Premiere Services, a national provider of onsite wheel and tire replacement services, catalytic converter theft restoration services and mobile electronics replacement for insurance theft and vandalism claims, reported its Top 20 Wheel & Tire Theft Claim Markets of 2022, and the Top 10 Most Victimized Vehicles of 2022, by frequency for insurance-related claims.
Los Angeles/Orange County tops the list for the second consecutive quarter of 2022, followed closely behind by Baltimore/Washington, D.C. and Atlanta.
Top 20 Wheel & Tire Theft Markets of 2022
1. Los Angeles/Orange County
2. Baltimore/Washington D.C.
3. Atlanta
4. Houston
5. Phoenix
6. San Francisco/Oakland
7. Sacramento
8. New York City/Newark, NJ
9. Detroit
10. Chicago
11. Dallas/Ft. Worth
12. Portland
13. Seattle
14. San Diego
15. Denver
16. Las Vegas
17. Richmond
18. Cleveland
19. El Paso
20. Austin/San Antonio
Los Angeles/Orange County has the distinction of also being ranked the No. 1 market for catalytic converter thefts in 2022.
Top 10 Most Victimized Vehicles for Wheel and Tire Thefts in 2022
1. Honda Accord
2. Honda Civic
3. Chevrolet 1500 P/U Tahoe Suburban
4. Toyota Camry
5. Ford F Series
6. RAM Series
7. Chevrolet Corvette
8. Dodge Charger
9. Toyota Corolla
10. Toyota Tacoma/4-Runner
Replacing wheels can quickly become a costly expense for any vehicle, but some, like late model Dodge Charger Hellcats, can run more than $10,000 for the set of four.
Premiere Services tracks and reports insurance-related losses. For 2022, frequency across all markets combined was up 18%, and has increased almost 90% since 2020.
“As we look at the claims we handle, these are not fancy custom wheels being stolen,” said Chris Sestito, COO. “Nearly 90% of the insurance claims we handle are for OEM wheels. The relatively high cost of the wheels and the ease of selling stolen wheels on the secondary markets has really contributed to a significant increase in theft.”
Sestito said Premiere Services offers an onsite wheel and tire replacement service to insurers and their customers that reduces cycle time, manages costs and boosts policyholder satisfaction. In addition, Premiere’s service eliminates not only the cost of flatbed tows, but the costs resulting from expensive additional damages that can occur while loading the wheel-less vehicle onto a truck bed.
“Our analysis indicates that through the reduction or elimination of costs across multiple line items, we mitigate insurers’ costs by $800-$1,000 per claim,” said Sestito.
Source: Premiere Services
