The van had only been bought two months prior by builder Jarek Luszcz, who runs the Gravesend firm, and was stolen from outside his house in broad daylight.
However, by logging into the RAC portal Luszcz was able to see the Vauxhall Vivaro van’s dot on the map 30 miles away in Sittingbourne. He called the police and asked them to liaise with the RAC to track the vehicle down.
And, just four hours after the van was reported stolen, the police had located it in the exact place the RAC telematics box had tracked it to. In fact, police missed the vehicle the first time around because the number plates had been changed, but the RAC team were able to use the telematics device to direct officers to within three metres of the vehicle’s actual location. The police were then able to use the van’s unique vehicle identification number to confirm that it was Jarek’s.
Jarek, who employs nine builders, said: ‘I was gutted when I realised the van had been stolen from outside my house. It had only been parked there for 45 minutes over lunchtime when it was taken. At first I thought it was a typical builder’s joke, but I soon realised it wasn’t.
‘I hadn’t even had the van long enough to put my company name on it. I’ve never had a vehicle stolen before so it was really upsetting, but I quickly realised I could use the telematics box’s tracking feature to find it. Once I called the police and asked them to work with the RAC I knew I had a great chance of getting it back.’
RAC Telematics is currently only available to business customers, but the consumer technology is to be launched later this month.
