Revealed: Cheap £20 hack that reduces the chances of a car being stolen by a quarter in Milton Keynes

It reduces the chance of a theft by 26%. And if it does get stolen, it increases the chances of it being recovered.

But a third of motorists have never even heard of it.

The hack is window etching, which costs just £20 and puts would-be thieves off stealing the vehicle as it makes it far harder to clone and sell on.

Halfords CEO is now calling for insurance companies to reduce premiums for responsible motorists who make their vehicles more secure.

New research from Halfords reveals a third of motorists (33%) have never even heard of window etching. When toldhow t it can reduce the likelihood of theft , 84% were ‘surprised’ more motorists are not aware of it.

Amid soaring insurance costs and vehicle thefts - which are up by 50% according to the latest figures - the quick five minute process could be the perfect solution to make motorists' vehicles less likely to be stolen, say Halfords.

Their motoring expert Aaron Edwards said: “There is simply no way to make your car more secure for less money than window etching. By marking your vin number on key, and visible points in the car, it makes it far harder to clone, and simply less appealing to thieves. It always surprises me that more people do not take advantage of this brilliant, cheap hack.”

Halfords CEO Graham Stapleton added: “Today we’re calling on the insurance industry to reward responsible motorists who do their part to make their car more secure. Thefts have skyrocketed and partly as a result of this, insurance premiums for most motorists are soaring. Those who invest their own money in making their car more secure should see this reflected in their premiums.

Halford’s Security Window Etching Service consists of visibly etching all the windows of a vehicle with the logo of the International Security Register (the ISR) and a code unique to the vehicle. The unique code is linked to a fully certified and secure database used by all Police Forces in the UK.

Etched vehicles are10% more likely to be recovered versus a non-etched vehicle. Find out more here.

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