GPS Trackers... some things I've found researching.

Reviving this thread because we find ourselves in the position that if we want to insure our new Ocean we have the choice of fitting a Thatcham recognised tracker or not protecting our 9 years no claims bonus and also paying £80 more a year for cover.

The downside is that Thatcham recognised trackers cost a lot more than the many competent devices on the market from amazon (rewire nano for instance) or from the club - Back2You and also have a subscription cost. But it looks like we have to go down the thatcham route so sharing my research.

Thatcham Cat S7 (replaces both Cat 6 and 7) - lowest level of security and is based on a track and retrieve approach - based on the solution offered you may get some early warning functions - attempt to tow, battery tampering and attempt to jam. The Tracker Monitor solution is available (if you search) for £370 for purchase, install and 1st year subscription. This uses a VHF signal which all 52 police forces can track and which cannot be easily jammed unlike GPS. The downside is that this is a retrieve after theft approach. Another 'deal' I found was for Tracker Vantage (GPS) all in for 3 years at approx £500.

Thatcham Cat S5 - brings in driver identification. Unless you have a special card - which cannot be cloned - than the car will not start. Any S5 solution will have all the bells and whistles of S7 - the big step up is the driver ID. l. All this is about £500 for initial purchase, install and 1st year subscription. Vodafone Protect and Connect S5 VTS is £543 from a VW dealer whereas Tracker S5 works out more expensive but includes VHF technology in its solution. Back2You offer a Cat s5 tracker for £500 including 1st year subscription.

Subscriptions are £130 to £150 a year regardless of which solution you go for. This is probably where they make their money because 99.9% of cars will not be stolen or need to monitored.

The threshold for the tracker stipulation on our insurance is a value of £50,000 or more so we can review the use of a tracker in two years time. Looks like we need to bite the bullet in the near term.
 
Reviving this thread because we find ourselves in the position that if we want to insure our new Ocean we have the choice of fitting a Thatcham recognised tracker or not protecting our 9 years no claims bonus and also paying £80 more a year for cover.

The downside is that Thatcham recognised trackers cost a lot more than the many competent devices on the market from amazon (rewire nano for instance) or from the club - Back2You and also have a subscription cost. But it looks like we have to go down the thatcham route so sharing my research.

Thatcham Cat S7 (replaces both Cat 6 and 7) - lowest level of security and is based on a track and retrieve approach - based on the solution offered you may get some early warning functions - attempt to tow, battery tampering and attempt to jam. The Tracker Monitor solution is available (if you search) for £370 for purchase, install and 1st year subscription. This uses a VHF signal which all 52 police forces can track and which cannot be easily jammed unlike GPS. The downside is that this is a retrieve after theft approach. Another 'deal' I found was for Tracker Vantage (GPS) all in for 3 years at approx £500.

Thatcham Cat S5 - brings in driver identification. Unless you have a special card - which cannot be cloned - than the car will not start. Any S5 solution will have all the bells and whistles of S7 - the big step up is the driver ID. l. All this is about £500 for initial purchase, install and 1st year subscription. Vodafone Protect and Connect S5 VTS is £543 from a VW dealer whereas Tracker S5 works out more expensive but includes VHF technology in its solution. Back2You offer a Cat s5 tracker for £500 including 1st year subscription.

Subscriptions are £130 to £150 a year regardless of which solution you go for. This is probably where they make their money because 99.9% of cars will not be stolen or need to monitored.

The threshold for the tracker stipulation on our insurance is a value of £50,000 or more so we can review the use of a tracker in two years time. Looks like we need to bite the bullet in the near term.
Change Insurers.
Caravan & Motorhome Club Insurance didn’t require a tracker, likewise there are other companies that specialise in Campervans/Motorhomes that do not require a tracker.
 
I quite like the look of the automatrics setup, seems to be a good mix of gsm and vhf signals that can't be blocked. Not sure if they are thatcham approved.
 
Incidentally I have recently discovered a good setting on the TK104 that has really extended the battery range and more importantly puts the whole device to sleep in a way that means it cant be detected via a GSM detector. Mine is currently waking up every hour, updating the gps-trace website and going back to sleep and Ive tried a detector and it doesnt get picked up.


18.4 Schedule Work Standby Mode
In scheduled work standby mode, 104-PRO is able to switch itself OFF and only
wake up at pre-set intervals. When it wakes up it will work for 5 minutes,
report its location (SMS or Internet) and switch OFF. If you are using your 104-
PRO in live, internet tracking mode and would like to use schedule work mode,
you will also have to activate less GPRS mode. If GPRS economy mode is not
active the auto interval update will override the schedule standby and keep
your tracker awake.
To activate schedule work standby mode send schedule work sms command
and GRPS economy mode command; "schedule+password+space+time
interval" and "less+space+gprs+password+space+on"
Time interval settings are ;
m= minutes , h=hours, d= days. Maximum schedule setting is 30 days.
Example: schedule123456 30m
Example: schedule123456 5h
Example: less gprs123456 on
Response: sleep shock ok!
Schedule work standby mode will provide the longest standby duration as
power usage will always stay at minimum possible levels. GPS, GSM modules
and the shock sensor will switch off and only the timer will be consuming
power. Please see approximate battery standby durations below;
2 updates per day = 8 months 4 updates per day = 4 months
8 updates per day = 8 weeks 24 updates per day = 4 weeks
 

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