the reporting process when there is little chance of the culprit being identified.

Emma Holyer, Direct Line Motor spokesperson said:

“Vandalism is one of the most irritating problems motorists are facing today.  These vandals have become savvy to where they can get away with this pointless crime and this is causing worry and misery for drivers in the UK.  If you know you have a problem with vandals in your street or your car has been attacked, do contact the Police or your local authority to report it as they will put up CCTV cameras or improved streetlights if they are aware of a problem and this will act as a deterrent to these thugs in the future.” 

For more information, log on to www.directline.com.

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Emma Holyer/Direct Line Press Office
0208 256 2182 / 07894 158605
Email: emma.holyer@directline.com

Notes to Editors:

*According to the YouGov findings, the average cost vehicle vandalism is £151.60 and 11 per cent of drivers have had their vehicles vandalised in the last year. Therefore, 33,809,493 x 0.11 = 3,719,044 and so 3,719,044 x £151.60 = £563,807,070

**There are 33.8 million drivers in the UK (Census data, 2001) and according to the YouGov findings, 11.7 per cent of drivers have had their vehicles vandalised in the last year. Therefore, 33,809,493 x 0.11 = 3,719,044