Car Thefts Are Soaring In The Uk. But Why?

During the first 3 months of 2019 somewhere in the region of £108 million has been paid out to people that have had their car stolen.

A recent report has shown that these people are getting pay-outs from insurers every 8 minutes

The trend is clearly rising, as during the same period in 2018 it rose by 22%.  Campaigners and some politicians have been calling on car manufacturers to improve security in an effort to bring down the rise in car thefts, which recently is largely due to the radio signals being transmitted from keyfobs, especially from the keyless versions.

Car damage payouts are also on the rise.  Some insurance companies are actually blaming the expensive technology used in newer cars as the prices are extremely high and it is only going to get worse years down the line as the technology becomes more advanced.

According to a Home Office report car theft have risen by an astonishing 50% in the last five years alone.  It’s only taking around 20 seconds for these criminals to gain access to vehicles as they get increasing familiar with the technologies required to commit the crime.

Insurance is worth mentioning here.  With the car insurance sites all claiming to offer the great savings and the cheapest car insurance deals.  Overall, a total of 16,000 claims that were settled by car insurers during this time, compared with the total amount of 14,000 claims the year before that, making the current year the highest number of claims in seven years.

How to protect your vehicle

Items that have everyday use such as your freezer or even drinks, can be used to stop criminals from breaking into and stealing your car as the signal from the key fobs generally can’t penetrate or get distorted by these items when hidden inside them.

Every type and brand of car that can start up without a key which is vulnerable to a car theft no matter how advanced the technology is.

While this could worry the driver, there are ways to help to prevent these unexpected car thefts.

Some metals have the ability to block these key signals, which means that if you put your key away with one of these metals wrapped around it, thieves/ hackers won’t be able to detect them and steal your vehicle.

Even the most basic and inventive metal can do the following:

• The aluminium in drinks can stop radio signals from being transmitted from your key and will prevent anyone from picking up these signals.
• A few experts have suggested keeping your keys in a fridge/freezer, as the material on the inside will stop any signals from being transmitted from your keys.
• If you’re looking for a cheaper option, some people wrap their keys in tin foil – although this isn’t the most protective option.
• Another method is to keep your keys in a small metal box however this isn’t the most efficient, but it is still a good way to keep your car keys protected.
• Faraday pouches — These are cheap wallets that shield the key’s radio signal from transmitting any signal — They are a good place to keep your keys in while you’re away from home eg. shopping, car parks, work, etc.
• Some experts also advise drivers to keep them at least 5m away from their front door, so that thieves won’t be able to pick up a signal as it will be very weak from 5m or more away from them.
• Some security specialists are against hiding your car keys in a difficult place in your house — because if serious criminals really want to steal your car, they will break into or do anything to find the keys in your vehicle.

Some of the tried and trusted old methods like parking in a well-lit area, locking your steering wheel with a steering wheel lock or placing a tracking device in your vehicle are still highly recommended to keep your car safe and they are still used by people today.