Tracker saves insurance companies a small fortune

Sharon

Sharon Gill

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16th September 2009

The highest value recovery during the January to June 2009 period was a piece of plant machinery – a Caterpillar 936D worth £185,000 that was stolen with its keys in the ignition.

Light commercial vehicles, most noticeably the Ford Transit and Nissan Cabstar, have also appeared regularly on the stolen and recovered list, as has the Peugeot Ludix scooter.

Surprisingly, 30% of the vehicles recovered by Tracker in the January – June 2009 period were valued below £10,000, with less than 4% of recoveries valued at more than £50,000.

According to Tracker's managing director Bill Raynal, car thieves are adapting their habits to fit in with the credit crunch, i.e. stealing vehicles that people can afford to buy.

Whilst London continues to be the hotspot, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool also saw high volumes of stolen cars, followed by Doncaster, Sheffield, Stockport and Birmingham.

Tracker UK has installed nearly one million systems, and to date has recovered more than 18,000 stolen vehicles worth £400 million since 1993. Each month Tracker helps to recover stolen vehicles worth around £2 million.

Nearly six thousand miles away, Tracker South Africa protects 554,767 vehicles, and has recovered 46,039 stolen vehicles in the past twelve years.

Tracker SA reckons it has saved the insurance industry about ZAR4 billion in replacement costs since the company opened its doors in 1996.

Tracker SA currently recovers around 450 cars a month. Even at the most modest estimate of ZAR100 000 per car, this translates to at least ZAR45 million worth of vehicles recovered every month.

In terms of hotspots, every built-up area in the country is a hotspot, with more than half of all hijackings taking place in residential or business driveways.

The same underlying VHF technology used by Tracker is also used in thirty countries throughout the world, and to date is responsible for the recovery of more than 250,000 stolen vehicles worth around US$5 billion.