Having summarised the CASCO insurance claims statistics for the previous year, BTA Baltic Insurance Company (BTA) has concluded that the number of insurance claims regarding stolen vehicles increases with the onset of the dark autumn time. Within the last one and a half months, BTA has received three CASCO insurance claims for theft of new and expensive vehicles, including a new Porsche Cayenne GTS and two Mercedes Benz ML350s.

Based on an analysis of the CASCO insurance claims received for stolen vehicles in 2014, BTA has concluded that car thieves have become more active specifically in October, which is when the dark season of the year starts and thieves can get away unnoticed. In October last year, vehicle thefts were reported by eight BTA clients, which was the highest number of claims received for stolen vehicles within a month.

This year, BTA has received a total of 36 CASCO insurance claims for stolen vehicles, including several insurance claims for theft of new and expensive vehicles within the last few months. A year 2015 Porsche Cayenne GTS (98 thousand EUR worth) of a BTA client was stolen from an unguarded parking lot in Riga last week. By breaking open the gate, a year 2015 Mercedes Benz ML350, worth nearly 54 thousand EUR, was stolen from another BTA client from the yard of their private house in Babīte Area in the end of September. In a similar manner, by breaking open the gate, a year older vehicle of the same brand was stolen from another BTA client in Stopiņi Area in the last days of August. The value of this vehicle was almost 61 thousand Euros.

Iveta Rijniece, Insurance Claims Handling Director of BTA Baltic Insurance Company:“Thieves become more active upon the onset of the dark season each year. Looking at the received insurance claims, I should say that thieves of vehicles focus on unattended vehicles placed in unguarded parking areas. In our practice, we also see more cases involving theft of new and expensive vehicles from yards of private houses, by breaking open and damaging the gate. We cannot exclude that, in these cases, the thieves have taken notice of the particular vehicle in advance and, possibly, carried out the theft on someone’s order, including immediate delivery of the vehicle outside Latvia. The clients have reported these thefts to the State Police. We liaise with the law enforcement bodies to solve these cases of theft. To care for the safety of their vehicles, we prompt vehicle owners, and particularly those in possession of new and expensive vehicles, to avoid placing their vehicles in unguarded parking areas, install additional security systems not only on their vehicles, but also in the surroundings of their private homes.”

The largest insurance indemnity paid by BTA for a stolen vehicle this year is more than 98 thousand Euros

The largest CASCO indemnity amount paid by BTA this year is the one for a year 2014 Land Rover Range Rover stolen in March. The vehicle was stolen from the yard of a private house in Garkalne Area. The thieves had damaged the electric gate of the yard during the theft. BTA paid 98,100 Euros as the insurance indemnity for this case.

About BTA

The insurance company BTA was founded in 1993, under its initial name JSC Baltijas Transporta apdrošināšana (Baltic Transport Insurance). During its initial operation in the sector of sea and air freight insurance, BTA soon proved itself as a universal insurance company which is able to offer the widest range of insurance services to its clients. Since year 2002, which is when BTA acquired the Lithuanian insurance company BTA Draudimas, BTA has been conducted targeted business also in other countries, such as Estonia, Germany, Spain, Poland, France, Italy, the United Kingdom. Initially, its fundamental principle of operation was Freedom of Services (FOS), whereas affiliates were established later on.

To enjoy the benefits offered by the European Union and facilitate business abroad, BTA became a European business in February 2011 and acquired its new name BTA Insurance Company SE.

BTA is the only Latvian insurance company which exports financial services and operates not only in the Baltic States. The international growth of BTA is proven by the TOP 500 of Central European Companies issued by the international auditor company Deloitte for year 2013, where BTA ranks 50th among the largest insurance companies in Central Europe.

To facilitate more dynamic development of its business in Europe and structure its administrative resources and processes in line with the strategic lines of its business operations, the insurance company BTA Insurance Company SE launched a reorganisation plan in October 2014 to divide the company according to the geographical distribution of its business operations: Baltics and rest of Europe. As part of the reorganisation, the BTA subsidiary, AAS BTA Baltic Insurance Company was founded on 27 October 2014. Having completed the reorganisation and retained the current service portfolio, insurance services in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia are, starting from 1 July 2015, being offered by AAS BTA Baltic Insurance Company, whereas BTA Insurance Company SE continues market expansion in other European states.

Information prepared by:

Agnese Grīnberga

Head of Public Relations

AAS BTA Baltic Insurance Company

e-mail: agnese.grinberga@bta.lv

Phone: +371 67025661, cellular: +371 27828796