Metal theft claim hits lowest levels since 2010; Ohio leads among states

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The nationwide metal theft insurance claims have reduced dramatically during 2015. The data released by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) states that metal theft claims reduced to the lowest levels since 2010. The claims were down 23% from 2014 levels and by 29% over the past two years. According to NICB, a total of 13,626 metal theft claims were processed in 2013. In 2014, the theft claims declined by nearly 7% to 12,621. In 2015, it dropped significantly by another 23% to 9,692.

During the three-year period, a total of 35,961 insurance claims related to theft of copper, bronze, brass and aluminum were handled. Out of this, 35,184 (98%) claims were pertaining to copper thefts. 599 claims were related with theft of aluminum. The cases of brass and bronze thefts totaled 193 and 162 respectively. The data also suggests that 15,056 claims (42%) were on commercial policies, whereas the balance 20,898 (58%) were on personal policies. An analysis of the data suggests that the copper theft claims frequency is directly correlated with the monthly average copper prices. Also, the number of crimes declined during summer and surged higher during winter season, the data said. Moreover, majority of these copper theft incidents were reported from Hawaii, Indiana and Massachusetts.

According to NICB data, Ohio led the nation in metal theft incident rate for the fifth year in a row. Ohio policy holders filed 4,042 claims towards theft of copper, bronze, brass or aluminum. This accounts for around 11% of the total nationwide claims. The other states in the top-ten list with most metal theft claims are: Pennsylvania (2,819), New Jersey (2,585), New York (2,101), Texas (1,833), Illinois (1,792), California (1,711), Michigan (1,567), Maryland (1,553) and Georgia (1,244).

It must be noted that Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati reported decline in metal theft claims from 2014 to 2015. For instance, the Dayton metal theft insurance claims dropped from 85 in 2013 to 56 in 2015. Ohio Department of Public Safety noted that metal theft claims have reduced significantly during 2015, as a result of implementation of new laws on tracking scrap metal sales. The number of police enquiries related with possible stolen goods has witnessed noticeable decline in 2015.

The top ten states with most metal theft claims per 1,000 residents during 2013-’15 were: Ohio (34.805), Connecticut (31.747), Rhode Island (30.578), New Jersey (28.857), Delaware (28.120), Maryland (28.856), Vermont (24.280), Arkansas (22.900), Pennsylvania (22.019) and Maine (21.966).

The top ten Core-Based Statistical Areas generating the most metal theft claims were: New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (2,136), Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD (1,809), Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (1,449), Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD (890), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA (868), Cleveland-Elyria, OH (842), Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI (836), Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN (829), Columbus, OH (691) and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (652).