Claims News Service, Nov. 24, 2:52 p.m. EST — In early November, a group of people gathered in a critical swing state on election day to discuss an important issue that affects their businesses, the community, and the American economy.

Of course, we speak of heavy equipment theft.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation-Law Enforcement Executive Development Associations (FBI-LEEDA), the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the National Equipment Register (NER), and the Cincinnati Police Department joined forces to stage a one-day regional summit in Southwest Ohio, where experts on the topic of heavy equipment theft held a series of conversations and lectures geared towards law enforcement, equipment owners and dealers, insurance adjusters, and underwriters.

David Shillingford, president of the NER, served as the general session's emcee, examining the equipment-theft problem, the challenges of recovering heavy equipment, and potential solutions to quelling the rash of heavy equipment theft.

Shillingford estimated that equipment theft is a $1 billion a year problem, an estimate that does not factor in income lost from business slowdowns due to equipment theft.

The participants were later split into two groups — law enforcement and equipment owners/insurers — and were provided instruction in equipment identification training, as well as examining theft prevention strategies and how to increase the chances of recovering stolen equipment.

The sponsors of the summit said that they hoped that exploring the growing problem of construction and agricultural equipment theft and the challenges that hinder equipment recovery would make attendees better prepared to join the fight against equipment theft and insurance fraud.

The NER officials stressed the dramatic financial loss insurers suffer due to the theft of insured equipment. Reports to Insurance Services Office (ISO) show an increase of up to 20 percent in the value of equipment thefts every year since 1996, and show theft as the most common cause of loss for heavy equipment — more than 50 percent of all causes of loss. Inland Marine theft losses alone reported to ISO in 1999 were more than $120 million. Even more worrisome is that only 10-15 percent of stolen heavy equipment is ever recovered.

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Special Reports /

Heavy Equipment Theft Raises Concern

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