The Association of Chief Police Officers Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (AVCIS) is celebrating its breakthrough with the insurance industry after its partner NFU Mutual received an award for Claims Initiative of the Year at the 2011 British Insurance Awards, held on 6 July 2011 at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
AVCIS, the UK’s police unit dedicated to vehicle crime, has been working with insurance company NFU Mutual on a joint Rural Crime Campaign since 2010 to gather intelligence on agricultural theft, recover stolen vehicles and bring offenders to justice. With £1.5 million of machinery stolen in the UK every week, it’s a problem high on both AVCIS’ and NFU Mutual’s agenda.
In 2010 alone tractors worth a total of £1.7 million were recovered while the initiative has led to a £50,000 reduction in tractor theft each month. It’s this success that has earned the coveted award, which recognises outstanding performance and acts as a benchmark by which the industry judges itself.
AVCIS’ Head of Unit, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Hooper, said: “Since AVCIS launched in 2006 we have been banging on the door of the insurance industry in order to join forces.
In NFU Mutual we found a partner willing to trial the initiative and now it is reaping the rewards of AVCIS’ specialist support. The unit is tracking down criminals targeting agricultural equipment, recovering vehicles, bringing offenders to justice and saving NFU Mutual money in the process.
“We’re delighted by the success of the initiative so far. However, the fight against vehicle crime is by no means over. We are still looking to work with further insurance companies in order to drive down vehicle crime overall, from offences against freight vehicles all the way through to your everyday run-around.”
The AVCIS and NFU Mutual initiative was selected from five finalists by a judging panel consisting of market experts and practitioners, analysts, consultants, industry commentators and political and trade union representatives.
