The prospect of having your car stolen doesn’t bear thinking about. The inconvenience caused by this happening could be immense. For instance, how will you be able to get around without your car such as going to the shops and dropping the children off at school? You will also no doubt be claiming on your car insurance so this can involve you committing time to deal with the matter.
Taking certain precautions may reduce the possibility of having to call the police to investigate the theft of your car
So, let’s have a look at a number of ways that you may be able to reduce the possibility of your vehicle being stolen.
If you are parking your car on a main road and it is dark or is going to be by the time you return to your car then try to park it as close as possible to a streetlight. Doing this should help act as a deterrent to a car thief or someone perhaps scratching the side of your vehicle on purpose.
When you arrive home having had a busy day at work, park your car in the garage if possible. Alternatively, if this is not an option then the next best thing would be to put your car on your drive in a position where it is visible from the window of a downstairs room. Either of these options are safer than parking it in the street outside your home.
If you are parking in the likes of a supermarket car park then try to park your vehicle in a space next to another vehicle or two rather than parking it well away from other cars. Whilst doing this may make it more likely that your car may be slightly damaged by someone being careless when opening his or her car door it is less likely that your car will be stolen by a car thief.
You may wish to consider having an alarm, tracking device and immobilizer fitted to the vehicle and advertising the fact that the vehicle contains such items on a small sticker on the window of the car. You may also wish to have a steering wheel lock that can be attached to the steering wheel when the vehicle is left unattended.
A lot of people, especially in the colder weather, go out to their cars, turn the engine on and go back inside the house having left the engine running to warm up the vehicle only to come out to the car a few minutes later only to find that it has been stolen. It is worth noting that if this were to happen that your car insurance provider would refuse to pay out should you claim on your policy.
