Category: Insurance News / Short Term Insurance / Santam / October 2006

 

Microdot technology reduces car theft by 50%

Many car owners are taking advantage of new and affordable microdot vehicle identification technology to prevent car theft and in so doing, keep their premiums down.

Gerhard Genis, Head of Santam’s Claims Administrative Services says, “Although not all theft preventative measures will reduce monthly insurance premiums, in the long run these measures will keep your premiums down by reducing claims.

“If your car is stolen and replaced by your insurer, your premiums will go up, whether or not it was due to your negligence, so it makes sense to prevent thieves from targeting your car in the first place.”

Datadot is an affordable vehicle identification system comprising of around 10 000 tiny microdots encoded with the vehicles’ unique identification number. These are then sprayed throughout the vehicle and are virtually impossible to remove.

“This is good news, especially when you consider that a significant percentage of recovered stolen vehicles are crushed because their original owners cannot be traced.”

Since the SA launch of Datadot major clients Avis and Clarendon Transport Underwriters have seen a 52.4% drop in vehicle theft and a notable increase in the recovery of stolen vehicles – in some cases as high as 87%.

The technology also reduces the sale of stolen parts by “chop shops” which negatively affect the sale of the new parts by dealers. In addition, over 250 microdot recovery kits have been distributed to various vehicle crime fighting sections within the SAPS.

“SAPS say that microdotting will cut down on theft and hijacking. Furthermore, it will help them identify stolen vehicles. Such is the value of microdotting that Business Against Crime and the insurance industry as a whole are lobbying to make it mandatory.”

For more information regarding Datadot call Santam on

0861 328 236.