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Vehicle hijacking and theft claims have skyrocketed to unsustainable levels, with criminals shifting their crosshairs from older low-value vehicles to newer high-value bakkies and SUVs.
This is according to Santam, which recently released its Insurance Barometer report for the 2022/23 financial year ending in the first half of 2023, highlighting that hijackings and vehicle theft claims have increased by 32% and 92%, respectively.
Additionally, the insurer noted that high-value vehicle theft claims shot up by 128% on the commercial side, with criminals targeting delivery trucks.
The report noted that Santam’s incurred claims for high-theft-risk vehicles were 6.32 times higher than the 2019 base measure and more than double the incurred claims for 2021.
“The experience was so poor that several corrective actions were needed to minimise exposure. Doubling up on vehicle trackers, discussing tech-linked weaknesses with vehicle manufacturers, and promoting Faraday pouches to prevent the cloning of keyless access signals,” Santam said.
Targeted vehicles
Santam noted in its report that it has seen a shift away from older, low-value vehicles with limited security requirements to more expensive double cabs and SUVs. This aligned with the experiences of private security companies such as Fidelity ADT.
According to Fidelity, vehicles under the Toyota, VW, Ford, and Nissan brands continue to be common targets among criminals, and the specific models include:
- Toyota Hilux, Fortuner, and Corollas
- VW Polos
- Nissan NP200s
Much like Santam’s experience, Fidelity noted that high-value cars such as Toyota Prados and Toyota Landcruisers are among the most popular models for criminals, along with the Hilux bakkie and Fortuner SUV.
“These makes and models are up to 20 times more likely than similar-priced models to be hijacked or stolen, specifically in Gauteng,” said Santam.
There are no specific reasons these vehicles are targeted apart from their popularity. Experts have highlighted that many of these high-value targets align with the country’s most popular cars sold each month – such as the Hilux and VW Polo – meaning there is more demand for their parts, among other things.
As pointed out by Santam’s report, Fidelity also noted an increase in trucks with valuable loads being targeted – specifically the Hyundai H100s.
Other interesting sub-themes in the vehicle hijacking and theft statistics from Santam’s report include the concentration of risks in geographic areas close to border crossings and the rise in thefts involving vehicles with keyless access.
In the former category, stolen vehicles have extended from Gauteng into areas of KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, where they exit the country into African territory. Insurers, including Santam, have no choice but to introduce mandatory hijacking and theft countermeasures.
Santam further noted that the rampant number of hijackings and vehicle theft claims in South Africa has resulted in the motor insurance class remaining, by far, the most significant contributor to premiums in the South African short-term insurance market.
Read: Private security warns of kidnapping surge in South Africa
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