UK car crime hotspots
Enter your postcode to see how your address compares to the rest of the UK
Waking up to find your car damaged or stolen is a nightmare scenario that many people are unfortunately all too familiar with.
But where are people’s cars most at risk and what can drivers do to help keep their vehicles safe and secure?
Whether your car is your pride and joy or just something to get you from A to B, having your car stolen or vandalised is an unpleasant experience, although your car insurance policy can help mitigate any financial losses.
While there are steps you can take to help make your car less attractive to would-be thieves, like keeping belongings out of sight and fitting an alarm or tracking device, new analysis of car insurance data shows that the risk is greater in some areas than others.

UK car crime hotspots
We analysed more than seven million car insurance quotes from MoneySuperMarket customers to find the UK postcodes with the highest and lowest rates of car crime since 2021.
Enter your postcode to see how your address compares to the rest of the UK
Car Crime Hotspots
Do you live in a car crime hotspot?
Enter your postcode to see what the rate of car crime was in your area between 2021-2023 and how it compared to the rest of the UK.
UK Rank | Postal Area Code | Postal Area | Crime rate per 1,000 quotes |
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UK Rank | Postal Area Code | Postal Area | Crime rate per 1,000 quotes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | IG9 | Buckhurst Hill | 53.40 |
2 | N10 | Muswell Hill | 52.84 |
3 | N21 | Winchmore Hill, Bush Hill, Grange Park | 52.18 |
4 | E18 | Woodford, South Woodford | 48.17 |
5 | IG4 | Redbridge | 48.13 |
6 | IG8 | Woodford Green, Woodford Bridge | 47.81 |
7 | B62 | Halesowen | 47.46 |
8 | B73 | Boldmere, New Oscott, Wylde Green | 46.93 |
9 | B72 | Sutton Coldfield Town Centre, Maney, Wylde Green | 46.16 |
10 | B30 | Bournville, Cotteridge, Stirchley | 45.58 |
11 | B17 | Harborne | 45.46 |
12 | B93 | Knowle, Dorridge | 45.11 |
13 | B94 | Olton, Solihull | 45.08 |
14 | RM11 | Hornchurch, Emerson Park, Ardleigh Green | 45.08 |
15 | N14 | Southgate, Oakwood, Arnos Grove | 44.21 |
16 | RM2 | Gidea Park, Heath Park | 43.65 |
17 | B37 | Chelmsley Wood, Marston Green, Kingshurst, Fordbridge | 43.62 |
18 | NW3 | Hampstead, Chalk Farm, Primrose Hill, Swiss Cottage, Belsize Park, Gospel Oak, Frognal, Childs Hill | 43.41 |
19 | SW3 | Chelsea, Brompton, Knightsbridge | 43.37 |
20 | RM4 | Havering-atte-Bower, Abridge, Stapleford Abbotts, Noak Hill, Navestock, Stapleford Tawney, Stapleford Aerodrome | 41.99 |
Postcodes with the most car crime claims
According to our research, Gloucester’s GL13 postcode district, which covers the town of Berkeley, is the UK’s car crime hotspot with 86.29 claims per 1,000 quotes.
The majority (97%) of claims in GL13 were for the theft of a vehicle.
With 80.49 claims per 1,000 quotes, the SY9 post district in Shropshire had the second-highest proportion of car insurance claims for car theft, theft of contents from a vehicle and vandalism.
London’s WC1E, an area that covers Camden and includes University College London, came in third with 72.09 claims for car crime per 1,000 quotes.
Postcodes with the fewest car crime claims
With a vehicle crime rate of 0.22 per 1,000 quotes, the residents of the LD7 postcode district that covers the Knighton area on the border of Wales and England, as well as those in Scotland with the postcode AB38 (Aberlour) have the UK’s lowest car crime rates.
The LD2 post district covering Builth Wells had just 0.23 crime related claims per 1,000, while the Northern Irelands BT54 (Ballycastle, Ballintoy, Ballypatrick, Ballyvoy, Cape Castle, Glenshesk, Maghercashel, Maghernahar, Moyarget, Torr, Rathlin Island) had the third fewest with 0.24 per 1,000.
Postcodes where people are most likely to have their car stolen
With 83.78 theft claims for every 1,000 quotes, residents of the GL13 postcode district that covers the Berkeley area in Gloucestershire are the most at risk of having their car stolen, according to MoneySuperMarket data.
The West Midlands postal district of B49 (Alcester) had the second highest rate of car theft with 53.96 claims per 1,000, while the Milton Keynes postcode of MK1 (Denbigh, Mount Farm) came third with a rate of 49.18 per 1,000.
Postcodes where people are most likely to have their belongings stolen from a vehicle
When it comes to having belongings stolen from a vehicle, the LL25 postcode district in North Wales (Dolwyddelan) had the highest claims rate with 41.36 per 1,000 quotes.
In second place was SW1W in London (Belgravia) with 33.79 claims per 1,000 quotes, while the Scottish post district of PH13 came in third with a contents theft rate of 25.96 per 1,000.
Postcodes where cars are most likely to be damaged or vandalised
While Shropshire’s SY9 postcode (Bishops Castle) ranked second for total crime related car insurance claims, it also had the UK’s highest proportion of claims for damage and vandalism.
For every 1,000 quotes run by people living in the SY9 area, 65.2 said they had made a claim for vandalism in the last five years.
With another appearance was London’s WC1E whose vandalism rate of 49.08 per 1,000 put it in second place, while the nearby WC1A post district finished third with 42.11 vandalism claims per 1,000 quotes.
What to do if your car is stolen
If your car is stolen, you should report it to the police by calling 101.
Remember to have your registration number and the make, model and colour of your car to hand. Ask the operator to transfer you to your local station.
The police will inform the DVLA and give you a crime reference number which you’ll need to give to your insurance provider.
Armed with your car insurance policy number and crime reference number, call your insurer to start the insurance claim process.
Once your claim is finalised and your insurance provider has paid out, you’ll have to contact the DVLA. At this point you no longer own the car because it belongs to the insurance company.
The DVLA will update their records and refund any remaining vehicle tax.
Does car insurance cover stolen vehicles?
Whether car theft is covered by your insurance will depend on the type of cover you have.
If you have the most basic insurance, third-party only, you won’t be covered. However, you will be covered if you have a fully comprehensive and third-party fire and theft (TPFT) policy.
Even with fully comprehensive insurance and TPFT. There are certain circumstances where your insurance might not pay out.
For example, if you leave your car unattended on the street with the engine running to de-ice your car and it gets stolen, you won’t be covered.
In the event your car is recovered but is a write-off, the insurer will only pay out the market value of the vehicle. So, if your car is on a finance agreement, you might want to consider GAP insurance which will bridge the difference between what you paid for your car and its current value.
How to reduce the chance of your car being stolen
Don't make life easy for car thieves. Here are MoneySuperMarket’s tips for keeping your vehicle safe and secure.
Make sure your car is locked, and the windows and sunroof (if you have one) are fully closed. With newer vehicles, thieves might also look to see if your door mirrors are folded or not as this could indicate your car is unlocked.
Keep both your main and spare keys out of sight and far from your car and front door. If your car has keyless entry, consider investing in a signal-blocking pouch, like a Faraday Bag.
If your vehicle doesn’t already have one, consider adding a car alarm or immobiliser. Not only will this help deter thieves, but it could also lower your insurance premium. A steering wheel lock can also be a good visual deterrent.
Fit your car with a Thatcham-approved tracker. Choose one that uses VHF technology instead of GPS, which thieves can block. While a tracker may not prevent theft, it increases the odds of police recovering your vehicle.
Install security lighting, CCTV, or a video doorbell at home. If you're parking away from home, choose a well-lit spot with surveillance cameras to keep your car in clear view.
Alicia , car insurance expert at MoneySuperMarket said: “We generally associate car crime with more built-up areas, but our research shows that drivers in rural areas shouldn't take the security of their vehicles for granted.
“While the hustle and bustle of the city can help mask the sound of someone breaking into a car, fewer streetlights and less people around can give would-be thieves an opportunity to act with a lower risk of being spotted.
“There’s no way of avoiding car crime altogether, however taking some simple steps, like using a steering wheel lock, can help reduce the chances of it being stolen, broken into or damaged, as well as ensuring you can make an insurance claim should the worst happen.”
Methodology
An analysis of MoneySuperMarket car insurance quote data from the start of 2021 to the end of 2023.
Postcode areas with fewer than 300 enquiries (an average of 100 a year) or those with missing data were excluded from the study resulting in an analysis of 2,667 UK postcode districts.