Lincolnshire is the worst affected county for rural crime by cost
New figures show rural crimes in the county cost more than £2.4 million in 2021
Following two years of decreasing rural theft during the pandemic, the start of 2022 has seen a sharp rise in rural crime as the cost of living crisis hits the countryside.
Published in the 2022 the Rural Crime Report by the leading rural insurer NFU Mutual, the first quarter of 2022 has seen thieves making up for lost time, with UK costs over 40% higher than the same period last year.
The surge follows a UK-wide drop of 9.3% to £40.5m in 2021. In the East of England, rural crime costs fell by more than the national average last year, seeing a 22% decrease to £5.1m.
However, Lincolnshire remains top of the table, as the worst affected country by cost of rural crime.
Last year, criminals continued to steal high-value farm machinery as the UK cost of agricultural vehicle theft reported to NFU Mutual remained at over £9m.
Particularly Land Rover Defender thefts, have increased by 34% across the country, with owners fighting a barrage of crime as the higher value of second-hand cars and replacement parts saw thieves stealing the vehicles and stripping them down, with the cost of claims shooting up by 87% to £2.6m nationally.
The latest crime wave has prompted the insurer to issue urgent advice and a series of videos to help farmers take action to protect their property.
Meanwhile for Newark farmer, Oliver Collingham, the advice comes a little too late after he found that his Land Rover Discovery was stolen from a pub car park in Lincolnshire six months ago:
"Anybody: when you lose something of financial value, it's both frustrating in terms of trying to recapture that value, either by your insurer or replacement.
"But the hit it has on you emotionally, and the fact that someone has targetted you or taken something that's yours, changes the way that you view everything that you own, and where you leave things, and who you trust."
"Farmers are targeted because you're in a rural area and often isolated, but if you can make your yard more secure you can deter thieves."
Mr Collingham continued to say that he was initially "shocked" to not find his vehicle where he had parked it, and found that disruptions to his duties where then imminent:
"Like most farmers, you have a vehicle that you tend to use for everything, so it's pretty restrictive at work because I didn't have the ability to get around as easily.
"The main difficulty at the moment, in terms of then replacing the vehicle is … actually there's a massive shortage of both new and used vehicles on the market and trying to source one proved rather difficult."
Further findings show that the cost of rural theft in Nottinghamshire has risen nearly 9%.
As published in the 2022 Rural Crime Report, rural theft cost Nottinghamshire nearly £954,000 in 2021, a rise of 8.6% from the previous year.
However it is believed that the first quarter of this year shows a rise in the cost of rural crime in both the Midlands and England as a whole, concerning farmers across the country.
Mike Alder, NFU Mutual Regional Manager for the East of England, said:
"Our latest claims figures warn that rural theft is quickly gathering momentum as criminals make up for time lost over the past two pandemic years. We're advising rural people to review their security, to help prevent crime and disruption.
"With prices of essential farm equipment such as tractors and quads rising fast and the cost of diesel soaring over the past year, there's little doubt that criminals will be trying to steal from farms. We also know that essentials of rural living like heating oil tanks will only become more attractive to thieves as costs rise. A recent poll by NFU Mutual reveals that 89% of respondents believe inflation will lead to an increase in rural crime.
"Crime in the countryside causes high levels of anxiety and disruption, with many farmers and rural homeowners feeling vulnerable due to their isolated location. The knowledge that determined thieves are scouring the countryside looking for targets, and returning to carry out night-time raids, leads to sleepless nights for many in remote areas.
"NFU Mutual is responding by helping those living and working in rural areas to put in place effective security measures and by continuing to provide major support to enable dedicated police resources to tackle crime."
Last year, NFU Mutual invested £430,000 in rural crime initiatives. This includes support for an agricultural vehicle theft unit at the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) whichrecovered stolen vehicles and farm machinery worth £2.6m last year. The unit delivers intelligence, training, and works directly with police forces across the country to combat rural crime, in addition to joint international operations to seize stolen machinery from overseas.
Following increased investment with NaVCIS and one-off grants to help police tackle GPS theft, NFU Mutual saw the cost of this crime fall by almost half to £1.5m in 2021. Without GPS - an essential part of modern farming - harvests can be delayed, and some farmers left unable to work.
New advice on protecting rural property to avoid becoming a victim of rural crime is being made available to country people in NFU Mutual's 2022 Rural Crime Report and in NFU Mutual's latest advice videos.
Mike added: "As each farm or home is different, every property needs a different approach to keeping thieves out - and there's an armoury of measures to help do so, from traditional fortification, to technology using movement sensors, to community information networks."
NFU Mutual has an in-house team that works closely with specialist national police units, police forces, the security industry and agricultural machinery manufacturers to share information to assist in crime prevention, recover stolen property and provide security advice.