Every 27 seconds, a motor vehicle is stolen in the United States. The latest FBI Uniform Crime Reports said that motor vehicle thefts in 2001 were up 5.7 percent over 2000*.

The FBI's 2001 Uniform Crime Report (UCR) indicates there were more than 1.2 million motor vehicle thefts in the United States in 2001 with an estimated value of approximately $8.2 billion dollars*.

Comprehensive insurance coverage pays for damage to or loss of your car by fire, theft or vandalism- minus any deductible. This coverage is inexpensive and could save you money and headaches in the long run. This coverage typically includes up to $15 per day for 30 days for renting a car, taxi services, bus or train fare, until your stolen car is recovered or you reach the $450 limit.

Personal property is not covered unless it’s permanently installed in your car, such as a tape deck. In some cases removable stereos have just recently been classified as "permanent" because the box it sits in is permanently set in the dashboard. You may be denied Comprehensive coverage or required to pay a higher extra-risk rate if you own a high-theft vehicle, which does not have a qualifying anti-theft recovery device.

If your car is stolen you need to report it to the police and your insurance company. The sooner you do so the sooner you can find other means of transportation because the coverage starts 48 hours after you report the car stolen.

More than 70 percent of all auto thefts occur during the hours of: 1:00 – 5:00 am*.

Car thieves have many motivations. The most common ploy of the professional criminal is to steal vehicles in order to obtain the parts. Selling the parts of a car individually may bring a criminal two or three times what he could get selling the vehicle intact. Most often thieves work with other criminals to set up "chop shops" that can strip a car down to its component parts in a matter of minutes.

These parts go into an infamous auto parts network that services repair shops and individual mechanics who purchase the stolen parts at a discount.

Another common motivation to steal a car is simply to sell it again, in the same way that any stolen property is "fenced" illegally. Often thieves will take the vehicle across state lines, where its identification numbers are altered to match forged or fraudulently obtained titles and registration papers. Another common ploy is to ship the stolen vehicles overseas. A vehicle stolen in a port city can often be in a shipping container ready to be sent overseas within hours of its theft.

More than 200,000 vehicles are exported illegally from the United States every year*.

Car thefts almost always result in the theft of personal property left in the vehicles. Many auto thieves get away with your personal items like checkbooks, bank deposit slips, credit cards and credit card receipts that can lead to credit card and bank fraud.

Note: (Information compiled is based on the most recent research available via the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the Insurance Information Institute (III), the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and CCC Information Services.)

* According to the latest FBI Uniform Crime Report released in November 2002 http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm