Over the past ten years or so, car crime has fallen dramatically. This is partly due to the popularity of highly effective engine immobiliser devices, and partly due to the decreasing demand for used cars which has come about as a result of the soaring cost of keeping a car refuelled and on the road.

Most modern cars have engine immobilisers, making them very tricky to steal outright, and this has led to a massive reduction in the number of cars stolen for joyriding purposes. Professional car thieves have turned their attention away from stealing whole cars to stealing valuable, and easily accessible parts of cars, such as catalytic converters, sat nav systems, and number plates.

The precious metals that are used to make catalytic converters are worth a lot of money in their own right, and there is little you can do to prevent them from being stolen other than storing your car somewhere secure when you are not driving it, or hooking the unit up to a tamper-resistant alarm system.

You might not think that having your number plates stolen is that much of a big deal, but if those plates are then put on a vehicle that is used to commit other crimes, or driving offences, then you will be held responsible, unless you had reported your loss to the police and DVLA immediately.

Due to the fact that satellite navigation equipment is valuable, and relatively easy to steal from an unattended vehicle, you should keep it out of sight from thieves when you are out of the vehicle for any length of time. It is important to remove the device, the cradle and suction pads, and clean off any marks left by the pads on your windscreen, as thieves may see the marks, or the pads themselves, as a sign that there may be a sat-nav unit hidden away in the glove compartment.

Fitting security devices to your car is a highly effective preventative measure against car theft. While over three quarters of cars have some kind of immobiliser, less than a third of all of the stolen cars are recovered by police are fitted with such a device.

The older a car is, the easier it tends to be to steal it, due to advances in theft prevention technology. Cars built before 1996 are considered to be at the highest risk of theft by insurers, whereas cars built after 1999 are considered to be a very low risk indeed.

However, professional thieves will go to extra lengths to steal valuable cars, such as burglary and pickpocketing, so if you have an expensive car, you should be extra careful about where you leave your keys.

Kwik Fit Insurance can offer some great deals on car insurance especially for mature drivers and drivers with full no-claims bonus.

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Installing an alarm system is one of the best ways to prevent your home from being burgled, and can bring down the cost of your home insurance to boot.

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