ISO and NICB Release 2009 Heavy-Equipment Theft Report

January 1, 2011 / 3 min read

Report outlines equipment most likely stolen and where, highlights costs of theft for owners and insurers

JERSEY CITY, N.J., and DES PLAINES, Ill., June 1, 2010 — The National Equipment Register (NER), a division of ISO Crime Analytics, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) today released their national report on 2009 heavy-equipment thefts. The report focuses on what types of equipment are most likely to be stolen or recovered and where in the country the thefts are occurring. The report also highlights the direct and indirect costs of theft for owners and insurers. New statistics and analyses have been added to the 2009 report, such as a map of the United States illustrating theft and recovery rates at the county level.

The report draws on data from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), NICB, and NER to produce a comprehensive analysis of heavy-equipment theft. In 2009, the NCIC received 13,452 theft reports. In descending order, the five states with the most incidents of heavy-equipment theft were Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina. Together, those five states accounted for 43 percent of total equipment theft. Rounding out the top 10 were Tennessee, California, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Ohio. The top 10 states accounted for 62 percent of all thefts.

In 2009, only 18 percent of heavy equipment stolen was recovered. That compares with a 57.2 percent recovery rate in 2008 for all other motor vehicles.

“While the number of thefts reported to NCIC declined only slightly from 2008 to 2009, it is a positive note,” said Joe Wehrle, NICB president and CEO. “The awareness this annual report has brought to the issue of equipment theft, combined with better reporting and increased attention from law enforcement, may be stemming the tide of thefts. However, the recovery rate continues to lag, and this clearly shows we have a long way to go with efforts to locate and return stolen property and reduce losses to businesses and insurers.”

“We are encouraged by a leveling-off of theft rates. And we see great potential to decrease theft further as more information is made available to law enforcement through the NER-NICB alliance,” added David Shillingford, president of NER. “As more used-equipment buyers check equipment through IRONcheck® prior to purchase, the chances of buying stolen equipment are reduced.”

About the National Insurance Crime Bureau
Headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill., the NICB is the nation’s leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through information analysis, investigations, training, legislative advocacy and public awareness. The NICB is supported by nearly 1,100 property and casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations. NICB member companies wrote over $319 billion in insurance premiums in 2009, or more than 78 percent of the nation’s property/casualty insurance. That includes more than 93 percent ($151 billion) of the nation’s personal auto insurance. To learn more, visit www.nicb.org.

About the National Equipment Register
The National Equipment Register (NER), a division of ISO Crime Analytics, Inc., helps equipment owners manage equipment risks. Since 2001, NER has helped thousands of equipment owners and their insurers deter theft and has enabled law enforcement to recover millions of dollars of stolen equipment through HELPtech®, a national equipment marking and registration program. In 2009, NER launched IRONcheck®, a machine-history search for used-equipment buyers. NER’s data management skills and equipment expertise are also used by fleets to support compliance with new regulations. For more information, contact NER at 201-469-2030 or at info@nerusa.com. You can visit the NER website at www.nerusa.com.

About ISO
Since 1971, ISO has been a leading source of information about property/casualty insurance risk. For a broad spectrum of commercial and personal lines of insurance, the company provides statistical, actuarial, underwriting, and claims information; policy language; information about specific locations; fraud-identification tools; and technical services. ISO serves insurers, reinsurers, agents and brokers, insurance regulators, risk managers, and other participants in the property/casualty insurance marketplace. ISO is a subsidiary of Verisk Analytics. For more information, visit www.verisk.com.

Release: Immediate

Contacts:
Giuseppe Barone / Erica Helton
MWW Group (for ISO)
201-507-9500
gbarone@mww.com / ehelton@mww.com