Vehicle theft in the UK is on the rise. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there was a 3% increase in theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicles in 2023, bringing the number of these offences up to 130,903. On average, 358 vehicles were stolen per day last year. Thanks to Thatcham Trackers, you don’t need to leave car theft prevention to chance, and there’s a good possibility that, if your vehicle is stolen, the police will recover it.
In this article, we take a deep dive into how to prevent car theft in the UK with these trackers, the technology behind them, their effectiveness and reliability, how they integrate with other security measures, and the insurance benefits they offer.
How to Prevent Car Theft: Thatcham Trackers
Boasting advanced security features, Thatcham Trackers have passed Thatcham Research’s stringent testing and have been approved by numerous insurance companies. Thatcham considers vehicle security questions and the research of various facets of vehicle security—stolen car trackers among them—and either approves or rejects them. If you have a Thatcham Tracker such as Crystal Ball’s S5, S5+, or S7, you have a tracker that you can trust.
While car theft prevention is not guaranteed with these trackers, they can be a deterrent and they can make it much easier for the police to recover your vehicle. Thatcham Trackers offer 24-hour monitoring via a monitoring station. If an attempted theft is detected, the monitoring station alerts the police to the vehicle’s exact whereabouts.
This stolen car tracking feature is one of the elements that sets Thatcham Trackers apart from fleet GPS trackers. Where fleet vehicle trackers come with features designed to boost businesses’ operational efficiency, Thatcham Trackers are designed with personal vehicles such as high-value sports cars, luxury cars, and campervans in mind. Let’s take a closer look at Crystal Ball’s S5, S5+, and S7 Thatcham trackers and how they can integrate with some of the best car security systems in the UK.
Thatcham S5 Trackers
The Thatcham S5 Tracker is designed to enhance car theft prevention and security and to meet insurance requirements. This tracker’s robust technologies and top-tier security features include:
GPS and GSM technology: GPS/GLONASS and GPRS technology offers precise location tracking in real time, while GSM technology enables communication. If your vehicle is ever stolen, the S5 tracker quickly and effectively increases the chances of yours becoming a recovery vehicle rather than a stolen car that’s never recovered.
Automatic Driver Recognition (ADR): The Thatcham S5 tracker system includes a driver ID tag that enables automatic driver recognition. If the driver tag isn’t present when your vehicle moves, the tracker system alerts you and the monitoring centre team to a potential theft. This feature offers protection against theft through key cloning or relay attacks.
Tow and tamper alerts with 24/7 monitoring: The tracker’s motion-detecting tow and tamper technology notifies the 24-hour monitoring centre if the vehicle is moved or towed, if the tracker’s battery is removed, or if it is tampered with in other ways. This allows the police to act quickly, intercept the thieves, and recover your vehicle.
Nationwide installation and European coverage: Our S5 Tracker comes with free nationwide installation by Thatcham-approved engineers, who will install your tracker quickly and effectively. Once installed, your tracker will provide stolen vehicle tracking throughout the UK and across Europe.
Optional remote immobilisation: These trackers can be integrated with your car’s immobilisation system. If you choose to include the optional remote immobilisation feature in your tracker, you will be able to immobilise your car remotely via our mobile app whenever you receive suspected theft alerts.
Thanks to our secure mobile app, which is compatible with Android and iOS devices, you can track your valuable vehicles with ease. The app provides you with information about your car’s routes, destinations, travel duration, and travel distance, and it offers easy access to features such as remote immobilisation.
If you’re looking at how to protect your car from theft, a Thatcham S5 Tracker is certainly an option to consider. Research has found that these trackers have a more than 96% success rate in recovering stolen cars.
Thatcham S5+ Trackers
Crystal Ball’s Thatcham S5+ Trackers are a step up from our standard S5 trackers. These trackers offer the car theft prevention and recovery features described above, including GPS and GSM technology, ADR, tow and tamper alerts with 24-hour monitoring, and nationwide installation and European coverage. However, they take things a step further with an enhanced immobilisation feature.
The S5+ tracker’s advanced immobilisation feature makes it one of the answers to the question of how to prevent car theft in the UK. This feature immobilises your car automatically whenever the driver ID tag is not present, so even if thieves break into your vehicle, they will not be able to start it.
Like standard S5 trackers, Thatcham S5+ Trackers have a stolen car tracking and recovery rate higher than 96%. These trackers can be used alongside other measures such as car alarms, making them one of the best car security systems in the UK.
Thatcham S7 Trackers
While our Thatcham S7 Tracker has fewer features than the S5 and S5+ trackers, it remains a dependable means of car theft prevention and vehicle recovery. The S7 Tracker’s technology and security features include:
- – 24-hour tracking and monitoring via GPS and GSM technology connected to 24-hour monitoring centres for immediate alerts and responses in the event of theft
- – Motion-detecting tow and tamper technology to notify you and the monitoring when the vehicle is moved without authorisation or would-be thieves tamper with the tracker
- – Seamless integration with Crystal Ball’s Android and iOS mobile app offering a comprehensive dashboard for monitoring vehicle information and journey history
- – Discreet installation to avoid detection by thieves
Unlike the S5 and S5+ trackers, the Thatcham S7 tracker is battery powered rather than being hardwired into the vehicle. As it communicates via an RF frequency, this tracker is only accurate within a few hundred yards. Despite having fewer features than the S5 and S5+ stolen car trackers, the S7 tracker also has a vehicle recovery rate higher than 96%.
Thatcham Trackers Offer Insurance Benefits
Our Thatcham Trackers do more than provide a solution to the question of how to prevent vehicle theft in the UK. They also offer insurance benefits. However, it’s important to remember that, while our S5 and S5+ trackers meet Thatcham’s higher security standards as well as top-tier insurance policies’ stringent criteria, the S7 meets the basic requirements.
Many insurance providers offer premium discounts to clients who have had Thatcham Trackers installed in their vehicles. The recognised tracking system categories and the level of discount varies from provider to provider, with discounts varying between 2% and 25%. That said, the average discount on insurance premiums for clients with these trackers is 5 to 15%.
Choose Crystal Ball’s Thatcham Trackers
Approved by a trusted name, Thatcham Trackers are a powerful answer to your vehicle security questions. Their dependable features make them a formidable means of car theft prevention and helpful allies in recovering stolen vehicles. Combined with other vehicle security options such as alarms and immobilisers, they are a force to be reckoned with. Boost your vehicle’s security with an S5, S5+, or S7 Thatcham Tracker from Crystal Ball.