You have a high chance of losing a car to thieves if it is a station wagon, white in colour and a Toyota brand insured for less than Sh1 million.
Data from the insurance lobby-- the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI)—shows thieves mostly steal these vehicles to extract parts, making it difficult for the owners to recover their cars.
Station wagons accounted for 67.8 percent of the 327 insured cars that were stolen in the year ended 2024, followed by lorries (11.46 percent), saloons (6.81 percent) and pick-ups (3.72 percent).
This emerged in a year when the number of insured cars reported stolen dropped by 28 percent from 419.
Police data, however, show that over 1,000 cars are stolen every year, signalling that the majority of the lost cars lacked insurance.
Toyota accounted for 54.91 percent of the stolen vehicles, followed by Isuzu (12.88 percent), Mazda (7.06 percent), Nissan (5.83 percent), Mitsubishi (3.99 percent) and Subaru (3.07 percent).
AKI said vehicles with registration numbers beginning with KDs were the most stolen (50.15 percent), followed by KCs (35.17 percent), KBs (10.40 percent), and KAs (1.83 percent), with thieves showing a preference for new vehicles.
White vehicles were the most stolen (39.80 percent), followed by silver (16.72 percent) and black (15.38 percent).
Owners of such vehicles may experience a rise in premiums since insurers use such findings in deciding what to charge customers.
AKI said previously that its members consider various factors when setting premiums, including the policyholder’s past record, the anticipated loss experience and the level of risk they are exposed to when they provide the cover.
The number of vehicles stolen across the country could be higher given that National Police Service (NPS) data has consistently shown that over 1,000 vehicles are stolen annually.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data shows the number of crimes reported to police as theft of vehicles and other thefts hit 1,687 in 2023 from 1,459 a year earlier, marking the third consecutive year of rising incidents.
AKI says the variance between its data and NPS figures suggests there are vehicles operating in the country without insurance. The lobby has issued an alert to the police and National Transport and Safety Authority on cases of uninsured cars.
AKI data shows the most expensive vehicle reported stolen was a Mitsubishi lorry valued at Sh12.2 million in a period nearly a third (32.52 percent) of the stolen vehicles had an insured value of less than Sh1 million. Stolen vehicles valued at between Sh1 million and Sh2 million accounted for 26.07 percent while those above Sh3 million were 27.3 percent.
The lobby feeds the data of stolen vehicles in its integrated motor insurance database system (Imids) portal so that underwriters can easily flag and avoid issuance of insurance to any stolen vehicle.
“Despite the decline in thefts, recovery rates remain a concern, with only 15.92 percent of stolen vehicles successfully recovered. However, this was an improvement from the previous year’s recovery rate of 11.72 percent,” said AKI.
Insurers offer comprehensive car insurance cover that caters for risks such as accidental damage, loss or damage by fire and theft, malicious damage and perils of nature like floods. This means insurers spent millions of shillings to compensate those whose vehicles were stolen.
According to AKI, the reduction in the number of stolen vehicles suggests improved security measures and increased vigilance among vehicle owners and law enforcement agencies. The drop has also come against the backdrop of insurers offering customers better rates when they instal security features in their vehicles.
“The findings highlight the importance of enhanced security measures, real-time tracking systems, and continued collaboration between law enforcement agencies, insurance companies, and vehicle owners,” said AKI.
Motor vehicle insurance has been loss-making for the industry for decades and many insurers have been responding with higher premiums for new customers or stopping insuring several brands of vehicles.
Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) data shows insurers posted Sh5.92 billion underwriting loss from motor vehicle covers in the financial year ended December 2023, marking a 22 percent cut from Sh7.59 billion loss the previous year but a continuation of a streak of losses.
The High Court, in a December judgment, granted insurance firms a free hand in setting premiums for underwriting vehicles, based on the perceived levels of risk.
The court, in dismissing the 2022 case in which the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) had sued insurers for increasing premiums for older vehicles, said insurers operate in a free market and customers are free to pick an insurer of their choice.
KHRC had obtained a court injunction to stop insurers from increasing prices on vehicles older than 12 years or valued at less than Sh600,000 by as high as 50 percent as well as denying them comprehensive cover.
However, the High Court agreed with the IRA's argument that owners of motor vehicles are at liberty to use whichever insurer whose terms they find fit for their purpose and that it is not against the law for businesses to determine their prices independently and to inform their clients of the same.
