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Bad news for cheap car insurance in Edinburgh

Getting a cheap car insurance premium if you live in certain parts of west Edinburgh is going to be struggle after it’s been identified as the most car crime-hit area in Scotland.

Car insurance company Elephant has revealed that the EH12 postcode, which includes Gyle, Roseburn, Corstorphine and Murrayfield, had more claims in 2005 than any other postal area in the country. These areas are fairly well-off and not the places that one would think of as being crime-ridden.

In contrast the EH54 postcode, which contains the moderately run-down district of Livingstone, saw one of the lowest number of claims in the whole of Scotland .

Sue Nicholson from the RAC echoed this sentiment. “I would have expected the more affluent areas to have lower numbers of claims.

“Car thieves have generally changed targets and now tend to go for older vehicles that are easier to break into. New cars have much greater security measures, and that often means it’s the less affluent areas that see more crime.”

The claims made in EH12, a total of 23 in 2005, were for both the theft of cars and for items being stolen from a vehicle which had been broken into. Motor insurance companies have advised that although your claim will be dealt with if you’ve left something on display and it gets stolen, your premium will rise as a result. The chances of getting such acheap car insurance deal in future will be significantlyreduced, and so it does pay to keep your belongings well-hidden and to ensure that your doors are locked.

Phil Wheeler, Liberal Democrat councillor for Corstorphine South East, declared that he found the new revelation distressing. “It would certainly be a concern for residents like myself that car insurance premiums might go up as a result of this sort of thing.”