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General Car Insurance

Vehicle Security

 

So you’ve taken the time and trouble, energy and cost to finally get that dream car, only to have some low life, thieving little w*nker, take it out for a spin, or custom nick it, never to be seen again. OK, that’s what insurance is for, but everyone would prefer not to have the pain and hassle. Unfortunately the more desirable your car, the more likely it’s going to ‘disappear’ and the higher your premium.

This is particularly true of high car groups, high value vehicles and those that have become fashionable to steal. However, insurance companies often give a favourable discount if you have additional security over and above that is fitted as standard to the make and model of car.

 

Security devices can be classified as:

Alarms and Immobilisers. An immobiliser is a device that stops the vehicle being driven away. There are two types:

             Electronic. These disable the vehicles engine and              electrical system.

             Mechanical. These lock the gear leaver, steering wheel or              pedals in position.

 

Insurers will only usually accept security equipment that has been tested an approved by the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre at Thatcham. There are three main categories:

 

Category 1 – A combined alarm and immobiliser.

Category 2 – An electronic or electromechanical immobiliser.

Category 3 – A mechanical immobiliser

 

Insurance companies often to not accept Category 3 devices for a discount, as they require the driver to fit them before leaving the car, which is easy to forget to do. This type of device is often seen as more of a deterrent to thieves.

The other difficultly is identifying what security device has been fitted to a vehicle, if it is an approved device, and if so, whether it was fitted as standard to the vehicle or is a voluntary upgrade.

Your insurance company should be able to advise on the suitability of the device or you can check the Thatcham Vehicle Security National Listing. You should also check that it has been fitted by an accredited member of the Vehicle Security Installation Board.

 

Tracking Devices

For higher value vehicles, your insurance company may also require a tracking system is fitted to assist in recovering the vehicle if stolen. This involves fitting a device to the vehicle, which emits an electronic signal that a monitoring station can use to identify its location.

 

There are 3 types of tracking device:

1) Those requiring the driver to notify the monitoring centre that the vehicle has been stolen. They then activate the signal so that the police can home in on the vehicle.

Although often successful, there can be significant delays between the time the vehicle is stolen and the activation of the signal. This delay can sometimes mean the car is not traced.

2) The second type of device has 24-hour monitoring. If the vehicle is moved without the ignition key, the monitoring centre immediately notifies the owner and the police, who can start the recovery process.

3) The third type of tracking device is the most sophisticated. It includes a satellite locating device which pinpoints the exact location of the vehicle, even if it is hidden or concealed.

 

All these devices will incur an installation cost plus an ongoing annual monitoring cost. Your insurance company should give a favourable decrease in your premium with one of these tracing devices fitted.

The Insurance Boffin  E-mail: info@insuranceboffin.com

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