Personal vehicle vandalism nearly twice as likely than average on Halloween

Personal vehicles are nearly twice as likely to be vandalized on Halloween than on an average day, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute in the United States.

That’s based on an analysis of comprehensive coverage insurance claims for vandalism between 2008 and 2012, with data supplied by 28 companies representing two-thirds of the insurance market for private passenger vehicles.

The average number of claims per day based on those figures was 92, with the average cost per claim at $1,528, according to the HLDI.

Above any other day of the year, Halloween (Oct. 31) had the highest average number of claims at 1,253. July Fourth and New Year’s also had higher than average claims (987 and 944 respectively), while Thanksgiving and Christmas had below-average claim numbers, the HLDI said.

Apart from holidays, the number suggest that vandalism occurs more often on weekends, with the number of claims 16% higher than average on Saturdays and 7% higher on Sundays. July, August and June also had a higher than average number of claims, according to the institute.