Insurance doesn’t always make you whole. Here’s where the money goes when a vehicle is stolen — with worked examples — and why getting it back can save you thousands.
Insurance excesses are often £1,000 or more once compulsory and voluntary excess are added together, and some drivers choose £3,000 to bring their premium down. If your vehicle is found undamaged before the claim is paid out, there is usually no payout, so usually no excess to pay.
Owe £30,000 on finance and the insurer pays out £20,000? Without GAP insurance you still owe the finance company the £10,000 difference, even though the theft wasn’t your fault.
A vehicle with a “stolen and recovered” history can be worth up to 25% less at part-exchange, and many buyers simply won’t take one. That’s from more than 30 years buying and selling used cars at Northwest Car Group in Kirkham.
Illustrative examples with round numbers, using models thieves target — not real customers. Your policy, finance agreement and vehicle will be different.
Parked on the street, no finance, £500 excess. Not found.
You’re £500 down before the knock-on costs: weeks without a car, and a theft claim on your record at renewal.
On PCP with £26,000 left to pay, £1,000 excess, no GAP insurance. Not found.
You have no car and still owe £6,000 — the finance gap plus your excess.
Stolen, found undamaged a few days later. Part-exchange value before the theft £24,000.
You got it back, but it can be worth thousands less when you come to change it.
The Ford Fiesta was stolen more than the next two models put together. Popular, older models are often taken for parts; newer keyless cars are taken whole.
Not sure how your own vehicle compares? Check its theft risk score — it takes 30 seconds.
| # | Model | Stolen in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford Fiesta | 3,511 |
| 2 | Volkswagen Golf | 1,625 |
| 3 | Ford Focus | 1,474 |
Every protected vehicle on the security network behind our service that was stolen has been returned to its owner.
Figures cover every vehicle protected on the monitoring and recovery network our service runs on, not only AAsset Protect customers (our company was formed in 2026). AAsset Protect customers have 24/7 monitoring and police liaison today; our own recovery service is coming soon.
vehicle thefts recorded by police in England and Wales, April 2023 to March 2024
Source: Office for National Statistics, police recorded crimevehicles recorded as stolen with the DVLA in 2025, down 11% on 2024
Source: What Car? analysis of DVLA data, February 2026stolen cars returned to their owners in the year to March 2024
Source: Inn-Track analysis of police figuresPolice and DVLA counts measure different things (police record every theft or unauthorised taking; the DVLA records vehicles marked stolen), so they don’t match. More figures on our UK theft statistics page.
A self-install tracker, fitted in about 5 minutes, with a UK team watching it 24/7 and working with the police if it moves.
