Registry goes ONLINE

The North American Export Committee (NAEC) brought car theft stakeholders together to discuss the crisis on a continent-wide level. Canadian insurers, though, continue to do battle with car thieves on this side of the border, relying on a variety of initiatives to recover stolen cars. Most recently, the motor vehicle registry (MVR) database went online, connecting insurers, motor vehicle licensing and registration officials and the public to combat the growing concern that is the stolen vehicle non-recovery rate.

It should come as no surprise to anyone within the industry that auto theft is a high level concern for auto insurers. In 1996 alone, theft of cars cost Canadian consumers almost $600 million in insurance claims for unrecovered vehicles and components stolen from vehicles. But it is not the amount of cars stolen that is giving rise to industry panic, but the amount of vehicles not recovered.

Ten years ago, 95% of stolen vehicles were eventually recovered, according to the Insurance Crime Prevention Bureau (ICPB). Today, the roughly 40% of stolen cars never resurface, amounting to 215,000 vehicles vanishing over the past five years. While the industry would like to rub out car theft altogether, a stolen vehicle that is recovered intact, partially or fully represents a reduction in the loss to insurers, and ultimately consumer’s premiums. A stolen car that has been dismantled and never again recovered represents a total loss for insurers.

The Insurance Crime Prevention Bureau’s (ICPB) motor vehicle registry is a new initiative linking consumers, insurers and motor vehicle registration offices in order to track the true history behind used cars being purchased by insureds and cars being registered across the country. Consumers can log onto the ICPB’s web site in order to access the database while motor vehicle registry offices have a direct link-up to the system, constantly updated by a steady stream of insurer data.

ICPB vice president of marketing Ron Giblin says the primary goal behind MVR is to address Canada’s vehicle non-recovery rate. “One way to camouflage a stolen vehicle is to use a vehicle identification number (VIN) from another region. What we have done is create a repository of this information from all across Canada so that when somebody registers an automobile, the motor vehicle branch will know if the vehicle has been reported stolen.”

The database will also help combat the market on stolen parts, notes Giblin. Cars that have been marked salvage in one region can no longer be illegally reconstructed and registered in another. “Cars that have been rebuilt despite being marked salvage can be detected. We can also find stolen parts.”

Consumers can utilize the database in order to track thehistory of used cars they are evaluating. “This way, when you are buying a vehicle, you do not have to rely upon the previous owner’s word. You can perform a full inspection of where this vehicle came from.”

The database is updated by insurer information about vehicle accidents, thefts and salvage rating. The database is updated throughout the day and the information is available immediately for the public and motor vehicle branches.

Giblin says the program is very much in its infant stage and as such, early statistical indicators of its success are not available. The public response has been encouraging he says, and with the non-recovery rate where it is, any success, no matter how moderate, will help the industry. Currently, the database is only operational in Canada, but Giblin would like to expand its use across North America. That will be among the many issues discussed at the upcoming North American Export Committee meeting in Toronto in late April. cu