Your car is most likely to be vandalized on Halloween

As you head out tonight to trick-or-treat with your kids or maybe attend a costume party, you may want to take extra precautions for your car.

According to the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), a research organization supported by the insurance industry, personal vehicles are almost twice as likely to be vandalized on Halloween than on any other day of the year.

The HLDI combed through claims for vandalism from 28 companies representing more than two-thirds of the insurance market for private passenger vehicles. It analyzed vandalism claims – including incidents such as tires being slashed and windows being broken – that were filed under comprehensive insurance coverage from 2008 through 2012.

In doing so, the institute discovered that Halloween had the highest average number of daily claims: 1,253. This is almost twice the average number of claims per day, at 692, and much higher than any other holiday.

For example, the HLDI found that the daily average for the Fourth of July was 987 and for New Year’s Day it was 944, while Thanksgiving and Christmas had below average claim numbers.

The HLDI’s analysis showed that vandalism occurs more often on weekends and in the summer. The frequency of claims was 16 percent higher than average on Saturdays and 7 percent higher on Sundays, while other days of the week all had an average or below average number of claims. On a month by month basis, claim numbers were highest in July, followed by August and June.

HLDI Vice President Matt Moore suggested ways to help prevent vandalism to your car on Halloween, or any night.

"If you have a garage, use it," Moore told MSN Autos. "If you park on a street, try to park under a light."

Moore offered one more bit of advice that may help protect your car for the price of a few pieces of candy: "Don’t stint on giving out goodies to the kids."

That may also apply to older trick-or-treaters. HDLI recently reported that the drop in driver licensing among teens correlates with higher unemployment among the group.

"Paying for their own cars, gas and insurance is hard if they can't find a job," Moore said.

And we correlate that a lot of unemployed and bored teens could take out their frustrations by vandalizing your vehicle tonight if you stiff them on Halloween candy.

[Source: Highway Loss Data Institute]

Source: MSN