• What is Thatcham?
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The glib answer, of course, is that it's a village on the outskirts of Newbury. But more important, it's the home of the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre. Owned jointly by the ABI (Association of British Insurers) and LAIUA (Lloyd's Motor Underwriters Association), the non-profit-making centre is partially funded by a levy on motor insurance companies.
Its functions are wide-ranging, from assessing the ease of crash repair, upon which the ABI's insurance groupings are based, to providing hands-on training for the body repair trade. it also provides a consultancy service to the motor industry, and its research activities have made it a leading authority on whiplash injuries.
Although Thatcham is primarily concerned with research into repair techniques for accident damage, vehicle security is obviously of major concern to the insurance industry.
Among the centre's staff are people whose knowledge could make them a good living as professional thieves. Fortunately, they choose not to work for the forces of evil, and instead spend their time trying to defeat vehicles' security features.
The totally thief-proof vehicle doesn't exist, and probably never will, but Thatcham's experts offer vehicle and security system manufacturers ideas to slow the thieves down to the point where they go away and try something easier.