My Dad's car was stolen...any advice pls?

Feanor

Hi,

My Dad just realised tonight that his car has been stolen from the place he works. He has parked it there for years, its a very small residential street in a small town.

Anyway, inside the car Dad had £300 of cash (ready for his christmas shopping the next day), his laptop, a very good pair of binoculars and a socket set.

He is quite old school and doesn't think he'll get any money for the above items. Does anyone know what happens with things like this? He can't call the insurance until tomorrow morning, but I said I would try to find out a little bit more. His insurance company is Axa (sp?).

He also seems to think the insurance company wont pay him out until the car has been found and that if it isn't found after a year, they wont pay out at all..is this correct?

How do they determine what the car was worth, or how much they will give him?

If anyone has any experience of this, please reply as he is pretty upset about it, he loved that car!

Thanks

tinkerbell84

I doubt the money will be covered at all, and the other items will depend on where they were, what they were worth and on the policy cover.

They certainly won't wait a year to settle the claim though.

Feanor

Thanks...

Your probably right about the cash, its just such a shame. I guess he wont do that again!

The laptop, binoculars etc were all in the boot with the cover over them.

Feanor.

Quinny_2

I take it that he has already reported it to the police,and got a crime number at least?

I'm not sure what the timescale is for insurance companies to pay out,but he'll have to list exactly what was in the car,that was stolen,and if possible,have to provide receipts,although if he can't,then don't worry,as they'll pay out,subject to his excess,and wear and tear on the items.

He will then have to work out whether to claim,as if his excess is say,£300,and the items are only worth £200,then it's not really worth it.

However,if they don't find the car,or it's badly damaged,or written off,and the stuff is missing,then he'll still have to pay the excess,and by the time the insurance company have paid out,it will outweigh the excess cost anyhow.

Have the nsurance company not got a 24 hour help line? Mine has.But whatever,he must report it at the first opportunity.

Ken.

nic_santorini

i agree with above comments:
1. police crime report asap
2. how can the police search for it, if they don;t know it is stolen
3. should get a courtesey car (if on your policy), as it is stolen
4. could claim for items in car on house insurance policy if you have away from home cover
5. as for cash in the car - sorry common sense tells anyone not to leave anything in the car so won't see that again I doubt, but tell insurance company everything that has gone.
6. Have you got legal expense cover? separate policy but can claim back excess sometimes.
7. As for how much you will get - insurance book price only - always much less than actual value.
Hope this helps.

Feanor

Thanks again,

Yes he has called the police and been given a crime number. The insurance have a helpline but its just a recorded answer phone message to leave his details and they will call him back, so he'd rather just call them in the morning I think.

The laptop was a birthday gift from my sister, so fingers crossed she has the receipt. I think it was about £600. The binoculars were pretty old but he said they were really good quality ones and that you can't get them like that anymore.

How will they determine how much the car was worth, do they have a scale of tis kind of thing?

thanks

Feanor

Sorry just saw your reply..

So I looked on 'what car' and it said dealer value was £7.5k for his car. What could he expect from the insurance, 6k maybe?

Neil_Peters

What car was it? How old? Mileage? etc

PasturesNew

I had a friend who had a car written off in an accident that was totally not her fault (lorry coming the other way shed its load on top of her car). She didn't get enough money for her to buy a replacement of the same age/condition, she ended up having to take on a car loan to replace it.

Insurance companies do not have a reputation for being fair about value.

sarah_elton

Feanor wrote: »

Sorry just saw your reply..

So I looked on 'what car' and it said dealer value was £7.5k for his car. What could he expect from the insurance, 6k maybe?

Whatever amount they offer is negotiable.

You should end up with enough cash to replace the car like for like. If it was in good condition or had a low mileage, you need a bit more than if the mileage was very high or it had any damage.

Before they come up with a figure, have a look on Parkers etc, find comparable cars in your area (cars can vary by area quite a bit), decide what you want and have for sale examples to hand to quote to the insurers when you talk to them.

hewhoisnotintheknow

this all sounds fishy to me!