The Hidden Costs of Having Your Car Stolen

What you may stand to lose when auto thieves strike — even if your vehicle is recovered.

James Tate | 

Sep 15, 2023 | 4 min read

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Being the victim of a vehicle theft can mean more than just a loss of transportation. With such theft on the rise, it's worth understanding the potential fallout from having a car, truck, or SUV stolen. Nearly 750,000 such crimes occurred in the third quarter of 2022, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a 24% increase over the same period in 2019 and the highest figure since 2008.

While preventative actions are worth taking — such as parking in garages or well-lit areas and installing anti-theft systems or GPS devices for tracking — some of us inevitably will have a vehicle stolen at some point. Beyond the cost of replacing that stolen car, there are a few other headaches you may experience if you are a victim of auto theft, from dealing with auto theft, from potential changes to your insurance premiums to unexpected costs associated with recovered vehicles.

Auto Insurance Coverage Will Depend on Your Policy

The kind of automotive insurance you carry and whether or not it will help in the case of car theft is an important financial consideration for victims of such crime. If you carry only liability insurance, you typically are not covered for vehicle theft, meaning your auto insurer won't offset any costs surrounding your stolen vehicle.

If you carry full, or comprehensive, auto insurance, you can make claims against vehicle damage from multiple sources, including fallen trees, vandalism, and auto theft. Should your stolen vehicle be recovered, any damage it sustained can usually be claimed on your auto policy to help cover repair costs. If the car is not recovered or is totaled, comprehensive coverage might pay out the cash value of the car.

That said, even comprehensive insurance coverage may not cover all your bases. For example, the money the insurer pays out for your stolen vehicle — usually called the actual cash value — might not be enough to cover your outstanding loan or lease balance. What the insurer gives you is meant to be the value of your car at the moment it was stolen.

How Your Future Insurance Premiums Might Change After a Car Theft

As to whether your insurance premium will rise in response to automotive theft, that is largely dependent on the insurance coverage you have and the individual insurer's policies. Often, filing any type of claim with your insurer — including one for a stolen vehicle — results in higher monthly premiums.

It's worth taking the time to go through your plan with your insurer to see if there are any provisions around such premium increases in the event of theft. Potential premium increases could be an unpleasant and unwelcome hidden cost of vehicle theft.

Fees and Costs to Expect

If your stolen vehicle is recovered, you may have to pay impound lot fees to get it back. These costs depend on your location and the base fee of the impound lot, but expect to see at least a $250 base fee plus about $60 per day for the time the car sits on the lot.

If you're able to quickly retrieve the vehicle after being notified of its recovery, you might be able to avoid an impound lot. In some areas, however, the time between law enforcement notifying an owner of a recovered vehicle and that vehicle's trip to the impound lot can be very short.

You could also encounter rental-car costs if your vehicle is stolen, especially if you don't have anything else to drive or live far from public transport. Some comprehensive policies include a provision allowing for limited reimbursement of rental costs for a period of time. Check with your insurer to see if rental costs are part of your policy.

Effects of Car Theft on Depreciation

If your vehicle is stolen, it doesn't necessarily mean that the vehicle's value will be negatively affected. According to insurance company Leavitt Group, if a stolen car is recovered quickly with no damage, the insurer may keep a clean title on it. As long as a vehicle has a clean title, its resale value shouldn't change purely based on the theft.

Depreciation would come from your insurance company and whether it places a salvage title on the car. This can be based on how much damage a car incurs while stolen, how long a car is gone before being recovered, or state law requirements. If your vehicle is given a salvage title, you'll likely end up losing 20% to 40% in value, according to automotive authority Kelley Blue Book.

James Tate

James Tate has been writing about cars professionally for 15 years and he remains obsessed with them. He enjoys digging into the incredible technology of new vehicles as much as he likes the tactility and the driving experience of yesterday’s cars. He has written for a variety of legacy automotive magazines and websites.