HC Deb 31 July 1998 vol 317 cc854-5W
Mr. Chidgey

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the trends in the numbers of no-claims bonuses for household insurance on reporting rates of household crimes. [54822]

Mr. Michael

It is not possible to determine the effect of trends in the number of no-claims bonuses on reporting rates of household crimes. This is because there are no centrally held figures on the proportion of household insurance policies that have a no-claims bonus, or on whether the number has changed over time.

Evidence from the 1996 British Crime Survey suggests, however, that any drop in claims, for whatever reason, is likely to reduce levels of reporting. Victims of nearly three-quarters of incidents not reported to the police said they would have reported if they had made a claim.

No claim was made in about two-thirds of incidents covered by insurance. Protecting a no-claims bonus was the reason given in only a fifth of these. There are no comparative figures to assess whether this proportion is higher than it would have been in the past.