Vehicle thefts in N.B. pave way for double-digit insurance rate hikes
Car thefts dropping in every region — except Atlantic Canada
Nicole Wilby's Jeep Grand Cherokee hasn't moved for the past few weeks. The rims and body of the vehicle are dented, scratched and covered in mud.
The rearview mirror has also been ripped off, and the cord that connected it to the vehicle has been torched.
Wilby is waiting to get the Jeep in for repairs, but for now, she's happy to have it back.
Her vehicle was stolen from her driveway in a quiet downtown Fredericton cul-de-sac late last month, and the theft was caught on camera.
"I noticed that at 4:45 a.m., there was a video of someone just literally driving away," Wilby said. "There is no break-in, no rummaging around the car, just it starting and driving away."
That same night, Wilby's neighbour recorded someone approaching his driveway, then disappearing, then appearing again walking away. Wilby and her neighbour believe this individual was holding what's known as a Wi-Fi jammer, which blocks the signal for surveillance systems such as theirs.
"There's nothing before, they're just in the car and driving away," she said of what the video shows. "It was an alarming feeling and was really unsettling."
It's a feeling that has been growing in New Brunswick as thefts become more sophisticated, sometimes outsmarting security systems on properties, or removing things such as rearview mirrors, which can hold smart technologies for tracking and monitoring.
According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, car thefts have tripled in New Brunswick in the last 10 years, with nearly 2,000 vehicle thefts last year in RCMP territory alone.
In the latest data from the New Brunswick Insurance Board, there were more than 534,000 vehicles on the road in the province.
Earlier this year, major auto insurers, including Personal, Certas, Wawanesa and Primmum won double-digit rate increases from the New Brunswick Insurance Board, citing, in part, rising car thefts.
Michèle Pelletier, New Brunswick's consumer advocate for insurance, said any double-digit increase is "a big increase," especially the 18 per cent hikes for Personal and Certas.
"When we see rising claims, it's all of us that are going to pay for it," she said. "It's many insurers that pay for a few claims. So we're all put in the same bag, and then it's divided. So it's very unfortunate."
Pelletier said there are more than 30 insurers in New Brunswick, so it's always best to shop around and compare prices.
Some companies offer discounts or rebates for vehicles equipped with anti-theft devices such as GPS tracking systems or steering wheel locks. But while it might save money on insurance rates, Pelletier admits there are still no guarantees your car will be there in the morning.
"It takes literally less than three minutes to steal your vehicle," she said. "Sometimes it's the question of seconds. They're really organized and … they have all kinds of things to do in order not to get caught."
Vehicle located by Sirius
According to the Équité Association's 2024 Auto Theft Trend Report released in February, 64 per cent of vehicles stolen in Atlantic Canada are recovered.
In Wilby's case, it was the built-in SiriusXM Guardian, a connected car service that includes stolen vehicle tracking, that located her jeep.
Even though she didn't subscribe to the service, she was able to sign up for an account and quickly get the information.
"They were actually able to track my vehicle within half an hour of me setting up the account," she said. "They notified the police as they didn't want us to show up to the scene. And then the police notified us when we were able to retrieve the vehicle afterwards."
Wilby said it's a relief to have her vehicle back, but it'll need some repairs before it's ready for the road.
"The rims and the side body of the vehicle are dented and scratched in different ways, and they were covered in mud," Wilby said. "So I'm assuming there was a bit of a joy ride that happened."
"And on the interior, it was completely covered in dirt, and my rearview mirror was actually ripped out of the roof of the vehicle and the cord was burned. They assumed the tracking system was inside and was only connected to the cord that was inside of the rearview mirror, but luckily that was not the case."
Region bucks national theft trend
The spike in car thefts was deemed "a national crisis" by the Insurance Bureau of Canada in 2022, with Canada emerging as one of the top 10 sources of stolen vehicles, among 137 countries sharing data with Interpol.
But this type of theft is now on the decline. Canada had an 18.6 per cent decrease in auto thefts last year, with a drop in every region but the East Coast.
There was no change year-over-year in this region.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Hans Ouellette said it's difficult to say why that's the case.
He said that in New Brunswick areas where RCMP has jurisdiction, "a lot of the times the vehicles are being stolen to either be taken as a joyride and then dumped later on or also being taken to then commit their crimes."
Ouellette said there may be some that are also taken and shipped overseas — but a large majority are recovered.
He recommended that people add multiple layers of protection, including locking the doors, parking in a well-lit area or garage, and putting car keys in a Faraday cage at night, so criminals are unable to copy the signal from a key fob.
"Thieves being very technologically advanced with different things to help them, either break into a vehicle or copy the key or the signal of the key to be able to access the vehicle. So what we can do here at home is make our property less appealing."
Ouellette said there will also be times when those protective layers aren't enough, and if that happens, he recommended calling police right away to "try to recover your vehicle as quickly as possible."
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