Metropolitan Police statistics from 2007 show that accessories like sat nav units and mobile phones accept become big money for car thieves. And with harder financial times ahead for many, this area of crime is likely to increase.
According to those figures, annexation of sat navs from vehicles rose 154% between April 2006 and April 2007 – that’s added than double. And sat navs aren’t the only accessories attracting thieves to your car. MP3 players, DVD players and digital cameras are among the items most often appear stolen from vehicles.
The affliction part of losing your sat nav or DVD player from your car is that it will usually end up costing you far added than just the cost of replacing the gadget. You’ll also be paying for the cost of repairing broken windows or popped locks, or however the thief acquired access to your car. If you make a claim against your car insurancepolicy for the aliment and replacement, you could lose your no claims benefit and may face higher premiums for years to come.
Knowing all this, you’d think that the savvy driver would take measures to avoid putting out a welcome mat for thieves, but surveys point to the opposite. An industry survey showed that an incredible 96% of drivers regularly leave their electronic accessories in their cars if they park them. As if that’s not bad enough, an unbelievable 1 of every 3 drivers surveyed admitted that they leave their accessories in full view inside their vehicle. The results? An incredible 21% of drivers surveyed – added than one in every five – accept had at least one electronic gadget stolen from their vehicle.
Mobile phones, sat navs, MP3 players and other electronics are a veritable treasure trove for today’s brand of thieves. They’re often left in full view on the foreground seat or dash of a car. It’s only a matter of abnormal for an opportunist to breach a window and be off with your sat nav tucked into a pocket or under a shirt. Those goodies are simple to steal and simple to sell off, since they’re in such high demand.
Save Your Sat Nav – And Some Cash
One UK car insurer isn’t taking the situation laying down. At swiftcover.com, the UK’s only completely online insurance company, they’ve added a new awning advantage to their car insurance. For a baby extra exceptional of around £30, you can purchase gadget awning if you purchase their car insurance. The baby accessories awning will replace your in-car items if they’re stolen from your car or damaged accidentally. That’s a cheap price to pay to awning hundreds of pounds worth of equipment that you might use every day.
The baby accessories awning from swiftcover.com will awning items like mobile phones, PDAs, satellite aeronautics systems, MP3 players, safety camera locators, portable games consoles, digital cameras, camcorders and portable DVD players.
Of course, the best form of protection is prevention. Before you get out of your car, make it a practice to pick up any accessories on your dash or seats and stow them in the cuff box or the boot. That one simple habit can reduce your chances of being a smash-and-grab target dramatically.