Rising Cost of Catalytic Converter Theft

This year so far, March 2021, the total theft of catalytic converters throughout the UK is already approaching last year’s total of 15,000, which itself was a 33% increase on that of 2019.

The thieves attraction to these devices, which reduce the emissions of pollutants from many vehicles into the atmosphere, is that they contain precious metals like Platinum worth £700 an ounce, Gold worth £1,392 an ounce, Palladium worth £1,539 an ounce and Rhodium which sells today at £6,675 an ounce.

The replacement value of these ‘Cats’ is around £1000, although the damage caused in removing them usually leaves victims paying out £2000 for the repair and a replacement.

Many victims do not report their theft to their insurance company, for fear of paying a higher premium on their policy, nor do they report the theft to the police. This unfortunately has the potential to throw the actual Cat theft totals out by up to another 50%.

This epidemic has hit London hard. Detective Chief Inspector James Stanyer, the Met Police's lead officer for motor vehicle crime, said: "The criminals involved in stealing catalytic converters often commit their offences in full view of the owners of the vehicle and other members of the public, leaving them shocked and terrorised."

Mark Silvester, a West Midlands Police crime prevention manager, says “Converter theft is a hard nut to crack, but tougher enforcement of scrap dealers is a good place to start. Many of these stolen converters surface on internet sales sites, so we have launched pop-up advertisements warning people about rogue parts when they’re browsing. We’ve also identified and raided over 100 chop shops where stolen cars are broken for parts.”

James Brown, Managing Director of Selectamark, said “Once an unmarked converter has been removed from a vehicle it is extremely difficult to match it to that particular vehicle as it does not have any distinguishing marks. 

“Whilst an accredited tilt alarm or a cage or clamp makes the theft much more difficult, the problem is more easily solvable by simply marking the Cat with a permanent, visible mark that can be identified immediately to a vehicle/owner by the police allowing arrests to be made and the device repatriated to the victim. The Selectamark solution even provides a free, online search function for buyers to make sure they are not accepting stolen goods.”.

Click here to purchase your Cat Converter Marking kit today: https://www.catalyticconvertertheft.com/catalytic-converter-theft-kit