Do I need a tracker on my car?

Where’s your car, right now? If you can see it outside your window then you might feel confident that it’s safe and secure, but what if you’ve lent it to a loved one, someone you work with or maybe a valet parker at the airport? It’s stressful enough if you’ve handed the car over willingly, but there’s also the worry of your precious car being stolen.

The best way to keep an eye on it is with a tracker. These GPS location devices used to be only available to spies and science fiction writers but now you can fit one to your car for less than £20. Besides giving you peace of mind, they can also help you keep track of business mileage or find a car easily when you’ve parked in an unfamiliar location.

Some insurers will also offer discounts on premiums for professionally fitted devices, and they may insist you have one for certain high-risk vehicles or inexperienced drivers.

These are the most asked questions about trackers for your car.

What type of trackers are insurance approved?

There are two types of Vehicle Tracking Systems (VTS for short) which might be required by insurers. The first is to help retrieve the vehicle if it is stolen, the other is a so called ‘black box’ device which is there so the broker can keep an eye on the way you drive.

The black box devices can usually be installed easily by the owner, but the more sophisticated theft retrieval trackers will inevitably need to be supplied and fitted by a professional who is able to provide the necessary certificates. Once these are provided they will either reduce your theft excess level, release a promised discount, or simply allow the car to be covered if it is stolen.

The cost of the black box devices is usually included as part of your insurance premium, but the theft trackers will have an initial purchase price and an ongoing subscription charge. If you fail to pay then the tracking company will cut off the service and your insurance could be invalidated.

My insurer says I need a Thatcham approved tracker. What does this mean?

‘Thatcham Approved’ means the device has been assessed and certified by the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre, which is located in Thatcham, Berkshire. It carries out tests on cars and aftermarket products and makes sure they meet the standards necessary to qualify for insurance discounts.

For your VTS to be accepted it will need to have Thatcham’s certificate of conformity and be fitted by an accredited installer.

Just to make it more complicated, Thatcham classifies the trackers according to the level of protection they offer. Your insurer might insist you have one of the higher specification devices if your car is particularly high risk or valuable.

What’s the difference between an S7, S5 and S5 Plus tracker?

Unlike the simple trackers which rely on you looking at alerts on your smartphone to work, the Thatcham approved devices are monitored remotely by a call centre. You might hear some terms such as S5 and S7, or even the obsolete S6 if you are buying a used car with an old system fitted.

S7 is the entry level for professionally fitted trackers which your insurance company will accept. The device will be hidden in a secret location and is able to sense if the car is being tampered with. The control centre will get an alert and will then try to contact you to see if you are aware of the movement.

An internal battery ensures it will still transmit for several days even if the car’s power is cut and it will work anywhere in Europe with a mobile phone signal.

An S5 offers a few extra features to make them even more secure. First, they have a driver ID card which must be in the car when it is started, or the system will alert the control room. This means any thief using a cloned key or signal booster to open and start your car will come a cropper. It won’t offer protection if a thief is able to take your keys and car though, such as in a burglary.

There’s also another option – sometimes called the S5 Plus – which allows the tracking control room to immobilise the engine to prevent a car being moved. This sounds entertaining but there are legal rules about when it can be used. Usually this is only deployed at the request of the police.

The most expensive are the devices which have VHF transmitters in addition to the mobile phone data connections. These are more resistant to jammers and work better in underground car parks and garages.

How much do insurance approved trackers cost?

Prices for an entry-level S7 category tracker start at around £200 plus a monthly subscription fee of around £15 per month. S5 trackers usually cost a little more than the S7, and there will be an extra cost if the engine immobilisation option is required as it takes longer to fit. The subscription may be a little more expensive too, but only by a couple of quid.

The priciest option is for the devices with additional VHF transmitters such as those made by the brand called Tracker. These are around £600.

Bear in mind that the prices quoted should include fitting and some will also throw in some pre-paid subscription charges.

I don’t need a tracker for insurance but want to keep an eye on my car. What types are there?

One of the cheapest and easiest options is simply to slip an Apple Airtag into somewhere discreet. This will transmit the location back to your smartphone whenever anyone with an Apple device walks nearby but might not be the best for theft protection as they may be alerted that an Airtag is ‘following’ them while they are driving. This is to prevent Airtags being used to track people without their knowledge.

An Airtag will also not have many of the features of a mobile data-based tracking device, such as being able to replay where a car has been and watch it moving in real time.

Other dedicated DIY-fit trackers come in two types. The simplest to fit plug into the vehicle’s OBD port to get power and sense when the car’s ignition is switched on. This port resembles the old-fashioned SCART connectors you’d see on the back of a TV and have been on almost every car made for the past three decades. They are usually somewhere around the bottom half of the dashboard, but you might have to ask Google for help locating it.

If your car can’t accept these or you want an even cheaper option, then other types have two wires which connect to a power source and earth. The easiest way is simply to connect these directly to the battery, but you can also use other power source connections if you want to keep it more discreet.

These will all link to your smartphone or desktop via a dedicated app. Most will allow you to receive alerts if the car is moved, leaves a certain area or is being driven aggressively.

Do modern cars have trackers built-in at the factory?

Yes – as part of EU legislation (which has been carried over to the UK law books) all new cars sold from 2018 have to be equipped with an SOS button for use in emergencies which requires a built in SIM card. Many manufacturers have used this connection to add a tracker function, usually as part of a more general app. These will allow you to see where the car is but won’t necessarily have the functionality of a security-focused device or even the ability to log mileage for business expenses.

I’ve found a tracker on my car. Should I worry?

If you’ve bought a used car and it has a tracker on it, there’s no need to panic. Many will have been fitted by previous owners and simply left on as it is easier than removing them. It’s unlikely the subscription on them will still be live, but it’s worth contacting the company to check – the details will usually be on the outer casing, or maybe included with the vehicle documents.

If you are still worried, a ‘black box’ device can usually be removed by simply pulling it out of the OBD port if it is inside the car, or slightly loosening the battery terminals and removing the tracker’s power wires. Professionally fitted devices may be more complicated to remove and should be left to the professionals.

Can I switch on an old tracker which is fitted to my car?

If you’ve bought a car and it already has a tracker fitted, the company will usually be very happy for you to take out a new subscription and they might even offer you a discount. Make sure you have the certificates of conformity though, or you won’t get any insurance benefits.

Don’t expect the company to switch on a tracker once a car has been stolen though. Understandably they get a bit sniffy about drivers who don’t pay until they really need the service, although they might do it if the police ask very nicely.

Do I have to tell people who are driving my car that I have a tracker fitted?

Legally, no. Your car is your property and you are entitled to do what you want with it. There have been plenty of cases where drivers have been sacked after trackers revealed they had been bunking off or somewhere they shouldn’t be.

But it’s generally a good idea to let drivers know so there is no bad feeling, especially if they are an employee or family member. They are also likely to drive more carefully if they know you are keeping an eye on them!

Can I move a tracker onto my new car?

Yes, the installer can swap the tracker over and certify it on a new car. This might be worthwhile on a top end device but might not make financial sense on a £200 unit and the labour charges might cost close to the cost of the new Tracker. It might be worthwhile if you have pre-paid for a subscription though.

How are thieves able to get around trackers?

Without giving away too many secrets, there are some techniques used by criminals who suspect a tracker might be used. The first is simply to park the car up for a few days and see if anyone comes to get it. This is usually the best scenario as it means the owner will get the car back.

As trackers will generally not work where the mobile phone signal is weak – such as in an underground car park or very rural area – the crooks may attempt to hide the car. However, they will leave a digital trail to the location which will narrow down the search.

The third method is to find the tracker and remove it. Many thieves will know the locations in the car where an installer is likely to put the device and will just throw it out of the car.

The final method is more sophisticated and involves using jamming equipment to block the signals. Bizarrely it is illegal to use a jammer but selling or owning one is not against the law. The police would ask some tricky questions if you were found with one though.

While all signals from a car can be jammed, it’s far less likely that a criminal will be able to reliably block both the mobile phone signal and VHF transmissions, so if you want to give your car the bast chance, use a dual band tracker. And maybe throw in an Airtag too.