Word of warning - Tracker

Sirrel Squirrel · 26 Jun 2014 at 12:55

I've just bought a new car and the insurance company (Aviva) mandated that I get a tracker fitted before they'll cover it, so I asked if there was a particular model or brand that they recommend and they said just get a Thatcham approved one.

I looked around on the Internet and found the Tracker Retrieve product, had a read up on it and it sounded like it fit the bill as it is Thatcham Cat 6 approved.

I had the tracker fitted and rang up Aviva to switch the cars over and inform them I'd had the tracker fitted, they then asked me what model and guess what, they said it isn't one that they approve!

Thankfully they listened back to my previous call and found that I had been ill-advised and on this occasion they said they would cover me.

So in short, make sure if you have to get a tracker fitted that you check with the insurance company first as even if you get a Thatcham approved one they may not cover it!

Janesy B · 26 Jun 2014 at 13:07

They should have sent you a list of approved units first really, useless idiots.

Peerzy · 26 Jun 2014 at 13:16

What car have you got that your insurance company insists on a tracker out of interest?

I've always been asked if I've got one but it's never been required.

Dogbreath · 26 Jun 2014 at 13:22

Doesn't surprise me at all, insurance companies and customer service seem to be mutually exclusive concepts.

Havana_UK · 26 Jun 2014 at 18:23

Peerzy said:
What car have you got that your insurance company insists on a tracker out of interest?

I've always been asked if I've got one but it's never been required.

Yes, very surprising! The only car I've known of personally where the insurance company insisted upon a tracking device was my previous boss's brand new Jag XK RS, and that was £110K's worth of car.

G-MAN2004 · 26 Jun 2014 at 18:30

Tracking? No thanks. I would have gone elsewhere.

Sirrel Squirrel · 26 Jun 2014 at 19:36

It's a Range Rover Sport, it was cheaper for me to change cars on my current policy and buy a tracker rather than cancel the policy and go elsewhere.

[TW]Fox · 26 Jun 2014 at 19:38

Strange car to ask for a tracker on, is it an older one? Perhaps they are popular for stolen to export for parts type jobs.

Sirrel Squirrel · 26 Jun 2014 at 19:47

It's a 2011 model so not too old. I know they're quite a common target for theft so I guess that's the reason behind it.

Fuzz · 26 Jun 2014 at 19:50

Not in the slightest bit strange, they are one of the most stolen vehicles only beaten by BMW's 4x4 the X5.

[TW]Fox · 26 Jun 2014 at 19:52

Fuzz said:
Not in the slightest bit strange, they are one of the most stolen vehicles only beaten by BMW's 4x4 the X5.

No, the X5 is the most stolen vehicle fitted with a tracker. Given that nobody fits a tracker to an old Astra it stands to reason that vehicles with an active tracker subscription, ie the ones featured in this survey, sponsored by... tracker themselves, would be high value ones. Lots of selection bias in that survey.

The actually most stolen car in the UK last year was the Mitsubishi Shogun. And most of the rest of the list were old junk too, because old cars like that are dead easy to steal.

Meridian · 26 Jun 2014 at 21:17

[TW]Fox;26518703 said:
The actually most stolen car in the UK last year was the Mitsubishi Shogun. And most of the rest of the list were old junk too, because old cars like that are dead easy to steal.

Most stolen in total numbers, I assume you mean, rather than most stolen per number on the road? The two stats tend to be wildly different, for obvious reasons.

The Running Man · 26 Jun 2014 at 22:03

And the ibsyrance company xan swallow a lot of 2k cars being stolen over a 50k car...

peterwalkley · 26 Jun 2014 at 23:23

Esure wanted me to fit one on the XJ. I guess the stolen parts value is high like the range rover.

Blinkz · 27 Jun 2014 at 09:27

Strangely I had to have a tracker on my E46 M3 but then not on my E92 M3. Luckily the E46 had one installed already!

Not sure I would have wanted the car back if it had be stolen tho.

m4rkw7 · 28 Jun 2014 at 00:46

How much did the tracker & install cost out of interest?

Meridian · 28 Jun 2014 at 07:32

When I had mine replaced after the old one stopped working (make sure you test it each year before renewing the subscription) it cost about £300. That was several years ago though. I have to have one or I can't get insurance. Although I've heard that is now being relaxed by some companies.

Scania · 28 Jun 2014 at 09:55

Friend had a tracker on his e60 550i on the insistence of his insurers, then he changed the 550i for an e60 M5, without tracker, yet the same insurer didn't then insist on a tracker for that!

Weird.

Sirrel Squirrel · 28 Jun 2014 at 14:51

m4rkw7 said:
How much did the tracker & install cost out of interest?

Tracker fitted was £150 although they say the fitting is free. Then on top of that there is a yearly subscription of £100.

To be honest I'll probably only subscribe for this year to keep my insurer happy and then switch to someone else who doesn't require a tracker as I think if someone is going to go to the effort of stealing the car they will have the ability to find the tracker or disable it somehow before I get a chance to report it.