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VESA - peace of mind for vehicle owners, comfort zone for insurers

Despite the lack of accurate statistics it is well-known that vehicle theft and hijacking are a major problem in South Africa and there is a burgeoning local vehicle security industry to support that fact.

This industry covers everything from simple touch key immobilisers to comprehensive systems installed by OEMs, and from gear locks to stolen vehicle recovery and fleet management systems (SVR & FM) based on a number of technologies (including GPS, GSM and DF). In many instances insurance companies will demand that a vehicle be fitted with a recognised immobilising device, and in the case of high-value vehicles installation of a stolen vehicle recovery system may be a prerequisite for insurance cover.

Insurance companies are of course not experts when it comes to vehicle security and in 1987 with a plethora of various mechanical and electronic products flooding the market they turned to the vehicle security industry itself to have standards set for their products. The industry in turn established the Vehicle Security Association of South Africa (VESA), an independent Section 21 company (not for profit), to establish and regulate such standards.

VESA is funded by its approximately 400 members from the manufacturing, installation and insurance industries and in terms of its regulatory functions it remains non-prescriptive through its mode of operation that relies on a number of specialist committees addressing specific areas such as stolen vehicle recovery and fleet management, electronic and mechanical immobilisers, etc. The members of these committees (that is industry itself) set their own competitive standards which are presented at VESA board level for approval and then enforcement, the chairperson of each committee being a member of the board. The three current working areas of these committees are electronic alarms and immobilisers, mechanical gear locks and tracking/recovery systems.

Structure

VESA itself operates in terms of a three tier structure that first ensures that the correct approved product (approval is carried out by the Accreditation Bureau for Safety and Security, ABS) is selected for a specific application. No matter how good the product itself may be it has to be fitted correctly and here the body ensures that fitment is carried out by correctly trained personnel at a VESA-member fitment centre. In the words of the new General Manager of VESA, Henk van Zyl, "the fitment technician must know his product back to front and then there should be no surprises." The final part of the VESA structure is then certification of the fact that the correct product and process has been used and this is the documentation sought by the insurance industry. These issued certificates are the public's proof that a proper product has been correctly fitted and as such these are accepted widely by the insurance industry with often decreased premiums or more attractive claims excesses.

Symbiotic relationship

Although VESA was created to fill a need of the insurance industry, the relationship is symbiotic and there is no partnership per se. In fact whereas VESA originally mainly filled the role of watchdog, today it is striving to become an industry representative body. Its role here is exemplified by the recent requirements of SIRA (Security Industry Regulatory Authority) whereby in terms of the recently promulgated act all VESA-approved fitment centres will be seen as security establishments.

VESA has its own technical advisers and they carry out regular and random tests to ensure that standards set for manufacture and fitment are met. While a high proportion of local security systems manufacturers and fitment centres are VESA approved there are others that operate outside of the association. VESA is currently exploring reasons why these often-reputable suppliers do not become members of the association.

VESA-member manufacturers are showing a commitment to an objective, independent grading of their product. It is this adherence to specified standards that makes the different products comparable to the public who otherwise could be duped into buying only on price. As for the fitment centres, their VESA membership attests to the standard of workmanship and fitment, ensuring that the product itself functions at the optimum level it has been designed to.

VESA also operates the ABS (Accreditation Bureau for Security and Safety) which is the testing facility for vehicle security products. In this facility both new and existing products (random checking) are subjected to a stringent documented and objective sequence of tests before the product is approved. This is in effect the regulatory function of VESA.

As for trends in the industry, Henk van Zyl is seeing more and more insurance brokers, not just the insurers themselves, insisting on VESA certification in all the different sectors from tracking to immobilisers. He believes that while the insurance industry may impose conditions on what are high-value vehicles or ones that they consider a specific risk, in the end the decision still remains with the customer. For them the value of ensuring that the correct product is fitted correctly (VESA approved) is not only possibly lower premiums but it does render the vehicle less attractive as a target by thieves or hijackers. This provides the owner with unquantifiable benefits including less frustration, inconvenience and waiting for insurance claims to be paid out.

While the tests carried out by VESA ensure that the security product meets the required specification and is fitted correctly, in the case of SVR and FM products a practical vehicle recovery test forms part of the approval process. In this regard it is appropriate to refer the reader to the October 2002 issue of Topcar (pages 52 to 58) where in a special feature, all of the popular tracking devices were evaluated in a 'real life' test. The results correlate closely with VESA recommendations and all the systems evaluated provided recovery in less than the critical 90 minute period. The conclusion of the article was in fact more or less as the customer should expect. The system scores were effectively directly proportional to the system cost, indicating that when it comes to security and peace of mind 'you get what you pay for.'

In conclusion, the car-owning community should be aware that VESA-approved systems have passed stringent electronic, safety, security, environmental and reliability tests. An additional requirement that provides further peace of mind for the motorist is that technical support for these products must be available countrywide. Finally, if any problems are experienced with the product or its fitment, consumers can lodge a complaint with the Association.

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