Ohio, the home of college football’s national champion Ohio State Buckeyes, has claimed a second title it probably does not wish to retain: the state with the most metal theft insurance claims.
However, statistics gathered by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), Des Plaines, Illinois, indicate that in the U.S. insured metal theft claims in 2014 were down 8 percent from 2012 levels. The decrease continues a recent trend, says the NICB.
In 2012, a total of 13,731 metal theft claims were processed. The number dropped to 13,632 in 2013 and decreased again to just 12,630 in 2014—a decline of 8 percent compared to 2012.
Regarding state comparisons, as in the NICB’s previous report on metal theft, Ohio ranked first, generating 4,438 metal theft claims. It was far ahead of second-place Pennsylvania (2,770). Texas (2,379), New Jersey (2,192) and California (2,127) round out the five leading states.
During the three-year period slightly less than 40,000 insurance claims for the theft of copper, bronze, brass and aluminum were handled, with the vast majority of them (98 percent) involving copper.
Declining prices for copper are having an effect, says NICB. “When the number of metal theft claims per month and monthly average copper prices are compared, the number of claims filed is found to have a statistically significant correlation with the price of copper,” says the group.
The top five metropolitan regions generating the most metal theft claims were:
- New York-Newark-Jersey City (2,066);
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington (1,581);
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin (1,487);
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell (1,086); and
- Detroit-Warren-Dearborn (945).
The full report can be downloaded from the NICB website and statistical data can be found here.
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI), Washington, has been working with law enforcement agencies to develop techniques and processes to combat metals theft and the eventual sale of stolen metal through the scrap recycling chain.