When is the use of the tracker mandatory for car insurance?

Understand better when the use of the tracker is mandatory for car insurance and when it is not, in this article.

You wisely decided to take out car insurance, but when getting a quote you were faced with the obligation to have a tracker in your vehicle.

You don't quite understand why this is, and want to know more about when the use of a tracker is mandatory for car insurance? Don't worry.

It is common for some insurance companies to require the use of a vehicle tracker, while others do not.

And, these requirements tend to raise several doubts in relation to this.

To help, we prepared this article explaining more about the subject when the use of the tracker is mandatory in car insurance.

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Understand when the use of the tracker is mandatory for car insurance

Whether or not to require the tracker to purchase car insurance will depend on the internal policy of each insurance company.

In general, insurance companies do not require the installation of the device.

In these cases, if the customer chooses to carry out the service in order to obtain greater security or even a good discount on their insurance policy, they will have to bear the costs themselves.

However, when this installation is part of the requirements for providing the service, the installation of the device is carried out on loan, a type of loan of the device.

In most of these cases, it is the insurance company itself that provides the equipment installation service, as well as the vehicle tracking service.

It is common for the mandatory use of this equipment to be required for vehicles with a higher rate of theft.

In these situations, this need must be informed to both the broker and the client, before the policy is signed.

Therefore, if the customer does not carry out the installation in a timely manner, he or she may lose the right to the contracted coverage.

If the tracker is required by the insurance company, it will be their responsibility to pay for the installation of the equipment.

It is worth mentioning that, if the company requires the installation of tracking equipment to provide car insurance, it is solely responsible for bearing all the costs of carrying out this service, since, if it promotes the installation and subsequently transfers this amount to the customer, will be characterized as a tied sale, thus linking the contracting of the service to the acquisition of the equipment.

And the practice of tying is prohibited by the consumer protection code, as described in section I, article 39 of the same.

In addition to being punishable for the company that carries it out.

Therefore, from the moment the insurance company requires the installation of the device to contract coverage, it is their responsibility to offer the device on loan and pay all installation expenses.

According to SUSEP – Superintendence of Private Insurance, the body that regulates the provision of insurance services, the obligation for this installation is entirely at the discretion of the insurance company.

She alone is responsible for determining her internal rules in relation to this equipment.

And when is the installation of tracking equipment optional?

There are some cases where this installation is optional.

In these situations, it is possible for the company to offer the service on loan (free of charge), or as an additional service, where the customer must pay for the equipment and installation.

In these cases, it is only up to the insured to decide whether or not to opt for the vehicle tracker which, in addition to providing greater security for the customer, considerably increasing the chances of recovering the vehicle in the event of theft or theft, it will also make the final value of the policy is much lower.

Tracker options with and without insurance

After showing the differences between insurance with or without a mandatory tracker, it is worth explaining more about trackers with or without insurance.

In situations where there is a tracker with car insurance, insurance coverage is only provided for cases of theft or theft, in which the vehicle is declared a total loss.

In cases where the purchase and installation of equipment is not accompanied by insurance, the focus of the contract may be solely to monitor the vehicle, with the use of a satellite or radio frequency tracking device, in order to promote personal control, this option is mostly carried out by transport companies.

If I choose to use the tracker together with insurance, what is the best technology to choose?

As mentioned above, there are two more affordable tracking technologies available on the market.

The first and generally most popular option is via satellite, which despite being a little more expensive than the second option, has a larger coverage area for locating the vehicle, since the device sends location data to satellites.

However, its location usually has a margin of error that can vary from 4 to 15 meters.

The second car tracking technology available on the market is radio frequency that operates through radio antennas.

In addition to being cheaper than the first option, it has greater accuracy, as it is capable of finding vehicles even in covered locations.

However, its area and coverage is smaller, as it depends on radio antennas.

In addition to these technologies, there are also vehicle jammers that can be installed in the vehicle together with the tracker.

These small devices have the function of remotely cutting off the fuel supply to the engine, causing the vehicle to stop running.

Given this information, if you choose to rely on the service of a car tracker along with your car insurance, simply choose the technology that best meets your needs.

If you travel frequently, perhaps having a satellite tracker is the best choice.

However, if your vehicle is only used within the urban perimeter, choosing radio frequency technology may be ideal.

Talk to your broker and ask for more information about the possibilities that exist.

Now that you better understand how the mandatory insurance tracker works, and you know that, if it is required by the insurance company, it must bear all the installation costs.

It will be much simpler to take out insurance with or without a tracker.

The most important thing is that you carefully evaluate all your needs and always consider the best choice for your complete safety.