His car was stolen 3 times last year. He said consumers should not bear the brunt of the problem

A Toronto woman whose car was stolen three times last year and whose rental car was also stolen says no one is taking the problem seriously enough.

Christine Schensel, a real estate broker, said her 2019 Range Rover has been stolen from her driveway three times since January 2023. The rented Jaguar that he used last year was also stolen.

His car was stolen first in January 2023 and then again in June 2023 and on Wednesday night. The rented car was stolen two days after receiving it in February 2023.

“If everybody in this country wasn't making money off of car theft, they would stop it. The insurance companies, the car manufacturers would stop it. Nobody stops it because no one cares,” said Shensel.

He said he doesn't think the problem will be solved until it affects the bottom line of insurance companies, car manufacturers and car rental agencies.

“Until people lose money, no one will come up with a solution. It's up to consumers to deal with all of this. It's exhausting.”

Shensel said his Range Rover has been found twice, but if it is found again, he will not impound the car. This time he said he would go in a different car.

“It was a deal and it was in front of us. I'm very sorry about it all. If we return the car, it's gone,” he said. “I'll get something much simpler.”

Penalties for table criminals have been increased

Shensel's latest car theft came Thursday ahead of a day-long auto theft summit in Ottawa that brought together government, municipal and law enforcement officials. The problem is complex, with several potential treatments, and requires a community-wide effort.

Officials have committed to finalizing a plan to be released in the coming weeks to combat the phenomenon, which affects thousands of Canadian households each year.

“The growth in recent years has been alarming,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during the briefing.

Trudeau described how Canadian vehicles drive in places like Ghana and Nigeria.

“Organized crime is getting worse and the foreign market for stolen cars is expanding,” the prime minister said.

“Combating auto theft means bringing law enforcement, border services, port authorities, vehicle manufacturers and insurance companies together.”

“It's very profitable,” the OPP says of vehicle theft

Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Thomas Carrick, who works in a province considered to be a hotbed of car theft, says the criminal penalties typically imposed for car theft are not strong enough.

“It's very effective and the risk is very low,” he said. “We need to see stricter penalties. We have to have a deterrent for these crimes.”

Carrick told the summit attendees how successful the car theft industry can be. Trackers who identify stolen vehicles can earn between $75 and $100, while exporters can earn up to $80,000 by exporting a stolen vehicle overseas, where its resale value doubles.

“It's a very sophisticated criminal market that is influenced by criminal organizations,” Carrick said.

The federal government says about 90,000 cars are stolen in Canada each year, costing Canadian insurance policyholders and taxpayers about $1 billion.

Some of the solutions proposed at the summit increased the penalties for criminals involved in car theft and the destruction of technologies used to steal cars.

Brian Gast, vice-president of investigative services at the Équité Association, a national non-profit organization that supports Canadian insurers, said the Range Rover is in the top 10 most stolen vehicles and has a push-button start. means keyless ignition and keyless entry are some of its “vulnerabilities”.

Gast said stolen vehicles can finance organized crime and terrorism. “It's to the point of crisis,” he said.

No arrests have been made in connection with 4 car thefts

Shensel, for his part, said his car was not in a shipping container or abroad when it was stolen the first two times.

The first time, it was abandoned in a parking lot on Toronto's west side and recovered by police. The second time, he was thrown into the corner of his mother's house, about 800 meters from Shensel's house. A neighbor called the police about the car, and Shensel took it away from the police.

The Range Rover had a steering club, which obviously didn't deter thieves, he said.

His main concern now is that the rise in car theft will “raise” rates.

“Everybody's insurance is going up because of what happened to me,” he said.

Ratesdotca's 2024 Auto Forecast predicts that auto insurance premiums will continue to rise in 2024, driven by inflation and an increase in auto theft. The organization noted that Ontario's regulator approved rate increases for nearly two dozen insurance providers in the first quarter of the year.

According to Toronto police, Schensel has reported four vehicle thefts since January 2023, including one rental. None of the cases were closed because no arrests were made, police said.

Police statistics show that 12,170 vehicles were stolen in Toronto last year. 4494 of them are residential burglaries.