Firstly it may be worth explaining why insurance approved trackers exist and who’s involved.

Vehicle insurance providers are not exactly experts in vehicle security, therefore they seek advice from third parties in relation to current car crime trends and the risks involved in providing insurance to vehicles nationwide.

Insurance companies consult with vehicle secuirty experts to gain advice on which aftermarket products vehicle owners should fit to their vehicle’s to increase their vehicles security. This in turn reduces the insurers risk against financially loss should that vehicle be stolen.

The main third party they use are Thatcham Research.

What is Thatcham?

Thatcham Research has been at the forefront of vehicle security since the 1990s. Since then, they have been working with law enforcement agencies, the automotive industry, and insurers to assess potential physical and electronic vulnerabilities, and identify the technology and ways to mitigate theft.

Thatcham operates on behalf of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to certify products as ‘Insurance Approved’ so that insurers can be confident in the products being fitted genuinely reduce their risk.

When a product has the label 'Thatcham Approved', it means that it has undergone independent testing by Thatcham. This certification serves as a guarantee of the product's functionality, design, performance, and compliance with both legislative and automotive quality standards.

Thatcham has established compliance criteria for two categories of stolen vehicle tracking: Category S7 and Category S5.

Thatcham Research and its partnering organisations establish strict criteria for testing each product. The aim of this testing is to ensure that the product functions properly, performs well, and is objectively evaluated for its capabilities. The testing is consistently monitored and reviewed to ensure that the product maintains its functionality and performance throughout its certification period.

Have you been asked by your insurance provider to install an insurance-approved tracking device in your vehicle?

Thatcham works with insurance providers to assess a product's quality and functionality to ensure that when a product is fitted to a vehicle, it genuinely reduces the insurer's risk of paying out in full for a stolen vehicle replacement. If your vehicle is stolen and never recovered, your insurer will have to pay out for a replacement vehicle, which is a significant loss that's becoming more frequent with keyless theft. However, if you have a tracking system like a Thatcham category S5 system installed in your vehicle, you're more likely to get your vehicle recovered, and your insurer won't have to pay out for a replacement vehicle.

This is not just good news for the insurer; it's also good news for you. If you've ever had a vehicle stolen and had to go through the process of getting a replacement, you'll know the pain, particularly in this climate where new vehicle lead times are over 18 months. Due to the potential exploitation of keyless entry technology in nearly every vehicle that leaves the factory now, more and more insurers are making it mandatory to fit these types of systems to high-value, theft-prone vehicles.

When insurers look to make mandatory the fitment of a system to a vehicle, two main factors come into play: its value and its attractiveness to theft. Generally, anything over 45k will require a category S5 system to be fitted, and under that, a category S7, although there are no fixed parameters for either category. The likelihood of a particular vehicle being stolen or its attractiveness to theft is down to the insurer's own data, which is quite extensive as vehicle theft can hit their profits significantly. Although as mentioned, pretty much any vehicle now fitted with keyless entry technology is prone to keyless theft, so the risk to insurers is at an all-time high with no real end in sight as vehicle manufacturers collectively don't seem to be moving very fast on the issue.

To sum up, an insurance-approved tracking device is a Thatcham-certified tracking device that must be installed to comply with your insurance policy. Its purpose is to lower the insurer's risk of high-value, theft-prone vehicles being stolen and not recovered, which could result in significant financial losses for the insurer.