How to keep your car insurance costs down

Car insurance

There was a time when car theft wasn’t a common occurrence. It peaked during the 1990s when people had a one-in-five chance of being a victim of car theft in 1993. Before this, thieves would usually steal cars by hot-wiring them – using the wiring in the car’s dashboard to start the engine without a key.

Today, unless the car is old, this isn’t as much of a common occurrence. As vehicle security measures improved from the 90s onwards, theft reached an all-time low in 2013, with 70,000 thefts as opposed to 620,000 in 1992. How easy your car is to steal might affect your insurance. So what can you do to keep your car insurance costs down?

Security assessment

The reduction in crime was likely a result of the New Vehicle Security Assessment (NVSA), produced by Thatcham Research. They conducted motor insurers’ automotive research. They came up with three assessment criteria. These included:

  • Mechanical – How easy is it to break into the vehicle?
  • Electronic – How easy is it to hack the vehicle electronically?
  • Identification of parts – Do car parts have clear markings which make it difficult for thieves to sell them on?

These assessment criteria motivated car manufacturers to make their vehicles more secure. If they were less of a target for thieves, the owner would pay less for insurance, therefore the cars become more desirable, boosting sales of more secure models. In the UK, compared to the rest of Europe, cars often had better security features, putting them into lower insurance brackets.

The thieves caught up

But recently, car crime has risen sharply. In 2018/19, there were over 114,000 vehicle thefts. While this is lower than the peak in 1993, it’s substantially higher than, say,  2013/14.

Thieves in recent years have caught up with car technology and they’re using it against owners. This type of theft is called relay theft. It allows thieves to steal a car in a matter of seconds. They use a device to intercept and transmit the signal from your key fob to the car to break in. They don’t need to break in with force – they don’t even need to be on your property as their tech works from outside the house. Just like that, your car is gone along with your no-claims bonus.

Your insurance costs

If thieves can steal your car easily through relay theft, it’s likely you’ll fall into a higher insurance bracket and have to pay more each year. It could also leave you with higher excess payments.

But stopping this is probably easier than you expected. All you need to do is protect your car from relay theft and inform your insurers who can reduce your fees. By inserting Keyless Protector into your car fob, you stop thieves being able to use the signal to open your car. This simple device fits around the fob’s battery and could potentially save you thousands.

Easy to install and worth the cost to protect your car, Keyless Protector can lower the cost of your insurance. For more information or to purchase your own, visit our website today.

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