Owners of high value and desirable cars are increasingly concerned about safety and security issues. Fear of their car being stolen, broken-into and/or hijacked is reinforced by the rising number of organised gangs targeting these vehicles.
Although EU data shows that the number of vehicles stolen has fallen from 1,700,000 in 2001 to 910,00 in 2010, a larger proportion of these thefts were targeting high value cars. It is estimated that the European 'car crime industry' turns over in excess of €40 billion each year.
Sophisticated measures to bypass vehicle alarms, home burglary, car jacking and vehicles placed directly into trailers are some of the measures used to defeat modern security systems. Many of these stolen vehicles will be broken down to parts, or shipped abroad.
Encouraged by awareness of crime and the requirement of insurance companies, a substantial number of car owners now fit their cars with telematics devices and subscribe to Stolen Vehicle Tracking (SVT) services. A wide range of telematics products is available and these enable crime and other emergencies to be detected with speed and precision and alerts raised. However, as SVT depends on access to police to be successful and this is not available across borders, no service is available that covers all of Europe.
EUROWATCH uniquely provides:
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24-hour access to police across Europe
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A single telephone number to call
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All national languages spoken
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Communication with any GPS system
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Relay of tracking data to police in real-time
The EUROWATCH service works through a network of National Service Providers that have accreditation to police in each country. They use the technology of the service and its standard procedures for incidents. A key feature of EUROWATCH is a technology integrator that enables all types of GPS system to transmit positioning data into the network, which is then relayed to the police by the accredited National Service Provider in the country of incident. This allows police to view the vehicle position in real-time during the emergency response process.
Coverage extends today to Western, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Southern Africa, China and North America. The network covers more than 50 countries. See the list of countries covered by the service. Southern African Operations, China and North America are detailed separately and can be confirmed on request.
‘EUROWATCH Recovery’ exists to recover stolen vehicles from foreign countries. It deals with the legal and practical problems that confront the owner or insurer when recovering a vehicle that has been successfully removed to another country. This service will go into any country where recovery is legally possible including those which are outside of the EUROWATCH area.
Read more about EUROWATCH Recovery
View countries currently covered by the EUROWATCH service
Contact us for further information