Will a car tracker reduce my premium?

While car security technology has improved in recent years, so have the methods being used by sophisticated criminals to steal vehicles.

Keyless entry systems, despite their convenience, have introduced new vulnerabilities.

So, if you’re asking, ‘Will a car tracker reduce my premium?’, the answer is ‘Yes!’.

Here, we look at how car trackers work, their impact on insurance premiums and why choosing a tracker with immobilisation can provide added benefits.

How car trackers work

Car trackers are devices installed discreetly within your vehicle which will utilise GPS technology to pinpoint your car’s location in real time.

This data is transmitted to a monitoring centre, allowing you and the police to track your car’s movements in case of theft. There are two main types of car trackers:

Passive trackers

These trackers simply transmit your car’s location data. While helpful for recovery efforts, they don’t actively prevent theft.

Active trackers

These trackers go a step further, offering features like:

• Immobilisation: Allows you to remotely shut down the car’s engine, effectively preventing the thief from driving away
• Tow-away alerts: Notifies you if your vehicle is moved without authorisation, potentially indicating a theft attempt
• Geofencing: Creates virtual perimeters around designated areas – if your car exits this zone, you’ll receive an alert.

The insurance advantage of car trackers

Insurance companies are constantly assessing risk to determine how much your car insurance premium should be.

That means a car equipped with a tracker is considered less risky to insure than one without. Here’s why:

• Increased recovery rates: Trackers significantly improve the chances of recovering a stolen car. That means the insurer has less to pay out, potentially leading to a lower premium for you
• Reduced theft claims: The deterrent effect of car trackers discourages thieves in the first place. This translates to fewer theft claims for the insurer, potentially leading to lower premiums for all policyholders
• Faster claims processing: With a tracker, police can locate your stolen car quickly, streamlining the claims process for you and saving the insurance company time and resources.

While most drivers will save on their premiums, the exact figures vary depending on your circumstances, but studies suggest potential savings of 5% to 15% on your comprehensive car insurance premium with a tracker installation.

The added security of immobilisation

While saving money is attractive, the most significant benefit of a car tracker lies in its ability to deter theft and potentially recover your stolen vehicle.

To illustrate this, imagine your car is stolen but with one tap on your smartphone app or a call to the monitoring centre, you can remotely disable the engine.

That makes the car undriveable, forcing the thief to abandon it and boosting the chance of recovery in a pristine condition.

Reducing premiums with a car tracker

While car trackers don’t guarantee theft prevention, they do offer a powerful deterrent and significantly improve recovery chances.

Combined with an immobiliser feature, they become a powerful tool in safeguarding your valuable car.

The potential premium savings offered by insurance companies add another incentive.

While the initial cost of installation of a tracker may seem like a burden, it’s an investment that can pay off in the long run, both financially and in terms of peace of mind. View our range of insurance approved trackers to find an insurer approved tracker.