HOW TO PREVENT CAR THEFT AND WHAT TO DO WHEN IT HAPPENS TO YOU.

The September 2020 data has been released from the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council
and the news is not good.

Over 50,000 vehicles (including motorcycles) have been stolen across Australia between 2019 and 2020.
We have put together a list of things you can do to prevent your vehicle from being a target and what to do if this does unfortunately happen to you.

Insurance
It's an obvious start, but not having the right cover will mean that you'll have to outlay the full replacement cost of your vehicle if theft is not included. Check the fine print before you purchase or renew your vehicle insurance.

Keys
Allocate a safe and hidden place for your keys. Make this a daily habit to secure the keys away. Often thieves will break into houses looking for car and motorcycle keys.  Some insurance policies will not pay out if your vehicle was stolen with your own key.
It's also illegal to leave your vehicle unlocked or running with the keys in the ignition or fob in the console whilst unattended.

Windows
It's an easy thing to do. Park the car and leave the window open a little to get fresh air. A slightly open window can be enough of an enticement for someone to break in and steal your belongings or worse, the entire vehicle. Get into a good practice of closing all the windows before you lock your car. Some makes like Mercedes-Benz have a press and hold window close feature on the key fob!

Parking
Try to park your vehicle in well lit areas in the evenings. Dark places are a magnet for thieves. If you do not have a garage and street parking is your only option, park your vehicle with the wheels turned towards the kerb to prevent illegal towing, another means of theft.

Tracker
Our vehicles are the second largest investment after property. For just 0.80 cents a day (which you cannot even buy a postage stamp for), you can have Geo Fencing, Theft Recovery and Monitoring of your asset 24/7.
There are no external antennas, making it harder for thieves to track back to the device to compromise it, or to cut the antenna which could stop it from transmitting.

Your Vehicle Has Been Stolen. What Now?

Some insurance companies stipulate you must report the incident to the police within 24hours.
Check your fine print on what is required of you as a customer.

If you do have a car tracker installed, your Theft Recovery GPS tracking system will provide immediate alarms to notify you the owner and the monitoring centre that a theft is in progress.

Alert the police to the fact you have tracking data and live position updates.
Never try to recover the vehicle yourself. Allow the law enforcement to handle the recovery for you.

If you would like to know more about our supply and installation of commercial grade trackers contact us for a quote. You can download the PDF Product Specs here