Victoria's motor vehicle theft crisis deepens with claims surging 25pc as costs hit $243m

Victoria has claimed the title of Australia's motor vehicle theft capital following a 25 per cent increase in insurance claims to $243 million over the past year, bucking the trend of falls from every other state, according to data released today by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).

The ICA says Victorian racked up more than 12,500 insurance claims totalling $243 million - more than every other state combined and representing a 37 per cent increase on the previous year.

The figures diverge sharply from national trends, with Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia all recording claim reductions of 12, 14 and 15 per cent respectively over the same period.

Excluding the Victoria figures, national motor theft claims would have fallen 10 per cent with Queensland’s 12 per cent fall the largest percentage decrease on record..

"A car is stolen or broken into every 42 minutes in Victoria; this level of crime is not acceptable," says Andrew Hall, the CEO of ICA.

"Each year, Victoria's numbers stand apart from the rest of the country, and that gap is widening.

"While every other state is effectively reducing car theft, in Victoria the volume of claims and the costs involved remain at unacceptable levels and that sustained pattern is what's most concerning."

Victorian motor vehicle theft claims are concentrated in metropolitan regions, which recorded 10,400 claims totalling $205 million, up 30 per cent by volume and 42 per cent by value compared to the previous year.

NSW car crime claims volumes were relatively stable, down 1.6 per cent following a 3.7 per cent increase the previous year.

At a national level, motor theft claims rose 2.5 per cent to 29,000 in 2025, with total incurred costs of $485 million.

ICA says without the Victoria numbers this figure would be a reduction of 10 per cent in claims and 8 per cent in costs.

Theft claim frequency, which represents the incidence of motor vehicle theft as a percentage of total motor policies, fell across all states except Victoria where it rose 31 per cent, climbing from 0.35 per cent to 0.46 per cent in metro areas.

Across all states analysed, ICA says there was an increase of 2.2 per cent in the number of comprehensive motor vehicle policies in 2025.

Crime Statistics Victoria data for the year ending September 2025 revealed Holden Commodore was the most targeted model with 1,587 thefts, followed by the Toyota HiLux at 1,021 and the Toyota Corolla at 998. The local government areas of Casey, Melbourne and Hume recorded the highest theft volumes.

However, one category of vehicle is bucking the theft trend, with RACV noting in March this year that electric vehicles are among the least stolen cars in Victoria.

A policy paper released by the ICA last year links the theft surge to a broader cost crisis for motorists renewing insurance policies.

The average comprehensive motor insurance premium has risen 42.35 per cent since 2019 to $1,052 per year, driven by a 42.2 per cent increase in average claim size to $5,202, says the ICA.