Stolen Cars - What Compensation to expect

happywarmgun

vaio wrote: »

What you are looking for is a payout so you can go back and buy the same car again.

Which isn't just theoretical in my case - it is really, really what I want to do. Both cars were bought in the last 12 months and I went to a huge effort in choosing them both and have been very, very happy with them and the price I paid for them. Ideally I want exactly the same.... Would be maddening to end up out of pocket any more than my excess...

JasonR_2

You are not the only one going through this at the moment, although we are a little further down the line. We had two cars stolen at the start of the month, by a very similar methods to yours, although we had obvious damage marks on the front door. They got away with my company car (BMW 120d) and my wife's Subaru Impreza.

For the BMW this is being sorted out by the company so isn't causing us too many problems so far. The biggest issue with the Subaru is the amount of time it is taking to settle. We had a courtesy car for 14 days, that has now gone back and we are in the situation were we need to buy a new car ASAP, but the until the insurance company pay out we are still the owners of the Subaru so could have that back if it is recovered. Which means if we buy a car now there is a chance that we would end up with two cars! We agreed a settlement figure with the insurance co late on Friday, but are still waiting for a commitment form then on when we will have the money...

In your case do as much research as possible on prices on similar cars from local reputable dealers, that way when they make an offer you will be in a good position to negotiate ASAP.

Make sure you claim for personal possessions in the car, the insurance companies we have dealt with have paid out for these straight away.

Good luck with it all.

happywarmgun

Sorry to hear of your troubles Jason - it isn't good is it? Was the offer the insurance made 'fair' first time or did you have to haggle? I have the prices adjusted for mileage and condition from both glasses and parkers guides so think it reasonable to ask for the middle of the two (they are the same to the pound on the beamer - and a small difference in valuation on the Seat).

The personal possessions is another disappointment of the cover, both policies were limited to £150. We had an ipod in the glove compartment of each car (had installed ipod based sound sysems in both).

I'm quite nervous about getting full value for my sound/video system to be honest. It cost 1700 quid to get installed (Kenwood DNX7240BT). I did add it specifically to my policy and paid a 20 quid increase in my premium accordingly - but I still fear when they come back to me they will try and shaft me!

Quentin

happywarmgun wrote: »

The personal possessions is another disappointment of the cover, both policies were limited to £150. We had an ipod in the glove compartment of each car (had installed ipod based sound sysems in both).

Do you have any cover for personal possessions in your house insurance that could be used?

happywarmgun

Quentin wrote: »

Do you have any cover for personal possessions in your house insurance that could be used?

I do have contents insurance with offsite cover (though the car was at home at the time suppose that is immaterial) - didn't want to claim unless it is worth my while (several years no claims to factor into thinking) - obviously, we've had the locks changed and if that bill comes to us I will look at claiming - (I'm currently in a rented property - unable to sell my last house! - landlord currently looks to be willing to pick up lock replacement bill).

I assume if we did claim on the home contents we would have to knock off the 150 quid in each car that the car insurances will have paid off....

JasonR_2

happywarmgun wrote: »

Sorry to hear of your troubles Jason - it isn't good is it? Was the offer the insurance made 'fair' first time or did you have to haggle?

I disagreed with their first offer, the revised offer they came back with was ok, so I accepted that. The Subaru wasn't worth loads, so we were disagreeing over hundreds of pounds rather than thousands!

Don't forget you can get a refund on the tax discs on both car. You need to get a V33 form from the DVLA, and post back before the end of this month.

Out of interest do you live any where around the Surrey/Hampshire/Berkshire area? I live near the border of the 3 counties and there seems to be a lot of this type of crime at the minute.