My Car Has Been Stolen - Do I Get An Insurance Refund if they cancel it?

MaddieSparks

My car was stolen on Sunday night (10/02/13), I immediatly phoned the police, my insurance company, finance company and the DVLA, informing everyone within 30 minutes of the car being taken.

So far everyone has been really nice and understanding, although my car is still gone and I doubt I will get it back. I am currently giving Admiral my information etc and am waiting to see how much my claim will be, my car is 6 months old and was bought brand new at £14,000 it had 1200 miles on it and was in perfect condition, fully taxed for the next 6 months as well as fully insured. I have read my tax can be claimed back after 7 days which I will do, as well as personal belongings as I had a far bit in my car. I'm worried that the payout won't be enough as I have the car on finance and still currently owe £11,797.00, I think my car is worth this if not more as it was brand new but I know it doesn't work like this, does anyone know or had any similar experience?? Also Admiral e-mailed me and have cancelled my policy which makes perfect sence as there is no longer a car to insure, but do I get part of my premium back as I have paid for 10 months and have only used 6.

Thanks, any advice will be truely greatful.

rochja

Do you have GAP insurance? Most dealers try to sell it to you on a new purchase

MaddieSparks

No, I don't, I remember the guy trying to sell it to me but just never thought my car would be stolen, so didn't take it. Obviously now wish I had.

jobdone1

wow I though new cars where very hard to steal without keys, how wrong was I. what make was your car I will avoid that in the future.

newbutold

You won't get a refund for your policy as you will be making a claim under that policy. Some insurers allow you to put your new car under the remaining policy.

Does your existing policy not offer a new car (like for like) if your car is less than 12 months old?

MaddieSparks

I had a fiat500, so avoid them at all costs as they are very popular and I have been told are stolen to order, aparently there is some sort of software that can replicate your keycode, downloads onto another key so they can just open and start your car exactly like you do.

I didn't think I would get a refund, thanks for clarifying though.

My insurance company havn't said they would do that, they said if it is found it'll be taken to a garage (one of their authorised repairers) to get it back to what it was before once I've paid my excess, if it isn't found they will value the car and send me the money for the payout.

newbutold

I know on my policy if the car is written off & it's less than 12 months old I would get a new car. Wasn't sure if this was the same if the car was stolen and not recovered, but given your insurance have said they will pay cash then it obviously isn't the case.

Hope your car will be found in a ok state. If not, please remember that you do not have to accept their first valuation if you believe it is to low.

MaddieSparks

Thank you, I have come to terms in my head that it is probably in another country by now.

I do think as it is near on brand new I should get at least what I still owe the finance company and a little bit more. Thanks for all the advice, its really helpful and good to know that i don't have to accept their first offer, I didn't know that.

I just feel really annoyed that none of this is my fault yet I will be out of pocket no matter what and no car!

jobdone1

I did see a report on watchdog about BMW cars can be reprogramed. This is mad surely the car manufactures should change the design on how we start or secure our cars Finger print tec poss ????

Dukesy

I was with Admiral when my car was written off in December last year.

They were actually very good over my claim - although it did require a fair amount of legwork from me. You must, must, must go online and hunt through sites such as Autotrader, Pistonheads and eBay to find an average value for cars comparable to yours. Take a good selection, write down all the details and the listing numbers and IF they come back to you with a settlement figure you don't agree with, hit them with all your research. This is what I did and it was very successful. After a bit of back and to-ing, they settled very near what I told them I wanted as I had research to show what my car was worth.

Also, as others have said, you won't get a refund, but what Admiral gave me was the option to insure my replacement vehicle on the old policy, which was very easily done.

vaio

newbutold wrote: »

You won't get a refund for your policy as you will be making a claim under that policy. Some insurers allow you to put your new car under the remaining policy.

Does your existing policy not offer a new car (like for like) if your car is less than 12 months old?

Unfortunatelythe OP is with Admiral who I'm pretty sure end policies with no refund on a total loss payout (so can't be transferred to replacement car) and also they only do market value rather than like for like if under a year old.

OP....as for value, have a read of http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html that tells you how the car should be valued, you should get enough to go buy a replacement from a dealer