Rising keyless car thefts could drive up insurance bills

A RISE in keyless car thefts could hit insurance premiums, it has been warned, as payouts were reported to have reached £1million a day.

Motorists last year saw the average insurance premium fall for the first time annually since 2014, despite surging levels of car crime, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

However, the RAC said this was mainly due to legal changes which have helped curb the cost of personal injury claims paid out by insurance firms.

It means expected savings which could have been passed on to motorists thanks to the legal reforms are likely to shrink as thieves increasingly target hitech vehicles.

The ABI said a “worrying” explosion in vehicle crime saw insurers pay out record costs of £376million to cover stolen cars and thefts from cars last year. This represents a 29 per cent spike on 2017, while theft claims are now being made every six minutes, amounting to 56,000 in 2018 – a 12 per cent increase on the year before.

The ABI’S annual motor claims report expressed concern that many driveways now have vehicles that are vulnerable to hackers.

Tactics used against keyless cars include “relay thefts”, which capitalise on key fobs that allow drivers to open and start their cars just by approaching them. Criminals, usually working in pairs, will hold a device up next to a car to capture the signal it sends out to a key and then relay that signal to a second device outside the owner’s home, thereby activating the key’s own signal inside.

The car will then be fooled into thinking the key is 6.5ft (2m) away – rather than in the owner’s house – causing it to unlock and start the engine.

Motorists with vehicles that can be targeted in such a way are advised to park their car in a well-lit area, keep their keys away from doors and windows and turn off the signal overnight or keep keys in a “signal-block pouch”.

Laurenz Gerger, the ABI’S motor policy adviser, said: “The resurgence in car crime is worrying.

“The record amounts paid to motorists by their insurers in part reflects the vulnerability of some cars to keyless relay theft.

“Action by motor manufacturers to tackle this hi-tech vulnerability, allied with owners taking some simple, inexpensive precautions will help reverse this unwelcome trend.”

Levels of car crime have been surging across the country, with the Home Office recording a 50 per cent increase in vehicle thefts over the past five years.

The ABI said the overall cost of motor claims shot up by £500million to £8.6billion in 2018, having remained “virtually unchanged” between 2016 and 2017.