Insurer’s Welcome Website to Help Recover Stolen Property

Insurer’s Welcome New Free Website to Help Recover Stolen Property

The insurance industry’s has given the thumbs up to a new free website to help victims of crime recover their stolen property.

The “Stole Me” online database, www.stoleme.co.nz, allows people to advertise their stolen property online free of charge by uploading photos and descriptions of their stolen possessions making them harder for criminals to dispose of.

“Stole Me” also allows people to check online the origin of second hand merchandise they may be interested in buying, especially things like Ipads, mobile phones, household electrical appliances, TVs and stereos, jewellery, tools and even pets to ensure the property is legitimate.

Listing stolen items on “Stole Me” is free as is membership and searching of the database.

Insurance Council of New Zealand spokesman, Terry Jordan, says the “Stole Me” website creates a database of information about stolen property that’s easy to access and which people should check, particularly if they’ve been burgled or had property stolen, or if they are looking to purchase second hand goods and want to make sure the items are not stolen possessions.

From an insurer’s perspective, “Stole Me” is another weapon in the crime fighting arsenal that will make it more difficult for burglars, thieves and those who fence stolen property on behalf of criminals to dispose of their ill gotten gains.

Terry Jordan says the “Stole Me” website, a not-for-profit initiative, neatly dovetails with other police online databases such as the stolen vehicle database (www.police.govt.nz/stolen/vehicles) launched earlier this year with more than 260,000 stolen vehicle searches already undertaken, and the stolen boat database (www.police.govt.nz/service/maritime/stolen).

The “Stole Me” database fits neatly with the Police SNAP database initiative (www.snap.org.nz), a database where people can record the serial numbers, photographs and descriptions of their property in a collaborative approach to prevent crime.

Terry Jordan says burglary and property theft costs New Zealand insurers $240 million a year. Initiatives like the “Stole Me” website can play a part in helping reduce the size of insurance payouts from such criminal activity benefiting policyholder’s and insurer’s alike.

ENDS

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