The Assessor Winter 2026 PDF - Flipbook - Page 7
DVLA DATA REVEALS
REDUCTION IN WRITE-OFFS
FOR STOLEN AND RECOVERED CARS
Analysis of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) Lost or Stolen (LoS)
data for 2025 reveals fewer thefts, higher recovery rates and a reduction in
write-offs, says loss adjusting and claims solutions group, QuestGates.
According to the data:
• ‘All vehicle’ thefts fell by 11.36%, from 102,240 in 2024 to 90,625 in 2025
• Stripping out motorcycles, vans, HGVs etc, the improvement solely for
private cars was even greater, down 13.30% from 61,857 in 2024 to 53,629
last year
• The top three most stolen makes in 2025 were: 1) Ford; 2) BMW; and
3) Toyota
• The most stolen models in 2025 were: 1) Ford Fiesta; 2) VW Golf; and
3) Ford Focus
NEW IMAGES SHOW
HOW CONVINCING
AI-GENERATED
INSURANCE
FRAUD IS
With insurance fraud now pushing up the average person’s
annual premium by £50, new images reveal just how
indistinguishable AI-generated claims are becoming - and the
subtle clues we’re all missing.
A new study by data and AI specialist, SAS, demonstrates
how generative AI can fabricate convincing crash scenes in
seconds, closely mirroring the tactics fraudsters and organised
crime groups are already using to deceive insurers.
According to the Insurance Fraud Register, insurance fraud
has now led to an average increase of £50 on consumer
annual policies - while the average cost of a fake claim has
now hit £84,000, with one in seven claims proven to be
fraudulent, according to Adyen.
ANSWER:
7 Image 1 - AI-generated
7 Image 2 - AI-doctored
4 Image 3 - Real
CRITICAL
SKILLS
SHORTAGE
IN UK VEHICLE
REPAIR SECTOR
The UK’s vehicle repair and salvage sector is facing
a critical skills shortage that is driving up insurance
costs, extending collision repair times and undermining
consumer con昀椀dence, according to new research from
Thatcham Research, which rates every car for safety,
security and sustainable repair.
A recent survey of repair and salvage professionals,
conducted in partnership with the Centre for Economics
and Business Research (CEBR), reveals that 73% identify
the widening skills gap as a growing challenge requiring
industry-wide action.
The issue has intensi昀椀ed as modern vehicles, particularly
electric vehicles (EVs) and those equipped with Advanced
Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), have become
signi昀椀cantly more complex to repair.
Thatcham Research data illustrates the scale of the
challenge: the average cost to repair a vehicle after a
collision increased by 50% between 2019 - 2024 driven
primarily by technological advancement and the specialist
skills required to repair modern vehicles safely and
effectively.
[continued on page 8]
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