Trackers

[Slimalex]

Just bought a van, picking it up in January.

I’ll probably go for a vanbitz alarm. Insurance doesn’t require a tracker, but feel I ought to get one. However if van did get nicked then would police do anything, even more so would they bother abroad.

Thoughts on a tracker would be welcome, something that is fitted by a professional preferably. The monitoring cost seems the factor that weighs most heavily. Thoughts and ideas would be most welcome.

Thank you

 

[maison]

Any security system helps, but a Tracker helps to get a stolen vehicle recovered.

Yes, there is a cost but is £100 pa or so a lot to pay to recover a vehicle worth £50 - £150k?

You may also get a discount on your insurance or even find you are uninsurable without one.

 

[Slimalex]

Thank you Maison,

Who do you use? I suppose I don’t have a problem, it’s finding a sensibly priced one.

 

[MikeD]

I would do a search on Ebay etc for a "tracker blocker" - they are not expensive.

I suspect you might need something fairly expensive to beat them.

 

[rosalan]

I have a Scorpion tracker fitted to my van after previously having a van stolen. Had the present tracker fitted at home professionally, as insurance companies only recognise certain makes of tracker. A bonus I had not expected is the tracker recording of where I have been. It shows on its own map how fast I was travelling minute by minute with a Google Street little man that generates a picture of the road and surroundings, in my case for the whole five months of our tour overseas. Brilliant!

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[Badknee]

Thank you Maison,

Who do you use? I suppose I don’t have a problem, it’s finding a sensibly priced one.

Talk to that Eddie geezer wot hangs around eddievanbitz place, doesn’t do a minutes work just hangs about having a brew and eating all the biscuits ? MetaTrak for us, brilliant bit of kit ?

 

[Minxy]

We had the Smartrack fitted at a cost of £199 plus £399 to Global Telematics for lifetime monitoring.

Its on offer at the moment, reduced from £229 to £199, it's an asset tracker only as we don't want the driver fobs etc as hubby would more than likely leave his at home! This is the company we're using, when hubby rang about it they said its a very good tracker for the money, made in the UK and good quality, so no need for anything more expensive.

Compare Vehicle Trackers - Tracker Fit

Can't decide which vehicle tracker best suits your needs? Our easy to use vehicle tracker comparison guide to help you find the perfect vehicle tracker for you

www.trackerfit.co.uk

 

[Slimalex]

I have a Scorpion tracker fitted to my van after previously having a van stolen. Had the present tracker fitted at home professionally, as insurance companies only recognise certain makes of tracker. A bonus I had not expected is the tracker recording of where I have been. It shows on its own map how fast I was travelling minute by minute with a Google Street little man that generates a picture of the road and surroundings, in my case for the whole five months of our tour overseas. Brilliant!

Thank you, who did the fitting please?

 

[maison]

Thank you Maison,

Who do you use? I suppose I don’t have a problem, it’s finding a sensibly priced one.

My current one is Tracker/Retrieve, the “original” Tracker that you will have heard of.

My previous m/h was a Swift and had their own version tracker installed. It was a lower annual charge, £85 I think. It worked well as I was rung twice by the company stating that they had noticed the m/h had moved and checking that it was kosher.

 

[eddie]

We had the Smartrack fitted at a cost of £199 plus £399 to Global Telematics for lifetime monitoring.

Its on offer at the moment, reduced from £229 to £199, it's an asset tracker only as we don't want the driver fobs etc as hubby would more than likely leave his at home! This is the company we're using, when hubby rang about it they said its a very good tracker for the money, made in the UK and good quality, so no need for anything more expensive.

Compare Vehicle Trackers - Tracker Fit

Can't decide which vehicle tracker best suits your needs? Our easy to use vehicle tracker comparison guide to help you find the perfect vehicle tracker for you

www.trackerfit.co.uk

All Category Five and Six were delisted by Thatcham December 2018

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[Minxy]

All Category Five and Six were delisted by Thatcham December 2018

Not what it says on The Thatcham site Eddie ... they've just changed the groups/group names:

Thatcham Security Certifications - Thatcham Research

Thatcham Security Certification is a robust verification programme for the assessment and recognition of automotive security products. The certification concentrates...

www.thatcham.org

 

[eddie]

Only compliant with age

Ergo a Cat Six fitted in 2019 would not be acceptable and could result in an insurance claim being denied, yet a 2018 installation with a Cat 6 would still be acceptable to insurers in 2021 for example

 

[Minxy]

Only compliant with age

Ergo a Cat Six fitted in 2019 would not be acceptable and could result in an insurance claim being denied, yet a 2018 installation with a Cat 6 would still be acceptable to insurers in 2021 for example

I don't think I totally understand what you're trying to say Eddie, the name or function of the trackers hasn't changed as they are the same product, it's just the categories that have been renamed ... our tracker is what would have been a cat 7 but is now classed as a cat 7S.

 

[Slimalex]

I don't think I totally understand what you're trying to say Eddie, the name or function of the trackers hasn't changed as they are the same product, it's just the categories that have been renamed ... our tracker is what would have been a cat 7 but is now classed as a cat 7S.

So is your tracker acceptable to the insurance company Mel?

 

[rosalan]

I contacted the tracker company and they have agents all over the country. Mine was fitted within a couple of days of calling them.

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[Coolcats]

https://www.tracker.co.uk/ have a range of devices

 

[maison]

eddievanbitz
My new motorhome, (two weeks old) has a Category 5 Tracker fitted. I rang five insurance companies for quotes, all were happy to accept it!

 

[eddie]

So long as it is a 2019 VTS 5 not a 2018 Category Five you will have no problems.

 

[Minxy]

So is your tracker acceptable to the insurance company Mel?

Yup, no problem with it at all.

 

[Simon Select]

It always makes me laugh and we get it in here.
You spend anything from £50,000 up to £300,000 on a Motorhome and people then try and go as cheap as possible for accessories, security etc etc.
We keep stripping cheap products out of vans as we have turned them off permanently when we bring the vehicles in for prep. We have even found battery powered LED flashing lights in the window to try and convince Mr Thief it was an alarm!
A top of the range tracker from Vanbitz is £400 ish I think of the top of my head, thats 1% of the value of an average motorhome to stop it getting nicked, its a no brainer.
Its no different than spending £100 buying the ingredients for the Xmas dinner from Waitrose, then getting the Beef from Farm Foods.......

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[Minxy]

It always makes me laugh and we get it in here.
You spend anything from £50,000 up to £300,000 on a Motorhome and people then try and go as cheap as possible for accessories, security etc etc.

It may make you laugh but with the cost of MHs not everyone can afford to buy expensive alarms, trackers etc and why should they when there is actually no need to. Some like certain alarms, some others, same with trackers and other bits and bobs, but I certainly would not criticise people for their choices.

We keep stripping cheap products out of vans as we have turned them off permanently when we bring the vehicles in for prep. We have even found battery powered LED flashing lights in the window to try and convince Mr Thief it was an alarm!

Surely if they couldn't afford, or didn't want, an actual alarm that's up to them?

A top of the range tracker from Vanbitz is £400 ish I think of the top of my head, thats 1% of the value of an average motorhome to stop it getting nicked, its a no brainer.

To you maybe but not me ... £399 for the tracker on it's own plus £150 a year ... and the cost/hassle of going to/from Cornish Pasty Country. If what I have is totally acceptable to the insurance company (and is more than we've had previously as we've never had a tracker), will do what I need without loads of extra stuff such as fobs or whatever else you can get as 'extras' which I don't want, then why do I have to spend more just because I have an expensive MH? Same with the alarm, we've had the same alarm on previous MHs and it's worked perfectly and didn't cost anything like the Vanbitz one ... whilst I appreciate that the VB one is a top notch one not everyone wants, or needs, that.

Its no different than spending £100 buying the ingredients for the Xmas dinner from Waitrose, then getting the Beef from Farm Foods.......

Using that analogy then no-one would ever dream of buying a new expensive car and having it serviced by their trusted local mechanic ...

 

[Slimalex]

Thank you all for your contributions. I’ve ended up wiser and will make a choice based on the above. Saved a lot of time on research.?

 

[Stealaway]

A top of the range tracker from Vanbitz is £400 ish I think of the top of my head, thats 1% of the value of an average motorhome to stop it getting nicked, its a no brainer.

But it's insured for theft.
Do we really need to spend hundreds of pounds to save the insurance companies having to pay out a claim for the theft if it is nicked

 

[maison]

But it's insured for theft.
Do we really need to spend hundreds of pounds to save the insurance companies having to pay out a claim for the theft if it is nicked

only if the insurers require it in order to provide cover.

 

[Stealaway]

only if the insurers require it in order to provide cover.

My insurance company only insist on further security above £60.000

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[bigtwin]

But it's insured for theft.
Do we really need to spend hundreds of pounds to save the insurance companies having to pay out a claim for the theft if it is nicked

Yes we should!

I take the view that every vehicle recovered saves the insurance companies tens of thousands of pounds a year. This reduces their costs and helps keep the premiums down for ALL of us.

Ian

 

[Yorick]

I would do a search on Ebay etc for a "tracker blocker" - they are not expensive.

I suspect you might need something fairly expensive to beat them.

Scary

Car Van 12v Mini Usb Tracker Blocker | eBay

Simply plug into usb slot in car or use power bank. Will make your Vehicle invisible to any tracker fitted to it. <br> <br>100% work does not affect mobile phone <br> <br>Every item is individually tested in working order before sent out. <br> <br>

rover.ebay.com

 

[Mike800966]

We had strikeback and tracker installed by VanBitz many years ago. Backup service has always been efficient and knowledgeable, cant fault it- bit pricey but installation was superb.
Big advantage of the tracker is that when you wander off into a megamarket when abroad and the scroats know you will be an hour or two then if there's any problem my phone rings and I can decide what to do.
So far so good, perhaps its eddies multilingual signs that have kept scroats away?
Mike & Ann
ps Apologies if I shoudn't use a word like scroats

 

[Minxy]

eddievanbitz ... have you ever tried one of these in a MH which you've put your kit in to see if it has any effect on it?

Car Van 12v Mini Usb Tracker Blocker | eBay

Simply plug into usb slot in car or use power bank. Will make your Vehicle invisible to any tracker fitted to it. <br> <br>100% work does not affect mobile phone <br> <br>Every item is individually tested in working order before sent out. <br> <br>

rover.ebay.com

 

[eddie]

eddievanbitz ... have you ever tried one of these in a MH which you've put your kit in to see if it has any effect on it?

Yes, and lots of similar devices, our anti jam software seems impervious to them yet, we can make some other systems disappear at will.

Strangely I have the latest bad boy technology arriving from the Far East tomorrow to attack our systems, costing considerably more than that LOL

All trackers are equal? No they’re not lol

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