NICB Reports Insured Metal Theft Claims Continue to Decline

Continuing a recent trend, the National Insurance Crime Bureau reports that insured metal theft claims in 2014 were down 8 percent from 2012 levels.

In 2012, a total of 13,731 metal theft claims were processed. The number dropped to 13,632 in 2013 and decreased again in 2014 to 12,630—a decline of eight percent from 2012. During this three-year period, 39,993 insurance claims for the theft of copper, bronze, brass or aluminum were handled—38,985 of them (98 percent) involving copper.

When the number of metal theft claims per month and monthly average copper prices are compared, the number of claims filed is found to have a statistically-significant correlation with the price of copper.

As in our previous report on metal theft, Ohio ranked first of all the states generating 4,438 metal theft claims. It was followed by Pennsylvania (2,770), Texas (2,379), New Jersey (2,192) and California (2,127).

The top-five Core Based Statistical Areas generating the most metal theft claims were New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (2,066); Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD (1,581); Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (1,487); Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA (1,086) and Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI (945).

Source: NICB