If your insurance policy says a tracker is “required,” it’s easy to assume that’s a box already ticked somewhere — the car came with one, or you fitted one years ago, so surely it’s covered. In South Africa, that assumption is exactly what leaves people without a payout after a theft or hijacking.
When an insurer lists a tracking device as a requirement, it isn’t marketing copy — it’s a condition of cover, usually written into the policy schedule for higher-risk or higher-value vehicles. Several major South African insurers, including Old Mutual Insure and Elite Risk Acceptances, now require an approved early-warning or active tracking device to be fitted before certain vehicles are covered at all.
Miss that condition, and the insurer isn’t just entitled to reduce a payout — they can decline the claim outright. A South African court has already ruled in an insurer’s favour on exactly this point: a policy requiring a tracker, with no working tracker fitted at the time of the loss, was grounds to refuse the claim in full.
Some insurers name specific approved providers. Others, like Naked, will simply flag that a vehicle needs a tracker and leave you free to use any reputable provider, as long as it meets their standard. The only way to know which situation you’re in is to read the actual policy wording or ask your broker directly — don’t assume your policy works like a friend’s or a forum post you read.
It’s also worth checking what “tracker” means to your specific insurer. A passive GPS locator that only shows where the car was last seen is not the same thing as an active tracking and recovery service with a monitoring centre behind it — and a policy written for the latter won’t treat the former as compliant.
If any of those raise a question mark, it’s worth resolving before you need to make a claim, not after.
1. No tracker at all — the policy was taken out assuming a tracker would follow "eventually."
2. A lapsed subscription — the hardware is fitted, but the monthly fee stopped being paid and nobody noticed.
3. The wrong type of tracker — a basic locator was fitted when the policy specifically requires an active tracking device with theft-recovery capability.
We fit and support GPS vehicle trackers across South Africa, and we'll help you confirm what your specific policy requires before you pay for anything.
Get a Free Quote ↗