Research reveals bikers in North West London five times more likely to have motorcycle stolen

Bikers living in North West London are more than five times as likely as the average rider to have their bike stolen according to the largest annual survey of motorcycle theft risk. Carole Nash, the UK’s biggest motorcycle insurance specialist, has analysed claims from among its 230,000 biking policyholders to pinpoint the nation’s theft hotspots, bring bad news for Londoners and Liverpudlians.

The Carole Nash Motorcycle Survey found that those living in the North West London (NW) area are at the highest risk of theft among 117 main UK postcodes surveyed. Indeed Greater London postcodes are among eight of the top ten highest risk areas with Liverpool facing the worst record outside of the capital. A biker living in Liverpool’s L postcode is over twice as likely as average to have their motorcycle stolen.

The outlook for bikers in Preston is also gloomy as the PR postcode soared 64 places up the UK league – the highest year-on-year climb. But there was also good news as bikers in Hereford saw the area plummeting 64 places with the HR code now propping up the table with other low risk areas Galashiels (TD), Perth (PH), Llandrindod Wells (LD), the Isle of Man (IM) and Dumfries & Galloway (DG).

London bikers are easily the ones most likely to discover their bike has been stolen suffering over six times the risk of the lowest ranked region, Northern Ireland.

 “Year in year out our survey finds that Londoners face what is, frankly, an unacceptable theft risk,” commented Carole Nash’s operations director, Dave Bowcock. “We might be talking about a bike worth more than a small car, perhaps £10,000, and yet there is still a desperate shortage of secure motorcycle parking places, not just in London but across the UK. Perhaps it’s time that the authorities addressed this rather than pumping out anti-motorcycle rhetoric and incorrect figures on the number of untaxed motorcyclist which only serve to further demonise the biking community. Biking should be being championed as a congestion- busting, environmentally friendly option, not marginalised, or worse, attacked.”

But he added that bikers themselves also needed to make greater effort to protect their machines. “Whilst security features fitted as standard have improved on some models in recent years, the majority still need additional investment in devices such as ground anchors, heavy duty chains and microdot tagging systems. Leave an unsecured bike on the street is as good as  leaving out a big bag of cash.”

The survey also found that, for the second year running, the model most prized by the thieves is Honda’s SCV100 Lead scooter. Scooters and mopeds were the highest risk machines, being nearly six times more likely to be stolen than the lowest risk category, the tourer.

To view the full UK league table and other theft statistics from the survey visit, please click here.

Editor’s Note: Risk rates calculated by comparing the number of claims received during 2007 against the number of motorcycling policyholders (specific to each main postcode area for the league table), types of policyholder or motorcycles insured. Please note the following areas were excluded due to sample populations being too small to render meaningful analysis:

EC – East Central London (City of London); WC – West Central London; GY – Guernsey; HS – Isle of Lewis; JE – Jersey; KW – Orkneys; ZE -  Shetland Isles .

For a hard copy of the full postcode league table email pressoffice@carolenash.com.  Carole Nash is the UK’s market leading intermediary in the motorcycle sector with nearly one in four of all bikers and over 300,000 modern, classic, vintage, custom and off road bikes insured through the company.