AN insurance company report has pinpointed Sunshine as the suburb most affected by car theft.
The figures, drawn from 2007 AAMI claims data and based on the number of car thefts reported in a postcode, found Sunshine had 1.15 theft claims for every 100 policies.
Meadow Heights (1.12) came a close second, while Williamstown (0.99), St Kilda (0.97) and East St Kilda (0.97) rounded out the top five.
Of the cars stolen, 33 per cent were taken from the owner’s driveway, garage or carport, 27 per cent from a public car park and 25 per cent from the owner’s street or an adjacent street.
The remaining 15 per cent fell under the banner of “somewhere else”.
Claims services manager Anthony Matthews said these figures correlated with studies from the police and the National Theft Reduction Council, which found that cars 10 or more years old were more likely to be stolen.
“It’s hard to say from the research why Sunshine’s the most popular … what studies show is that generally cars 10-plus years old are more likely to be stolen, and if people install an engine immobiliser they greatly reduce the risk.”
