There are lots of different ways thieves could steal your car, from breaking your windows to something more sophisticated like relay theft, so you need to be proactive about protecting your car.
Read on to find out what relay theft is, which cars could be vulnerable to it, and how you can try and prevent it.
Relay theft (otherwise known as keyless theft) is a way of stealing a car by tricking its keyless entry system.
It’s usually carried out by two thieves. One will stand by your front door, where most people store car keys, while the other stands by your car.
The thief uses a transmitter, or relay box, to extend the signal emitted by your key fob and trick the car into opening. Police say cars can be stolen in under two minutes using this system.
Any car model with a keyless entry system could be vulnerable.
Research by Thatcham in 2019 rated cars like the Ford Mondeo, Porsche Macan and Hyundai Nexus as having ‘poor’ security for relay theft [1]. But since then, car manufacturers have become more proactive about tackling the issue.
Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi developed motion sensors in their keyless fobs to stop sending out a code when it hasn’t moved in a while.
Jaguar and Land Rover fitted ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology in some of their newer models, which communicate over a range of frequency channels so the code can’t be traced.
Our claims team have seen a general decrease in relay theft-related motor claims thanks to preventative technology like this – but it still happens.
All of our car insurance policies will cover you for relay theft apart from third party only.
If your car gets stolen, call the police immediately and then us. You’ll need to provide us with a Crime Reference Number within 24 hours.
Check your policy book for full details.