Protecting Your Car: The Importance of Fitting The Right Tracker & Immobiliser.
The attraction of profiting from a sleek and elite supercar can be an incredible incentive for car thieves. This means that, unfortunately, expensive cars are becoming frequent victims of theft.
We highlighted this concern in 2022, with the Range Rover and Land Rover theft epidemic, but Ferraris, Bentleys, and other prestige cars are now all becoming just as vulnerable. Thatcham has warned that they are noticing a trend of Porsche Macan thefts in London as well as throughout the country.
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How To Stop Your Supercar From Being Stolen.
There’s no way you can watch your car 24/7, and once people realise you own a supercar and where you store it, you can’t really hide it. However, there are two highly recommended ways to help protect your vehicle:
- Utilise secure off-road parking
- Install a high-quality tracker or immobiliser
But even these solutions bring a wave of questions: what is a car tracker? Which is the best car immobiliser to install? Is your car’s manufacturer-installed protection good enough, and which devices do your supercar insurance companies accept?
What Is A Vehicle Tracker?
A vehicle tracker is an electronic device that allows you to monitor the location and status of your vehicle wherever you are. The tracker uses GPS or Very High Frequency (VHF) radio signals to pinpoint where your vehicle is at all times so you can always know where it is parked or what route it took during a journey. VHF means that if a car is driven into an underground car park, for example, it can still be easily found. Police forces throughout the UK are equipped to find stolen vehicles fitted with tracker devices that broadcast a VHF signal, so you should always be able to find its location.
How Does A Tracker Work?
In the event your car is stolen, a tracker does two things. One, it provides an early alert if it believes the car has moved suspiciously. Two, if your car has been stolen, it provides locational information to recover it. The tracker can also send a warning if the car has been involved in an accident and the occupants need help. Better quality tracking systems also send data to an online account, offering up-to-date location information for your vehicle(s). For a tracker to be effective, you must set up an annual subscription, which needs to be renewed for the tracker to operate.
The Importance of having a suitable vehicle tracker.
Vehicle trackers not only keep your vehicle safe, but they also reduce your insurance premiums and give you peace of mind, no matter where you’re parked. However, cutting corners on a cheaper tracking device or attempting to install it yourself can backfire, invalidating your insurance and still resulting in your vehicle being stolen.
Thatcham is the industry leader in vehicle trackers, with tried and tested tracking solutions to suit every model of car. Offering military-grade VHF and GPS technology, motion sensors and signal jamming blockers, you can keep eyes on your vehicle at all times via their tracking app. They are highly intelligent devices recognised by most insurers.
What Is A Vehicle Immobiliser?
An immobiliser is an anti-theft device that only allows your car to start if it receives the correct code from the car key or fob. This prevents thieves from being able to bypass your car’s ignition system and driving off with the vehicle. Immobilisers are often factory-fitted to expensive cars but can also be installed with trackers.
Which Anti-theft Devices Should You Fit into a Supercar?
Sadly, this is where the industry really lets itself down, as there is a complete lack of standardisation in terms of the devices themselves and the terminology used to describe them. CAT 5, CAT 6, CAT 7, Viper, Scorpion, Ghost, 5, 5 Plus, S5, Cobra, Meta Trak, Thatcham Category 1 and Thatcham Category 2 mean nothing to the consumer or how they’ll protect their vehicle.
To make matters worse, there are countless online forums of ‘experts’ and car enthusiasts trying to ‘help’ but actually offer conflicting or confusing information. When choosing an anti-theft device for your vehicle, it’s important to do your own research or speak to real experts.
Do Anti-theft Devices Impact My Supercar Insurance?
Some devices are accepted by insurance companies; others could invalidate your insurance by not complying with the security standards your policy requires. Devices also need to be fitted by professionals as poor installation could invalidate the car’s warranty, undermine the vehicle’s own security systems or just not work effectively. It is not a DIY job! For reassurance, speak to the team at Elevate to ensure your insurance is not impacted by an anti-theft device.
Is Supercar Security Worth Investing In?
At Elevate, we insure thousands of prestige cars, so we know a thing or two about supercar security. Here are our thoughts on the topic:
It makes financial sense.
If your car is stolen, your insurance premiums dramatically increase, sometimes by thousands of pounds. Even worse, if your car isn’t recovered, you might not even be able to claim insurance for a replacement. Therefore, investing in efficient security devices for your supercar can save you a lot of money.
Keep it simple and buy the best option.
Ignore the sale-chat and fit a tracker recognised by most insurers and Thatcham as an effective device. An S5 PLUS Tracker with a built-in immobiliser is the best choice, in our opinion. At more than £700 plus an annual subscription fee, typically £150-200/pa, the S5 Plus trackers are premium tracking devices. They use hybrid VHF, GPS and GSM technology, making it difficult for thieves to jam the signal and allow your car to be traced even in concealed locations. Identity tags/fobs are used to verify whether someone is authorised to drive the car, and if it detects an unauthorised person behind the wheel, it’ll alert the owner. Whilst other trackers may have other benefits, most are not recognised by insurers.
What is the difference between the Thatcham S5 and an S5 Plus tracker?
Although they offer very similar security solutions, the main way in which the S5 Plus differs from the S5 is the driver ID immobilisation feature. With the S5 Plus, each authorised driver is issued a unique fob, which allows them to start the vehicle.
Make sure your tracker subscription is activated and ongoing.
A tracking device can only function effectively if you correctly set up your subscription. We encourage clients to arrange an auto-renewal direct debit to keep their subscription active. If clients forget to renew their tracker subscription and their car is stolen, they receive ZERO insurance payout.
Get our expert input on installers.
For our expert input on installers, give us a call. We know who has excellent feedback in terms of the quality of their installation service and the diligence of their ongoing tracking service, which is important if a vehicle goes missing and needs to be recovered!
Insure Today for a Better Tomorrow.
If you’d like to talk to a human, call us on 01933 830400 during 9 am - 5 pm weekdays.
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