16
Aug
2013
By Calvin at 07:52 GMT, 12 years ago
NFU Mutual has recently published the results of its annual survey of claims experiences within branch offices throughout the UK.
The latest findings were combined with a detailed analysis of countryside claims data during 2012 to provide members with a unique insight into developing trends, patterns of crime and best practice examples of crime prevention techniques within the UK’s rural communities.
The headline findings of their survey reveal:
- Rural theft cost an estimated £42.3m in the UK during 2012 – down 19.7%
- Tractor theft fell 32% year-on-year and quad bike theft was down 17%
- There was a slight rise in livestock theft (+3%)
- Regionally, the largest falls were seen in the Midlands (-32%) and South West (-26%), while the cost of crime in Scotland rose 12%
- Yorkshire (£3.4m), Essex (£1.9m), Lincolnshire and Kent (£1.8m) are the counties which saw the most rural crime
- Tools, quad bikes and fuel are the most commonly targeted items according to the nation-wide survey
- Community watch schemes (60%) and social media such as Twitter (47%) are the most widely used methods for communicating crime alerts and information within communities surveyed
Most commonly targeted items
Based on claims experience over the previous 12 months, NFU Mutual agencies were asked to rank the items which were most commonly targeted by thieves in their area. Results were totalled across the whole country to reveal a UK-wide top ten.
- Tools
- ATV/quad bikes
- Oil/Diesel
- Machinery
- Garden equipment
- Livestock
- Vehicles
- Metal
- Tractors
- Trailers
NFU Mutual’s published report: http://www.nfumutual.co.uk/farming/initiatives/rural-crime/
