Vehicle owners can meaningfully lower their odds of being targeted by thieves, even if their car is not on any top-stolen list, according to Bryan Gast (pictured), national vice president of intelligence and investigations at Équité Association. Gast said the most effective approach is not any single device or habit, but a layered combination of several precautions working together - and it is a conversation brokers advising personal lines and fleet clients are well-placed to be having.
Auto theft continues to be one of the more significant drivers of claims frequency and premium pressure in personal lines. Brokers who can walk clients through the practical steps available to them are not only adding value to the relationship - they are helping to reduce the likelihood of a claim that affects both the client and their renewal position.
Gast said the starting point is often overlooked entirely: where and how a vehicle is parked. Owners are better protected simply by choosing well-lit areas over dark ones, and a garage over an open driveway whenever that option exists.
"We encourage owners, whether your vehicle's on the top 10 list or not, to park in well-lit areas," Gast said. "Park in a garage if you can."
From that baseline, Gast said the next layer involves adding physical and electronic deterrents on top of one another, since criminals now have several distinct ways into a vehicle, and no single product closes all of them at once. Steering wheel locks and pedal locks remain effective physical barriers, while devices like Faraday pouches address a more modern vulnerability: blocking the wireless signal between a key fob and the car it belongs to, which criminals can otherwise intercept remotely without ever touching the vehicle.
"Use a steering wheel lock, use a pedal lock, use a Faraday pouch, something to protect that signal from your key fob to your vehicle," Gast said. "Or some of the newer key fobs have an off button where you can shut the transmission off so it's not emitting a signal."
Aftermarket immobilizers add a further layer, though Gast cautioned that not all products on the market offer the same level of protection. He said the installation matters as much as the device itself, and pointed specifically to products built to guard against the range of attack methods currently in circulation.
"Use an aftermarket immobilizer," Gast said. "Find one that is professionally installed that protects against relay attacks, can bus attacks and reprogramming attacks."
Tracking services can add a final layer, Gast said, particularly ones bundled with a recovery component that dispatches a team to locate a vehicle once it has been reported stolen. As with immobilizers, he said the research owners put into choosing a provider matters, since not every service delivers the same outcome once a vehicle is actually gone.
"If you want a tracking service, make sure you again do your research," Gast said. "Find one that's reputable, and many of them, or some of them, come with a recovery service as well, where once your vehicle's stolen, they will send out their recovery teams and track that vehicle."
One point Gast said he repeats often, regardless of what tracking tools an owner has installed, is that recovering a stolen vehicle is not something an owner should attempt on their own.
"I always make sure that I add the caution," Gast said. "If people send out or put their own trackers in, never track the vehicle yourself. Don't put yourself in harm's way. Call law enforcement."
He acknowledged that calling police can mean a longer wait than some owners expect, since a stolen-vehicle report becomes one of many calls a police service is handling at any given moment, and professional recovery services are sometimes able to respond and locate a vehicle faster as a result.
Gast said no individual measure on this list functions as a complete solution by itself, which is why he frames the advice collectively rather than as a single fix to adopt and forget.
"We call it the layered approach," Gast said. "If they can make their vehicle less of a target," each additional precaution reduces the likelihood that a given vehicle becomes the one criminals choose to pursue over another.
Until vehicles themselves are made harder to steal at the manufacturing stage, Gast said, this layered combination of parking habits, physical deterrents, electronic safeguards and tracking services remains one of the few tools owners have to manage that risk in the meantime - and brokers who make it part of their client conversations will find it is exactly the kind of practical, claims-reducing guidance that strengthens a relationship well beyond renewal.
