More than 30 rental car companies in the UAE have got insurance rebates by fitting their vehicles with e-tracking devices.
Trakker Middle East, which provides the vehicle-monitoring device C-Track, has teamed up with Oman Insurance and Al Buhaira Insurance in a scheme where car rental firms enjoy an insurance discount of between 5-10 per cent if they install the system in their vehicles. Saji John, Sales and Marketing Manager of Trakker Middle East, says that other UAE insurance firms have expressed interest in the scheme as well.
The aim is to cut the number of car thefts in the UAE, which leads to insurance companies paying out large claims.
Tawtiq Qaddumi, head of Dubai motor insurance department for Al Buhaira Insurance, says that car theft - particularly of rental luxury cars - is increasing and that the insurance company usually sees at least one car that it has provided insurance for stolen each month.
"Tracker systems are beneficial for us because if cars are stolen there is a better chance of finding them. That is the main benefit, but there are also other advantages for us as well,
such as the fact the device will show the speed of the car. Also, insurance policies will often only cover the UAE and the tracker will show if the car has been driven out of this area," says Qaddumi.
Of the three cars installed with the C-Track system that have been stolen, all of them have been retrieved, John says.
"One of them was even in a container, about to be shipped out of the country," he adds.
The discount car hire companies receive from their motor insurance policies is intended to help them pay for the cost and maintenance of the tracker device.
© POLICY 2007
