Alarms to be compulsory for some car insurance

By ALAN PERROTT AND NZPA

Owners of expensive cars or models popular with thieves will have to fit approved security systems to their vehicles before they will be insured.

The standard of alarm required will be set by a new five-star rating system announced in Wellington yesterday by the Insurance Council, Security Association and Associate Justice Minister Rick Barker.

Insurance Council chief executive Chris Ryan said the top-rated systems, featuring certified motion sensors and sirens, would be compulsory for cars in the $75,000-plus price bracket. Such alarms cost up to $800.

Owners who have suffered multiple car thefts will also have to have a set standard of alarm fitted before their vehicles will be insured.

The scheme is not intended to make alarms compulsory for all vehicles.

But installing high-rating alarms may mean lower insurance premiums, and systems considered unable to provide adequate protection may leave some cars uninsurable.

Terry Creagh, chairman of the Security Association's vehicle security industry group, said three-star systems would be the minimum level accepted for insurance purposes for any car worth $8000 or more. The bottom two levels were aimed at those who did not want insurance and just wanted their vehicle to have some protection.

A one-star alarm, costing about $200, provides a basic immobiliser to stop the car being driven away, but does not meet international certification standards.

It also features black wires instead of the normal coloured wires so thieves do not know which to sever and a dual cut system which instantly shuts off two of three circuits leading to the ignition, starter or fuel.

Mr Creagh said five-star security devices could include anti-scanning systems so no one could intercept remotes and an ignition kill switch over-ridden by a pin number.

Some systems sounded an alarm if a sensor picked up ultrasonic waves caused when a glass window was broken, and other systems were triggered by bumps to the car.

But car owners are not likely to be able to fit the more brutal international security systems, including one South African-manufactured alarm fitted with an LPG-fuelled flamethrower.

Installers of security systems will be registered and certified with the Security Association to standards set by Australian and New Zealand standards authorities.

Once the registration process is completed, insurers will require certification from car owners to show their alarm was fitted by a registered company, a check Mr Creagh said would weed out dodgy alarm systems and cowboy installers.

Mr Creagh said Western Australia had a 23 per cent decline in car thefts after it introduced a similar scheme.

Security systems were compulsory on all vehicles in the state.

When car owners register their vehicles they are required by law to guarantee it has a security system.

Mr Ryan said claims on stolen cars cost the New Zealand insurance industry $120 million a year.

The industry could push up premiums to pay for stolen cars, but if premiums got too high, people stopped insuring their cars.

This was why the council backed moves to prevent car thefts, Mr Ryan said.

The police endorse the five-star rating system as a way to prevent car thefts because cars are often stolen by people who commit other crimes such as armed robbery.

The Security Association said nearly 100 cars are stolen in New Zealand every day.


Five-star system

One star: immobiliser with black wires and dual cut. Doesn't have international standard certification.

Two stars: immobiliser with a siren. Doesn't have international certification.

Three stars: certified immobiliser with black wires and dual cut.

Four stars: certified immobiliser with a siren or a motion sensor.

Five stars: certified immobiliser with battery-back-up siren and a sensor.