Insurance - Trackers

[etedlm]

they did insure the car for everything else other that theft until sent them the certificate as proof the tracker was activated.the cost of the insurance was the same thou,no discount for a tracker but the insurance with privilage was only £340 f/c with the the missus on.funny thing is if i just insured the ///m for me the price went up to £370??

 

[Taz]

as any body fitted a tracker?

 

[RichardG]

as any body fitted a tracker?

Why? BMW have been fitting them as OEM equipment across the range for years, it just needs activating.

 

[Taz]

so how do i activate it an how much does it cost?

 

[RichardG]

so how do i activate it an how much does it cost?

Contact Tracker Uk or possibly through your friendly neighbourhood stealer.

As for cost not sure, there used to be a couple of different levels of cover, the basic one you had to inform them the car was missing, Monitor, where they will call you if the suspect something suspicious (they contacted me to tell me the car was moving without the ignition being on, it was a towtruck going to get a new front end on it, and Horizon where you can monitor your cars whereabouts on a PC, then you have the choice of yearly or lifetime subscriptions.

http://www.tracker.co.uk/TRACKER/ should answer all your questions

 

[Taz]

BMW Tracking.
Foil car thieves and recover your BMW with BMW Tracking: the integrated transmitter lets your BMW quickly be located in the event of a theft.

Part of the BMW ConnectedDrive suite of innovations, BMW Tracking gives you added peace of mind and minimises the potential damage caused by car theft. A hidden transmitter module is automatically activated in the event of theft. It regularly transmits the current location of the vehicle to the BMW Tracking Call Centre. So your connection to your BMW is never broken - not even by thieves.
There are two ways that the alarm can be activated: when you as the owner realise that your BMW has been stolen, you can simply call the specially-authorised BMW Tracking Call Centre number. Alternatively, the module automatically activates itself the moment your BMW's anti-theft system has been triggered. In order to prevent false alarms, the BMW Tracking Call Centre will first attempt to make contact with the owner to confirm the theft.
Once confirmed, or if the owner cannot be contacted, the BMW Tracking Call Centre alerts the police and provides precise GPS location data, so the vehicle can be swiftly recovered.

 

[mcbeee]

I've never heard of needing a tracker to get insurance over here, it sounds like a scam by the insurance companies if they don't reduce your premiums. The new Zeds have them built in (as mentioned before) and the monthly charge isn't too bad with the other benefits . Much the same as Chevrolets "On Star" that I had in my pickup. ( I cancelled it , too costly for the returns)

Edit: I just called my insurance agent and asked about trackers and they just took $43 off my premium by doing that. Good info on this post today.. Thanks.

 

[Sticks]

I have a tracker but I don't think it makes a difference to the premium. I'd think that's because the loss to the ins co of my car being stolen is pretty small to the big risk, which is me seriously injuring someone in it.

Re tweaking your input online, be careful. If there's any way an ins co can get out of paying, they'll find it and use it. I use a broker, well worth what little extra I pay.

 

[Taz]

i'm more interested in the tracker for theft

nice to know if i ever come home to find my car missing i can think it may be found because it as a tracker

 

[AlanJ]

When I bought my last BM the sales guy tried to sell me a 'tracker' package. However when I declined he agreed and said, "Not sure I would want my car back after it had been stolen and abused." Have to say I agree. The recovery rate for Tracker fitted vehicles is pretty good but the condition they are found in not so good - damaged doors and locks, damaged steering column through hot wiring and often accident damage etc. Personal choice I suppose.

 

[Taz]

er thought of that, i was thinking more if it was taken on the back of a flat bed or tow truck

 

[tjlazer]

A really good way to lower your premium is to do a ridedrive course - this gives a 25% off a premium with Adrian Flux if you take up the offer. Courses start at around £250 and it carries on for every year unless you claim. It paid itself straightaway when it came to renewal time. Shop around for other schemes with Adrian Flux and you'll soon be over 30% off...

PS I don't work for these guys but I just think it's a brilliant concept - learn to drive better - get cheaper insurance! http://www.ridedrive.co.uk/

My new policy for my MR in London (full comp) is less than £660 with £250 xs and 1 year's no claims (clean licence) - I'm 30 - sound good?

 

[mmm-five]

Over the many years I've been investigating insurance, I've come to realise that it doesn't matter one iota what training, tracker, security you have, because all of the companies who offer discounts based on these items are usually more expensive than the competition even when taking the discount into account.

For example:

• My insurer for my Corrado VR6 would not insure my e34 M5 unless it had a tracker. The premium with a tracker was £1300. The premium elsewhere (from someone who wouldnt touch my modified Corrado) was £700 (or about the same as the modified Corrado)
  
• CSMA club insurance scheme, supposedly offering discounts to members. Insurance renewal comes up for the e34 M5, call the club insurance provider but can't find the code so do a 'normal' quote. Quote comes in at £1100 (way to high anyway). Find the code whilst I'm on the phone and it RISES to £1400 - no explanation given from either the insurer or the club, and they refused to print my letter to them asking for the experience of others in the club magazine.
  
• Pass Plus scheme in 1994 offered 20% of when you went through their recommended insurers. Paid about £150 for one day of modules and expected to recoup that in insurance savings on my first car (1.0L Mustard Yellow Metro). Got my pass certificate and started phoning around. At the time, the list of 10 'approved' insurers quoted prices ranging from £1100-£3000 for my £300 car. Finally went with a non-approved company for £600.

Whilst I'm cynical and think a lot of these schemes/requirements help no-one other than the insurance company (i.e. you pay for the tracker subscription to avoid them having to pay out for a stolen car), I do think that everyone would benefit from a pass plus, ride drive, arrive alive, IAM, etc. driving courses anyway, and would like to see some extra driver training being made compulsory for new drivers, before they're allowed on motorways at least.

I'd also recommend similar training to 'experienced' drivers too, as you can't just stop learning once you've passed your test. I might drive like a knob sometimes after being cut up of such, but I feel really ashamed almost instantly and calm myself down quite quickly. Some form of regular top-ups would be welcomed by me for one - and I'm a driving god

 

[mikedav]

Over the many years I've been investigating insurance, I've come to realise that it doesn't matter one iota what training, tracker, security you have, because all of the companies who offer discounts based on these items are usually more expensive than the competition even when taking the discount into account.

TOTALLY agree. With Admiral and Bell I had:

E46 M3, 23, no tracker - £1200
E89 Z4M, 24, no tracker - £900

When i was getting quotes, people like Aviva would insist on a tracker and ask for £2500 and one quoted me over five grand. I am now 27, it's due soon and Admiral want £653...Bradford and Bingley is on the bottom of the list asking £2,340. I think they offer 10% off for tracker, which would be absolutely irrelevant as you can see. Just goes to show it all depends entirely on the risk profile of that insurer. On a side note, didn't know our cars had it built in as standard...

When I bought my last BM the sales guy tried to sell me a 'tracker' package. However when I declined he agreed and said, "Not sure I would want my car back after it had been stolen and abused." Have to say I agree. The recovery rate for Tracker fitted vehicles is pretty good but the condition they are found in not so good - damaged doors and locks, damaged steering column through hot wiring and often accident damage etc. Personal choice I suppose.

Plus it's then recorded stolen recovered, so worth less? And covered in fingerprint dust. I wouldn't want it back either! Especially as I have RTI insurance instead, so would get back what i paid for it....

My parents are on mine as named drivers, knocks about £100 off IIRC.

 

[AJZ4London]

Not sure I would remove the legal cover...could be short sited but fingers crossed!

Admiral have just sent me the renewal...£350 more!!!! Cheeky sods. Will be going back to elephant £810 in central London, 26 with 8 years NCB.

Adding parents (who may drive once in the year) still makes a difference of £100 or so.

 

[mikedav]

AjZ4London, don't forget to get a quote with Admiral as a new customer just in case, often it's cheaper - the renewal is always a con, when you phone up and say you want the new customer price, they match it

 

[Sticks]

I do think that everyone would benefit from a pass plus, ride drive, arrive alive, IAM, etc. driving courses anyway, and would like to see some extra driver training being made compulsory for new drivers, before they're allowed on motorways at least.

I'd also recommend similar training to 'experienced' drivers too, as you can't just stop learning once you've passed your test. I might drive like a knob sometimes after being cut up of such, but I feel really ashamed almost instantly and calm myself down quite quickly. Some form of regular top-ups would be welcomed by me for one - and I'm a driving god

Not quite a driving god myself but been at it for a while and agree, some sort of additional training can't be a bad thing. Is this something we could do as a forum/group? I've been meaning to for years but never have.

 

[Sticks]

Not sure I would remove the legal cover...could be short sited but fingers crossed!
quote]

Have to agree there. In fact, I'd say opt for additional legal cover. I got driven into by a numpty, totally not my fault, but there was a point in the ins claim where we had to think carefully whether £50k legal cover would be enough to risk going to court (if you go to court but end up with something close to what had already been offered, you pay everyone's costs).