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An innovative device that prevents cars with keyless start and entry from being stolen could save the insurance industry around £380 million a year on car theft claims.

The device, developed by Hard-Off Security, stops vehicle theft by a method called ‘relay-hacking’ and may be fitted to the car’s existing fob. The Norfolk-based company says it is 100 per cent effective at stopping a car’s security system being relay-hacked. 

The solution is based on the principle that the vulnerability of these types of cars to relay attack or ‘cloning’ is due to the fob’s passive response to authentication challenges from the car’s internal security systems.

Being able to easily switch the fob OFF when not in use, either manually or automatically will prevent the fob from responding and therefore render it non-clonable.

This device can be retro‐fitted either by the vehicle owners themselves or by Hard-Off-approved technicians to most existing keyless‐entry/keyless start key fobs and no change to original on‐board car security systems or the key fob is required. It also retains full functionality of the manufacturer’s original specification.

The owner is able to switch the fob ON or OFF using an external magnetic switch on the fob casing which activates or deactivates an internal flexible printed circuit board (fPCB) controlling the fob’s internal power circuits to its ‘mother’ PCB. This gives complete and direct control over the activation of the car owner’s key fob without losing any of the keyless functionality when required. Once the car is locked, the owner can turn the fob off until needed again, making it impossible to be cloned or ‘hacked’. No changes are made to the key fob, so full original manufacturer’s functionality is maintained when ON.

Here the fob is automatically turned off when not in use. The Hard‐Off fPCB turns the fob OFF when motionless for 20 seconds and ON again as soon as movement is detected. This is combined with the external switch as described above.

This fPCB operates completely automatically turning itself ON when needed and OFF when not. The user is unlikely to be aware that this ‘relay attack shielding’ is protecting his or her car as it works intuitively.

Car theft is on the rise. Police crime figures for 2019 show a three per cent increase in vehicle offences, mainly as a result of increases in 'theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle' and 'theft from a vehicle.' 

Figures revealed by the Association of British Insurers revealed that insurance claims for vehicle theft and thefts from vehicles in 2018 topped £376 million, or £16k a minute.

A report by Go Compare in February also revealed that the cost of car insurance is likely to reach record highs in 2020 as insurers push up prices to reflect larger claims costs. An increase in keyless car crime has contributed to the rise in vehicle theft claims.

Managing Director of Hard-Off Security, Mark Churchward, invented the device after his daughter’s car was stolen from her driveway in the middle of the night by relay hackers.

He believes the device can not only give car owners peace of mind, but could also be a major boost for the insurance industry that shells out millions on car theft claims and, ultimately, help to reduce insurance premiums.

He said: “Now that we have a solution to stop car theft by relay attacks it will be interesting to see how the insurance industry reacts as it will save them upwards of £360 million a year on car theft claims. I hope drivers who protect their cars in this way will be able to share in the benefits by not only keeping their car safe but also receive some of that benefit in premium reductions.”

First shipments of the Brit-designed made device will start this month.

CAR SECURITY : New anti-theft device to save millions

There’s a new kid on the block when it comes to car insurance, and it seems everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon; blackbox car insurance, also known as telematics. But what is blackbox car insurance, and how can it save you money?

What is Blackbox car insurance? | Telematics

There’s a new kid on the block when it comes to car insurance, and it seems everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon; blackbox car insurance, also known as telematics.

Why the need for this new type of insurance?

Traditional insurance policies base their premiums on demographics. Drivers are categorised based on factors such as their age, gender and how long they’ve been driving. 

Unfortunately, for young drivers, or drivers who have recently passed their test, it means their insurance premiums are always sky high, regardless of how safe a driver they might actually be. This is because, statistically, those two types of drivers are the most likely to be involved in an accident or make a claim.

Blackbox car insurance, or telematics, aims to address this by assessing drivers’ driving style and habits. Their insurance premium is then tailored specifically to how they drive. This means if you’re a safe, careful driver, you could be in for a much better deal.

A blackbox is a small device roughly the size of a smartphone that is fitted to a vehicle. It records things such as speed, acceleration, cornering, how many miles the car travels and the time of day. GPS is also used to track location and which roads the vehicle is being driven on.

The idea is that safer drivers, and those that drive fewer miles, at quieter times of the day or drive more frequently on less dangerous roads, are rewarded with cheaper insurance.

That all depends on your driving style. If it turns out you’re not as safe a driver as you thought, then a blackbox policy might actually be more expensive than a traditional policy.

That said, most telematics policies give you an online dashboard to review your statistics, and offer you a chance to rectify anything that might be negatively affecting your premium. So if your driving style isn’t helping your premium, you will have the opportunity to improve before you pay higher fees. The idea isn’t just to save you money, but to make you a better driver as well.

Some policies may include an additional charge for the actual blackbox device itself. However, the policy is designed to save you more than this initial cost, if, of course, you drive safely.

Although all blackbox policies follow similar principles, insurers tend to have very different approaches when it comes to pricing. It’s always best to shop around to see which insurers offer the best price for you, your vehicle and your driving habits.

What are the best driving habits when you have a Blackbox installed?

The GPS locator will know the speed limit for the road you’re on, and what speed you’re doing. You won’t want it logging you braking the speed limit. Also, it’s illegal and you could cause an accident.

Sudden, sharp braking is more dangerous and not good for your car. Also if the road is wet or icy then braking late will increase the chance of a skid or slide.

Increasing your speed steadily is safer and will also use less fuel.

The less you drive the less you’ll pay for your insurance. If there’s a journey you don’t need to take, then don’t. If there’s somewhere you could walk to instead, then do that. It’ll be cheaper and make you healthier.

Statistically nighttime driving is more dangerous. If you save your miles for daylight then you’ll be rewarded with cheaper insurance.

If you can take a motorway instead of back country roads then this will most likely be cheaper. Country roads are not gritted as often in the winter and have more accidents. Despite their higher speeds, motorways are the safest roads in the country.

If you’re young or new to driving, then a blackbox policy could almost definitely save you money as well as help you to become safer on the roads. There’s little to dislike about this new type of insurance policy.

With advances in modern technology and video recording equipment, buying a dash is now fairly reasonably priced and a growing trend throughout the UK. We look at how you may be able to benefit from buying one.

Why you should buy a dash cam for your vehicle | HD, 4K, GPS, Wide-angle, Insurance, Footage, Video

If you’ve ever had an accident, especially one that was not your fault, you’ll know how frustrating it can be not being able to prove your innocence. In addition to this, it can be difficult to remember all the precise details of an incident, especially when asked for a full timeline of events. Accidents often happen suddenly, without warning, and can catch us off guard.

Nowadays, with the number of drivers having dash cams fitted, many of these accidents are now caught - in high quality - on camera for all to see.

Some dash cams automatically start recording as soon as you turn the ignition on, and switch off when you turn it off. This is more useful than many might think, as if you have to do it manually it’s all too easy to forget to switch it on. And sod’s law says that’ll be the time you probably end up needing the footage!!

Usually only on the more expensive end of devices, but some may have a screen so you can review the footage there and then without having to put the SD card into a computer.

Similarly, if you buy a dash cam with Wi-fi or Bluetooth enabled then you may be able to transfer the footage straight from the camera to a smartphone wirelessly. This could be a great time saver as you won’t need to remove the SD card and plug it into a computer to download any footage. Just be sure you have enough room on your smartphone memory or this feature will be redundant! Remember, video takes up a lot of space, and most of our phones are usually clogged up with apps, photos and videos we’ve taken at home!

Most dash cams have a very high quality, usually at least HD, and some of the more expensive ones can film at Super HD or 4K. This means that there will be little doubt about who is to blame when it comes to a claim as the footage they produce is usually crystal clear.

Having a wide-angle lens will give a far broader picture than a standard camera and will show almost as much as what the driver behind the wheel can actually see. This could be invaluable in capturing a person or vehicle coming from the side, or to get a greater perspective at junctions, for example. The more information your camera can capture, the better.

More advanced dash cams are equipped with GPS. This means they can track location and speed. Bear in mind though, if it’s tracking speed and you happen to be over the limit if an incident happens, that data will also be sent to the insurers / police. If you’re a legal, safe driver who always obeys the speed limits then this, of course, won’t be an issue. I’m sure that’s you, so you can ignore that point.

A great feature that can detect G-forces inside the vehicle. If the dash cam senses you’ve been involved in an accident, it can automatically contact the police. Coupled with GPS location data this could be a life-saving feature.

With light being so low at night times, if your camera isn’t equipped with a night-vision mode you may not get the best picture. Night-vision mode cameras often have infrared technology giving excellent footage even when visibility to the naked eye is poor.

Some GPS cameras also come with speed camera detection alerts - like you often get with some modern navigational systems. This can be a useful reminder if you’ve accidentally drifted over the limit as you approach a speed camera.

Cleverer dash cams will alert you when it’s too dark outside to get a good quality picture and advise you to turn your lights on. This could be useful for making sure that if there is an accident that the video recorded will be in the best possible quality.

A very simple feature based on a timer, this one will alert you when you’ve been driving continuously for a long period of time and should probably take a break. If you’re used to driving long distances, you’ll know you can very easily end up driving for longer than expected or planned in a single stint without realising how tired you’ve become. A nice and easy safety feature that could just end up saving your life.

Possibly. Some insurance companies will offer reduced premiums if you have one fitted, and, in fact, some insurers make them compulsory for some of their policies. This way, if there is ever a claim, they will have more evidence. Always check with your insurer if they offer a discount if you have a dash cam, and check which dash cams they support.

As per the name, dash cams are usually mounted on a vehicle’s dashboard facing forwards looking at the road ahead. Some may have both front and rear facing cameras in one unit, and some may come with a separate additional camera to be set up at the rear. This can be useful for recording rear-end shunts.

With front-facing cameras it is recommended to put them in a position that gives them the clearest view of the road ahead without blocking the view of the driver. This is often attached just to the passenger side of the rear-view mirror.

Usually not, no. Most dash cams will simply plug into the cigarette lighter or USB port and work “out-of-the-box”. However, always be sure to read the installation manual to make sure it is properly set up and that it is actually recording when you drive. Otherwise, you may end up not having anything to watch back if you were to have an accident. It could also invalidate your insurance if it was a requirement on your policy.

Most dash cams record footage and save onto an SD card. As a general rule, 8 minutes of HD footage will fill a 1GB SD card. Having an SD card slot on your dash cam means you can put in as much memory as you think you may need. Usually, they simply record continuously and when the memory card gets full they simply start deleting the oldest footage to make space for the new footage. This is great as there’s no need to keep old footage of you simply driving to the shop to pick up groceries.

It can do, definitely. Many of us have been driving for many years - or even decades - and most won’t have had any driving training since our initial driving test. This means we will probably have developed some bad habits over the years. It’s perfectly natural.

Watching dash cam footage back can be very insightful, and give us a new perspective on our own driving. It may even prompt us to change the way we drive. For many, the sheer fact that there is a dash cam recording their every move is enough of a reason to review their driving style and be even more careful than they would otherwise.

This will depend entirely on whether you want a cheap basic dash cam or a super advanced one with all the mod cons. Prices can start as low as £25 (or even cheaper for some really basic ones) up to several hundred pounds. Most will have HD quality footage, but in this day and age having 2K or 4K will give you a much superior picture quality.

A dash cam is a relatively inexpensive purchase that could easily save you what it cost (if not more) in the event of an insurance claim. With a myriad of safety features in many of the popular ones too, it is also a great companion that’ll keep you and your passengers safer than without one.

Whichever dash cam you opt for, always make sure that if it’s required by your insurance company that they accept the make and model of the one you have purchased.

Orskey offer a range of fantastic dash cams with some great features included for a relative low price. We would highly  recommend their products as they are very popular in the UK, have excellent online reviews and are great value for money.

Why you should buy a dash cam for your vehicle

Tag: insurance

CAR SECURITY : New anti-theft device to save millions

What is Blackbox car insurance?

Why you should buy a dash cam for your vehicle

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