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Asda Travel Money Card is issued by PrePay Technologies Limited pursuant to licence by Mastercard® International. PrePay Technologies Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (FRN: 900010) for the issuing of electronic money and payment instruments. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated.

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ASDA Money: Travel Insurance reviews

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About the Travel Insurance

Do you buy travel insurance before going abroad? There are hundreds of different travel insurance policies on the market, all designed to help you stay protected while travelling...and giving you piece of mind, whether you're enjoying a sun swept beach or on an adverture-packed holiday. But with so many different policies to choose from, finding the right policy for you can be quite confusing. Reading our ASDA Money travel insurance reviews can help you find out what other travellers have to say. You can also write your ASDA Money travel insurance review too!

Review ASDA Money: Travel Insurance now

Asda money travel insurance reviews ( 116 ), problem sorted, still waiting on claim nine months later, disgraceful claims ssrvice.. 6 months on and still no answer.

I have only given Asda 1 star because of the requirement to give a rating.

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Asda Insurance by Asda Money: Policy Details & More

As well as being a well-known British supermarket, which also has its own clothing and home range, Asda also sells various financial services, including insurance. Through Asda Money, Asda offers travel insurance and pet insurance, as well as giving customers access to its own price comparator for home and car insurance. Intrigued by the idea of Asda Insurance? We have everything you need to know, including policy details, reviews and contact information, right here. Read on now to find out more.

Asda Insurance

Asda Insurance forms a part of the greater financial services offered by the famous British supermarket brand Asda. Under the sub-brand Asda Money , the company sells a variety of financial products, including credit cards, travel money, personal loans, money transfer services and insurance.

History of Asda

Before looking in more detail at the insurance policies offered by Asda Money, let’s take a little look at its parent company, Asda, and how it got to where it is today: one of the biggest supermarket chains in the UK.

The brand Asda was founded in 1965 when the Asquith brothers and the Associated Dairies company joined together. Before this union, the Asquith brothers were already the proud owners of the UK’s first self-service supermarket called Queens. This was soon turned into a chain and formed the foundation for the future Asda brand.

Ever wondered where the name Asda came from? Take the AS of the surname Asquith, and the DA from the company name Associated Dairies, and you have it: ASDA.

After the partnership and official creation of the Asda brand, the Asda stores thrived. Based on the principle of offering customers the best value for money , the company expanded its discounted products beyond food, introducing general merchandise, a clothing brand and opening the first discounted petrol station. Over the years it took its non-food business even further, launching its home brand and selling financial services like insurance under Asda Money.

In 2018, Asda and another famous British supermarket, Sainsbury’s, announced their proposal to merge, but the deal was shut down by the Competition and Markets Authority. If successful, it would have given the two companies around a 30% share of the UK’s grocery market.

• 1965 - The Asquith brothers join with Associated Dairies to create Asda.
• 1966 - The company acquires all GEM stores in the UK and start to sell general merchandise as well as food products.
• 1970 - There are over 30 Asda stores in theUK.
• 1977 - Asda launches its first TV adverts containing the now famous pocket tap.
• 1981 - The 100th ASDA store is opened.
• 1989 - Asda teams up with designer George Davies who creates a range of clothing for the store called George at Asda.
• 1996 - It launches its tickled pink campaign to help fight cancer and also opens its first Asda pharmacy.
• 1999 - Asda joins the big American Walmart family.
• 2000 - It creates its non-food online business.
• 2008 - The company opens its first eco store; it used recycled bricks from Liverpool docks to build the structure.
• 2012 - Asda opens the UK’s first drive-thru click and collect.
• 2014 - George home is launched.

Fun fact! Over time, the pocket tap has become so intertwined with the supermarket that it is now the official sign for Asda in sign language.

Asda Money: what insurance does it offer?

Asda Insurance is sold under the brand name Asda money. While Asda offers some insurance policies directly, for some types of insurance they simply offer a price comparison service . With working partnership with around 50 insurance providers and brokers, this service lets customers compare the prices and content of different policies and find a good match for them.

Home insurance

Until the start of September 2019, Asda sold home insurance directly. It had two main policies:

• Standard Home Insurance - as the name suggests, this was the basic policy that provided essential cover. As with most insurance policies, there was always the option to add cover on if you wished, allowing you to create a policy that suited your needs.
• Superior Home Insurance - this was Asda’s more comprehensive home insurance policy. With more things included as standard, it offered greater cover but less flexibility in the cover you could choose.

As of September 2019, Asda Insurance is no longer selling home insurance directly. If you have an existing Asda home insurance policy, it will remain valid until the end date stated in your policy documents. To find out more about the previous policies, read our Asda home insurance guide (coming soon).

Instead of selling its own home insurance, Asda now offers a home insurance price comparison service that helps customers compare home insurance policies offered by different providers.

Car insurance

The same is true for car insurance : Asda Insurance does not sell its own car insurance policies, but its car insurance price comparison service lets you compare standard car insurance, as well as van insurance, motorhome, motorbike and caravan insurance all online.

You can, however, purchase breakdown cover through Asda Money. The service is provided by Britannia Rescue and comes in three levels of cover:

• Roadside Cover - this covers you for breakdowns anywhere in the UK, but you are limited to six call outs a year.
• UK Breakdown Cover - this includes home assistance cover (e.g. if your car won’t start on your drive), and will take your car to a local garage when you break down.
• European Breakdown Cover - this has the same benefits as UK breakdown cover, but extends them to apply when you are driving in Europe, not just the UK.

Find out more about Asda breakdown cover and its car insurance price comparison tool in Selectra’s guide to Asda car insurance (coming soon).

Travel insurance

Unlike car insurance and home insurance, Asda Insurance actually sells its own travel insurance , meaning you can buy travel insurance directly from Asda online.

There are three levels of cover available:

All options can be purchased as either a single trip policy or as an annual multi-trip policy. As an extra bonus, if you take out an annual multi-trip policy, winter sports cover is included as standard. You can also purchase the policies as a family travel insurance if you wish. The level of cover best suited for you depends on your individual circumstances and the extent of protection you feel you need. Find out more in our Asda travel insurance guide.

Pet insurance

Asda Insurance also sells three types of pet insurance policies directly to customers.

• Lifetime - this policy ensures your pet is covered for the duration of his/her lifetime, as long as you renew the policy every year and keep up with your payments. Pertaining to certain conditions, your pet will stay covered for any ongoing or future illnesses during this time. This policy comes in three different coverage levels: Lifetime £2,000; Lifetime £4,000; Lifetime £10,000.
• 12 months - the 12 month policy covers vet fees (up to £2,000 or £5,000) for a conditions for 12 months after the condition has been diagnosed.
• Accident only - this protects your pet when they have a have a little accident, such as break a bone or cut their paw. This is the cheapest option out of the three but obviously doesn’t cover your pet for illness and disease.

If you have more than two pets, you can get a discount on your pet insurance with Asda Insurance through its multi-pet discount offer.

Asda Insurance contact details

If you have an existing insurance policy with Asda and would like to make a claim or issue a complaint, you can find the Asda contact details you need in our individual Asda insurance guides:

• For a home insurance claim or complaint, head to our Asda home insurance guide .
• For a claim or complaint regarding car insurance, visit our Asda car insurance guide .
• For a travel insurance claim or complaint, you can find the contact details you need in our Asda travel insurance guide .

For Asda pet insurance, we have listed the relevant phone numbers in the table below.

General queries

For all general questions and queries, you can contact Asda Money by sending an email to [email protected] . Asda will aim to get back to you within three working days. If you would prefer to reach out by post, you can send a letter to the following address.

Send documents to:

Asda Money Asda House Great Wilson Street Leeds LS11 5AD

Asda Insurance login

When reviewing insurance companies, we always check to see if they offer an online account system through which customers can manage their insurance policies. This service makes everything a bit easier if you want to change something about your policy, or simple just view your policy documents.

While Asda Money does have an online account system, it is only available for credit card, money transfer and corporate gift card customers. There is no Asda online account for insurance customers.

Asda Insurance review

As a whole, there are not that many customer reviews of Asda left online. Furthermore, it is very hard to find customer reviews of Asda Insurance specifically. On review sites such as Truspilot, the whole Asda company (supermarket and financial services) are grouped together.

These reviews are not too helpful for us in trying to see what customers think of Asda Insurance, but we did notice that quite a few bad complaints left on Trustpilot were about Asda’s customer service.

Terrible approach, zero customer skills and poor resolution! Sort your act out Asda Money...there’s a lot of competition out there and your frontline are not customer obsessed! Nik

While this says nothing as to the quality of Asda’s insurance policies or price comparison service, it does suggests that sometimes the company’s quality of customer service can be lacking, which is something that could affect Asda Insurance customers.

If you are interested in taking out a certain Asda Insurance policy , you can find more detailed reviews, including price comparisons and what the professionals think of the policies, in the relevant Selectra Asda insurance guide: Asda home insurance, Asda car insurance and Asda travel insurance.

Data and information correct as of September 2019.

All material on this page and the selectra.co.uk website is for information purposes only and does not constitute any form of financial advice. Selectra.co.uk is not responsible for any consequences that might arise from your use of the information provided.

Asda Insurance by Asda Money

Asda Travel Insurance: Reviews, Promo Code & More

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Shocking for ASDA to be so awful...

Due to bad weather we missed our flights home. The claim is dealt with by a company called Travel Claim Services Ltd. They are most unprofessional. Mountains of paperwork and hoops to jump through, "lost" documents needing to be resent (without them notifying you these are not received), weeks spent waiting for the claim to pay back the credit card bill. Claim paid out 3 months after incident, however not for full amount and they have calculated flight costs wrong and underpaid (sure it'll take weeks/months to get remaining balance back!). Bizarre that a company of Asda's reputation would employ such a company to represent them.

Date of experience : 28 March 2017

Asda Travel have auto-renewed my policy…

Asda Travel have auto-renewed my policy for the last 2 years without my noticing it on my credit card bill. I have had no email or mail notifying me of the renewal despite their policy stating clearly that they will notify before renewing. Fortunately I have now noticed and cancelled. The first and second renewals were over £200 when the original payment was £90 - so they are clearly doubling it hoping you don't notice for 14 days. Do not use.

Date of experience : 31 March 2021

Beyond appalling

Dreadful. Gave me wrong money. Going to Romania and was given Hungarian. Did not check as didn't think I had to. Attitude appalling when I went back to exchange. Said they don't deal in Romanian money and refuses to accept their mistake. They should have told me that at time as I was NOT going to Hungary. Told me ivwas a liar Will never use them again. Avoid at all costs!

Date of experience : 05 October 2023

DO NOT TAKE OUT TRAVEL INSURANCE WITH…

DO NOT TAKE OUT TRAVEL INSURANCE WITH ASDA!!! They are happy to take your money and offer 'Superior" cover but after missing a connecting flight they refused to pay out as they only cover the outbound and inbound flights only. What kind of insurer is this??? If you are travelling abroad, then the entire trip should be covered not just the beginning and end. Absolute thieves!!!!

Date of experience : 01 August 2019

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

What a joke this card/company is. First of all their exchange rate is bad, it's better if you top up via online banking but still not comparable to other places. I tried to use the card while on Vacation in the Maldives and found that it wasn't working, turns out they put my account on hold as they wanted a copy of ID and bank statement, even though I opened the account IN PERSON at a store with my PASSPORT and paid CASH. Long story short I had to use my visa to pay in the Maldives which incurred some penalties being abroad which was the exact thing I was trying to avoid. Customer service is terrible and called me from the Philippines (from a Missouri number). You need access to your email anytime you want to sign in as it sends a code every time.

Date of experience : 04 September 2023

Literally awful

Literally awful. I missed a flight to see family in Australia due to coming down with a 24 hour bug (the kind that has your face in a toiler the entire time). They rejected my claim because "I didn't seek medical advice before cancelling my flight". So basically, unless you're an utter moron you should avoid this "company" like the absolute plague

Date of experience : 08 May 2019

I have an ongoing claim with Asda Travel Insurance

I have an ongoing travel claim which has been running for nearly four months with no one having looked at it yet. For others in a similar position you may want to submit a formal complaint. The administrators are Travel Claims Services and you can do this with them. If everyone does this each complaint costs them hundreds of pounds to review and they may become more likely to pay your claim in a timely manner and stop all these delaying tactics.

Date of experience : 13 June 2020

Money has mysteriously gone missing…

Money has mysteriously gone missing from my ASDA money Currency Card. I am currently abroad, cannot obtain a complete statement from the internet and I cannot top the card up. ASDA customer services denies this card has anything to do with ASDA & refuses to do anything whatsoever to help. Instead it blames Travel Ex and the problems with the recent hack attack. TravelEx have also not responded to any requests for help. THANKS A LOT ASDA I wont be using you to buy anything again.

Date of experience : 10 January 2020

DO NOT BUY!!

DO NOT BUY!! WASTE OF TIME! APP DOEST WORK, WEBSITE TEMPREMENTAL!! Staff unhelpful! you can not top the card up on the app as the advisor suggests , website only occasionally works and usually takes at least 3-5 attempts before working Have been stuck abroad without any money as I couldn't top my card up due to a failure in there system rejecting my second top up of the day. You are only able to top the card up maximum of 2 times in 24hr period. Was waiting in the streets for over 30 on holiday waiting for assistance to only be denied!

Date of experience : 21 April 2023

Travel insurance from ASDA

Would like to give less than 0 stars. Trying to claim for cancellation of ski trip March 2020 (Covid). Very poor communication, awful response times, numerous errors in record keeping resulting in ‘ incorrect’ decision to decline settlement of claim after 9 months. Still awaiting appeal for review and formal complaint high they say will be delayed by up to 12weeks. Looks like they are deliberately trying to place obstacles in the way to discourage claims.

Date of experience : 24 January 2021

Don't buy if you think you might actually have to claim

My 80 year old mother had to cancel a trip because her daughter was diagnosed with cancer. She was insured with Asda Travel who, on being notified, passed the claim in to Travel Claims Services. They said how sorry they were and proceeded to sent her reams of paperwork to complete. Two months on, my mother is in some kind of vortex whereby Travel Claims Services say my mother hasn't sent quite the right bit of paper. She sends another document only to be told that another document is required. We can only assume that this is just some kind of elaborate delaying process whereby the claimant gets so frustrated or confused that they just give up. My advice....steer well clear and use a more reputable firm.

Date of experience : 17 November 2017

Almost impossible to contact them by phone

I had to cancel a family due to a serious illness that required immediate surgery. I have failed to speak to anyone on the phone as kept on hold for more than an hour on every occasion. Bought superior cover but now discovered that they aren't refunding atol and apd tax. They told me to go back to travel company to try and get it back. Insurance much like a hospital nightgown, you think you're covered but you're not. I would never ever use them again and would never recommend them.

Date of experience : 21 September 2018

I had previously taken out annual…

I had previously taken out annual insurance. I didn't realise it was automatically renewed by Asda, which I don't agree with by the way especially when they just take the money from your credit card without permission. Anyway I have tried to cancel this by e-mail and get a refund. They keep saying theyneed more information but I think they are just stalling. So I am still waiting but NEVER again!!! Avoid Asda insurance at all costs!!!

Date of experience : 15 February 2020

AVOID this insurance if you bring a…

AVOID this insurance if you bring a camera, iPad iPhone or similar and want to protect it in case of loss or damage. They only cover each item to a maximum of £250 and your phone probably cost £500 and your iPad £400 so if anything is stolen or lost you have hardly any cover. I didn't realise this until it was too late.

Date of experience : 20 July 2018

Avoid this scam

Avoid this scam! I had a cancelled flight and contacted Asda for an extra hotel night compensation. I was informed that only the first and last flight of a trip is covered. As this was a connecting flight it wasn’t covered so I could except no compensation whatsoever! This insurance is a joke and a scam, had I read all of the reviews on here before I obviously wouldn’t have purchased it. Save your money as these travel insurances aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.

Date of experience : 22 December 2019

Avoid at All costs.

Avoid at All costs. They use every bit of small print to ensure you do not claim. Due to travel at Xmas. Fell ill with stomach bug, unable to travel, holiday company cancelled my flight and hotel booking. Doctors closed over Christmas. Refused to pay out saying I should have sought immediate medical assistance. Even though I was unable to get an appointment. Did subsequently get a doctors note. Refused it. BE AWARE THEY WILL NOT PAY OUT. AN ASDA INSURANCE RIPOFF

Date of experience : 05 February 2018

Absolutely disgusting I bought the more…

Absolutely disgusting I bought the more expensive holiday ins due to go to Florida in March virgin cancelled it and it’s now November. First offer was £27 which made no sense whatsoever I appealed and now they have refused to give me anything. My claim is simple!!! I have logged another complaint and I will take it to the ombudsman DO NOT USE

Date of experience : 12 November 2020

Avoid at all costs

Missed a call from “Travelex Head Office” an hour before I was due to collect currency asking me to ring them - had to look up their number on the internet as the caller didn’t leave it! Currency not available (Friday) and wouldn’t be in until Tuesday at 3pm……our flight leaves on Tuesday at 10am. Order had been placed 10 days earlier. Asked for a refund - that will take 2 to 10 working days - not only do I not have currency but I now don’t have the money (£700) to try and buy it elsewhere. I always normally use Tesco and this was the first and last time I will use Asda.

Date of experience : 23 September 2022

They dealt with my claim for flight…

They dealt with my claim for flight extremely quickly without hesitation. Was very happy with the service and would definitely recommend. I was unwell and couldn't fly they spoke quickly and efficiently and extremely sympathetic on the telephone

Date of experience : 01 August 2018

ASDA FAREHAM STAFF RARELY THERE!

This is the fourth time I have attempted to use the service in Asda Fareham, as it is the only place within a few miles that sells foreign currency. 3 pre ordered and today randomly. Each and every time there has been a note to say just popped out, be back at a certain time and this is not usually between 12 & 2. It is usually just after 3pm for pre ordered. Today, I randomly popped in at 12.20 and once again, there was a note to say that the person has popped out and will be back at 12.50. Surely if their website displays opening times, a member of staff should be there to serve customers or they should display opening hours open and not actually on lunch or gone out etc…it’s not cheap to keep having to drive backwards and forwards, 6 miles to be precise to not be able to get the money ordered or even randomly. Asda, this needs sorting out!

Date of experience : 18 December 2023

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How Britain’s stolen Range Rovers and Rolls-Royces ended up on the streets of Moscow

Criminal gangs are supplying Kremlin elites with the Western luxuries they crave

Upon first inspection, the red shipping container sitting in an Essex storage site would have looked unremarkable but the police officers who opened it up knew better.

Acting on a tip, they emptied out stacks of bicycles and white goods to reveal the real, hidden cargo: three stolen Range Rovers , wrapped up in mattresses and rugs, worth a combined £170,000.

More have followed since that discovery in June 2022 and the tempo is increasing .

Other discoveries include: Bentley, Audi and Toyota cars worth £250,000 sandwiched into a container together; a £300,000 Rolls-Royce Dawn, nestled among the remains of 13 other chopped up cars; and high-end Lexus Saloons stacked like cards on top of one another.

Last year, Essex Police’s stolen vehicle intelligence unit intercepted more than 60 containers like this before they were exported, carrying 240 cars worth around £13m.

They are almost always disguised under false papers and usually headed for destinations in the Middle East, Africa or Asia, fuelling a lucrative trade in luxury cars and parts that organised criminals are only too pleased to facilitate.

Why the recent upsurge? At least part of the answer is thought to lie in the conflict raging 1,000 miles away in Ukraine, which has triggered a string of Western sanctions against Russia.

These sanctions aim to not only hurt the Russian economy but also deprive Vladimir Putin’s cronies of the Western luxuries they enjoy so much, not least the expensive cars they drive around Moscow.

It is forcing them to pay more for both their vehicles and the parts to maintain them, which must now be obtained through more complex and riskier means.

One way they are avoiding these sanctions is simply by shipping vehicles to neighbouring ex-Soviet countries and then sending them on to Russia, according to reports.

However, the crackdown is also thought to be fuelling a black market that has prompted gangs to employ blunter tactics: the theft of vehicles from British streets. to be transported to Russia via intermediate destinations. The cars can be shipped whole or they can be broken down into parts to be put back together upon arrival.

“The sanctions are driving the need for cars and car parts in Russia very hard, and that desperation is part of the reason we are seeing more vehicles going out via the Middle East,” says Mike Briggs, an insurance industry veteran who is now UK president of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI).

“It’s a real problem for them at the moment – because anything you see on Russian roads will eventually need spare parts.

“The black market there has always been rife, but now it is getting bigger because of the sanctions, because people still want their luxury cars…and in fact, being able to still get them even now is actually likely to improve your status within Russia.”

There was a 48pc increase in vehicle thefts in the year to the end of September 2023, according to the Crime Survey of England and Wales, rising from 72,000 to 106,000 incidents.

The way criminals typically steal cars goes something like this: a gang receives an order for a certain model of car or parts from an overseas buyer.

They then go hunting for what they need in a big city, such as London, Birmingham or Manchester.

Once they have found their prey – with families and wealthy foreign drivers seen as soft targets – they break into the car, jam and remove any tracking devices they can find, and then park it up somewhere to wait and see whether anyone comes looking for it.

If no one comes, the gangs then strip the car for parts or ready it for export via a container that is often loaded with other metal goods to disguise the real cargo and confuse X-ray scanners

It is then shipped to locations such as Dubai or the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

One reason why so many of the cars get through is that only a tiny proportion of containers are ever checked, says Iain McKinlay, chairman of the National Association of Stolen Vehicle Examiners.

By one industry estimate, fewer than five in every 100,000 containers leaving Britain are searched. This is partly because of how disruptive searching more of them would be to trade.

Nationally, there are thought to be just four full-time police officers dedicated to checking containers at Britain’s ports.

Another issue is that many vehicle thefts and recoveries require cross-border cooperation by different police forces – but typically only one will get the credit in statistics, creating few incentives for forces to go the extra mile.

Frustratingly, criminals also cannot be arrested for carrying equipment used to break into cars, while prosecutions for attempting to smuggle or chop up the cars are few and far between, McKinlay adds. Business owners often claim they didn’t know the vehicles were stolen.

“If you get caught with a £5,000 quantity of drugs, you’re going away to jail for a very long time,” the former detective constable explains. 

“But if you get caught with a stolen vehicle worth £70,000, you’ll likely just get a slap on the wrist.

“So the gangs have identified there’s a lot of money to be made and that the risk versus the reward is really negligible.” An industry insider said: “Vehicle crime is almost decriminalised in the UK now.”

They point to figures showing less than 1pc of recorded thefts ever lead to charges.

This is what visibly frustrated the chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover Adrian Mardell in February, when he complained that authorities were effectively giving gangs a free pass by failing to check enough of the shipping containers leaving Britain.

The British car maker is so concerned that it has actually started providing its own funding, understood to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, towards police intelligence work to help ensure the problem is tackled. 

However, as a shipping source points out, it would be impractical to check every container.

“If you did, you can bet that JLR and the other car makers would be among the first to complain,” the source notes.

Instead, checks must be “intelligence-led” – i.e., based on tip-offs and police investigatory work – unless a new technology solution can be found that allows containers to be checked effectively and swiftly without needing to be opened.

A spokesman for the British Association of Ports said: “Border security and combating illicit trade falls to government agencies who take a risk-based and intelligence-led approach to checks.

“This balances interests of legitimate trade and helps keep costs down for traders.

“The ports industry… is always open to constructive discussions about how we can continue to bear down on smuggling and organised crime, but this must be done in a proportionate manner.”

One potential way to direct more resources to this issue could be to adopt a model used by some US states and Australia, where a small percentage of every car insurance policy goes towards funding anti-vehicle theft police operations, says McKinlay.

That might prove controversial if it pushes up policy costs. But it may prove cheaper in the long run if insurers don’t need to cover as many claims, McKinlay argues.

The cost of vehicle theft and theft from a vehicle hit record levels in 2023, with insurers paying out £669m for claims, according to the Association of British Insurers.

The lobby group says it takes vehicle theft seriously and is “exploring partnerships with the police to help with the recovery of stolen vehicles from ports”, as well as with car manufacturers on prevention.

Ultimately, observers say more resources must be directed towards the problem to have an impact. In Canada, border authorities have done precisely this, setting up a new taskforce with money from insurers that recently targeted the Port of Montreal in a raid earlier this month.

Through searches of 390 shipping containers, they discovered 598 stolen cars worth a total of about £20m.

In the UK, a conference hosted by Toyota in Derby this July will bring together the UK Government, police, car makers and other industry figures to try to address the problem here as well.

To stop the flow of luxury cars to Russia, says Briggs, “we need more training, more police and more technology”.

“This is just business for the gangs. And so long as there is a market and they can get these cars for nothing, why wouldn’t they do it?”

The Home Office said it was cracking down on the use of electronic devices used to steal vehicles by making it an offence to possess them, through new laws in the Criminal Justice Bill that is working its way through Parliament. 

A spokesman said forces were also being given more funding to hire frontline police officers, adding: “We have made great progress in tackling vehicle crime, which is down 39pc since 2010.”

• Vladimir Putin,
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