Motorists warned to protect against ‘frosting’ crime

With temperatures in many parts of the UK expected to plunge to below freezing this week, Sainsbury’s Car Insurance is warning motorists to be on their guard against ‘frosting’ car crime.

The bank warns that thousands of motorists could fall victim this year to ‘frosting’, where opportunist thieves take advantage of drivers who leave their cars unattended whilst warming up the engine. The bank estimates that in the past five years, as many as 333,000 households claim to have been victims of ‘frosting’, or an average of over 66,000 a year.

Joanne Mallon, Sainsbury’s Car Insurance Manager, said: “Motorists must take care not to leave their vehicles vulnerable to opportunistic thieves. When it's freezing out it can be tempting to leave the engine running to speed up the defrosting process while you nip back inside to finish getting ready. But this could have terrible consequences and you may find that you're not insured against it.”

The cold weather can also bring with it hazardous driving conditions and Sainsbury’s Car Insurance offers the following cold weather motoring tips:

Make sure your car has a winter service
Check your battery
Monitor your oil, water and brake fluid levels on a regular basis
Check front and rear wiper blades for wear or splitting
Check tyre condition for both pressure and legal tread depth - the current minimum legal tread depth for cars is 1.6mm.
Make sure you have antifreeze
Make sure you de-ice all of your windows before driving
Ensure your lights are clean so that you can see and also be seen
Use your headlights in rain or snow
Don’t drive too close to the vehicle in front of you - remember to allow more time and distance to brake and also to accelerate.
Where possible use major routes, which may have been gritted/salted.
Take a mobile phone if you have one - remember to ensure the battery is fully charged but don't use it whilst driving.