Car theft is an unfortunate reality in today’s world and can be seriously impactful to businesses and sites, both financially and in terms of productivity and carrying out day-to-day tasks. However, with the right tools businesses can significantly reduce the risks and increase the chances of recovering their stolen vehicles. In this blog, we cover what is stolen car monitoring, and its benefits explained.
- What is Stolen Car Monitoring?
- Why Invest in Stolen Car Monitoring?
- Benefits of Stolen Car Monitoring
- How Does Stolen Car Monitoring Work?
- How Much Does Stolen Car Monitoring Cost?
- Statistics on Stolen Car Monitoring
- What Happens Next?
What is Stolen Car Monitoring?
Car theft is a widespread problem, with thousands of vehicles being stolen every day. Whether it be company cars or fleet vehicles, having a reliable solution in place to prevent theft and improve vehicle recovery is essential in protecting a site, its assets and people.
Stolen car monitoring is therefore an effective solution that can be easily implemented for a site or business, involving cutting-edge technology and real-time tracking. A stolen car monitoring service can help a site, vehicle owners and law enforcement to recover stolen vehicles efficiently and effectively.
Why Invest in Stolen Car Monitoring?
The reliance on fleet vehicles for operational continuity is immense, particularly for sectors like industrial warehouses and construction. Losing a single vehicle can trigger a cascade of issues, resulting in lost revenue, contract penalties, and damage to customer trust. This critical impact highlights why comprehensive security is necessary, not just for the vehicle itself, but for the business as a whole. Businesses must also consider the growing threat of sophisticated crime; according to major UK insurers, between 60% and 70% of cars stolen recently were keyless models, often taken in a matter of seconds using ‘relay’ devices. This modern vulnerability makes the advanced, real-time alerting provided by professional tracking solutions essential for counteracting highly organised criminal activity.
At RMS we provide a comprehensive stolen car monitoring service in partnership with GPSBob and is fully approved by Thatcham, following extensive testing. It offers 24/7 tracking and monitoring, 365 days a year and can be tailored to the needs of the site and vehicle owners, making it unparalleled to the competition. Our transparent and honest service combined with our NSI gold-approved, category 2 ARC provides total peace of mind to businesses and drivers alike. This level of professional monitoring ensures a rapid, expert response in line with the high standards we apply to all our services, including intruder monitoring and remote health & safety patrols.
Benefits of Stolen Car Monitoring
- Real-time tracking using GPS technology.
- Rapid response time to vehicle theft.
- Detect tampering with the tracking device, including attempts to use jammers that disrupt communication.
- Improved vehicle security by deterring criminals.
- Improved vehicle recovery if theft occurs.
- Peace of mind and confidence that the vehicle will be recovered.
- Reduce the cost of insurance premiums due to vehicles being classed as lower risk. You can learn more about how monitoring impacts your insurance premiums here.
- Assist the police by providing valuable data and helping them recover stolen vehicles more effectively.
How Does Stolen Car Monitoring Work?
Stolen car monitoring works by having a GPS tracking device discreetly installed in the vehicle.
This device utilises satellite technology, as well as RFID and cellular communication depending on the model, to determine its accurate location.
1. Once a site has purchased its vehicle tracker, it will need to be registered with the GPSBob app.
2. The tracker will then be fitted by the site or driver via the vehicle’s cigarette lighter, OBD Port or directly to the vehicle battery. This is particularly crucial for maintaining security across large sites such as remote sites that require access control.
3. The site will then need to add any necessary contact details and information about their vehicle to the app so that they can be contacted in case of a suspected theft.
Once installed, it can continuously track the vehicle’s movements and relay this information in real-time back to a professional monitoring provider or any authorised personnel. If the vehicle is stolen, its exact location can be found using the tracker.
For businesses with large fleets, monitoring vehicle status is part of a broader need for comprehensive asset and site management. This often extends to non-security assets, such as monitoring critical infrastructure like air conditioning monitoring systems or other environmental controls that are vital for business operations. Modern monitoring platforms integrate these diverse signals, providing a single, unified view of asset health and security. The use of advanced telematics is also driving the next generation of security, leading to innovations we discuss in our post about remote monitoring trends in 2025.
With RMS, these are the steps that will occur:
1. In the event of an incorrect ignition sequence or should the tracker or vehicle move without detecting ignition, an alert will be raised and received by our monitoring centre.
2. The alert will trigger an automated phone call to the client’s listed contacts, in priority order, much like our keyholder response procedure.
3. The Client will be prompted to confirm or deny the theft. They can also reject the call if they are not able to verify, due to it being out of hours or on holiday etc.
4. If the client confirms the theft, they will be prompted to contact the police and obtain a Crime Reference Number. RMS will then be notified of the theft, with which we will provide the police with a unique link that will allow them access to the vehicle’s information, contact details for the client and a live map that shows precisely where the tracker or vehicle currently is.
5. If the client fails to respond to the automated call or fails to contact the police, RMS will contact the client directly to ensure they contact the authorities. RMS is also able to raise the alert with the police should the client fail to answer or request us to do so.
6. If the client is within 200m of the vehicle or tracker, they will be able to close the alert at any time. This allows RMS to know the incident has been resolved.
7. RMS records all details of any actions taken within digital logs that are displayed on the App.
This rapid response protocol is key to successful recovery. Modern tracking technology often includes remote immobilisation capabilities, which can be activated by the ARC operator in conjunction with law enforcement to safely halt a stolen vehicle once it is confirmed. This feature is a game-changer for reducing pursuit risks and securing the asset quickly, significantly increasing the likelihood of the vehicle being recovered within the crucial 24-hour window. This high-speed coordination is a core feature of all our professional security monitoring services.
How Much Does Stolen Car Monitoring Cost?
Each tracking device will need to be purchased by the client. With RMS, there are no subscription fees for this, it needs to be bought outright. The tracking device has enough SIM data to last 5 years, but once depleted, more data will need to be purchased.
How many vehicles a site wants to monitor will influence the overall cost. Therefore, we recommend you contact the RMS team for an accurate, no-obligation quote.
Considering the vast financial implications of theft, this investment is easily justified. Beyond the direct cost of the asset, businesses must factor in the non-financial impacts like staff time, operational downtime, and increased insurance premiums, which are often the true cost of an incident. To help businesses budget for this preventative security, we provide a comparison of costs and risks in our guide: Security Systems vs. Self-Monitoring: A Cost-Risk Comparison for Small Businesses.
Statistics on Stolen Car Monitoring
The latest figures paint a worrying picture, confirming that vehicle theft remains a persistent national problem. Data from the ONS and police forces shows that there were nearly 130,000 vehicle thefts recorded between April 2023 and March 2024 in England and Wales.
Despite these high numbers, the effectiveness of dedicated tracking and recovery services is statistically proven. Providers that fit vehicles with stolen vehicle tracking devices continue to benefit from an industry-leading 95% recovery rate, according to major tracking companies. This incredible success rate is why the AA warns that every stolen car increases the cost of claims and pushes premiums up for everyone—making proactive tracking the best defence.
What Happens Next?
If you’re interested in implementing stolen car monitoring to your sites or are looking for a new monitoring provider, get in touch.
Call us on 0330 002 1149 to get a free quote. One of our monitoring experts will be happy to answer your questions and talk you through the service.
Share:
