More than 3,100 vehicles have been stolen in Saskatchewan so far this year. Close to one-third of those were nabbed off Saskatoon streets, more than two vehicles a day that go missing.
In Saskatoon, the police service’s recovery rate for stolen autos is in the 90 per cent range.
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In nine out of 10 cases, it’s patrol members with an active Bolo list on their computers who find them as opposed to parking enforcement or calls from citizens.
“They know what cars are stolen, they know what they’re looking for that day when they come to work,” Staff Sgt. AJ Chevli, with the economic crime unit for the Saskatoon Police Service, said.
Just how quickly a vehicle is recovered is an entirely different story. Mebdh English said her family minivan went missing two months ago. She is just one of 1,007 people in Saskatoon to have her vehicle swiped this year.
“We went to go home and he said ‘my keys are missing’ and sure enough they’d been taken and so had the van.”
On Oct. 5, someone rifled through the couples’ jackets placed inside a locker at Lawson Civic Centre as the family of five changed behind closed doors just a few feet away.
“We’ve been able to replace it, it’s taken quiet a bit of our time and not without expense too.”
They have since gotten two traffic tickets in the mail as the thieves drive the minivan around town. The English family also settled with Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) but didn’t get enough to replace the minivan outright, and they were in for another surprise.
“The contents of a vehicle when it’s stolen aren’t covered under your vehicle insurance, they’re covered under your house insurance.”
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Here’s why the couple says they decided against filing a claim.
“We had several thousand dollars worth of sports equipment, my son’s prescription eye glasses before we went swimming and iPods, you know stuff you keep in your van,” English said.
“That would be another thousand dollar deductible and your premiums go up so we decided not to go that routine.”
Theft of personal belongings inside your vehicle ranks among the top three property crimes in the country, even still, your auto insurance only covers your vehicle not the contents inside.
Another thing you should know is if you ever fall victim to auto theft, is don’t cancel your plates just in case the vehicle is recovered, according to SGI.
“If the vehicle is not recovered then we would cancel the plates, we would backdate that cancellation to the day after the vehicle is reported stolen and refund the customer the money,” SGI spokesperson Kelly Brinkworth said.
The decision to cancel your plates would be made at the advice of your adjuster and is usually made within a week of your vehicle being stolen.
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