Car Insurance - Stolen Car

recovering_spendaholic

My Daughter's three year old Micra was stolen last Thursday from our driveway. It had been a really hot day and I had had windows and french doors open all day and evening but I did not notice anyone getting into the house, but somehow her keys were taken from by the front door and they took the car at around midnight.

The first policeman who came said that he thought they had fished the keys out through the letterbox, but the detective who came the next day said that getting keys through letterboxes was an urban myth and cars were not taken that way. He said that someone had probably sneaked in and taken the keys and then come back when they thought we were in bed and taken the car.

The police rang at 4am and said that they had recovered the car after a police chase and had a person in custody.

We rang the insurance (Admiral)and they said that they would recover the car and inspect it and let her know what would happen next. She is entitled to a courtesy car under her policy but they said that they won't let her have one until they have taken possession of her car from the police impound.

Anyway the insurance rang my daughter today and were asking all kinds of questions like did she know anyone in the area where the car was found, had the car been for sale in the last three months, had she left the keys in the car, was the car locked, had she been looking for a new car at all, had she been on a speed awareness course in the last three years. Everything she said they said they would have to verify and they gave no indication if they would pay out for repairs etc. - is this normal?

We have never had to make a claim on any of our car policies before and I don't know what sort of pay out they will offer if the car is written off. She paid £8000 for the car three years ago ( it was brand new) and she still owes about £3K on it. Will they offer her book price or will they offer her the amount she would need to replace like for like?

Sorry for the long read!!

vaio

the questions would have been them trying to work out what happened coupled with a large dollop of looking for an excuse not to pay

As far as pay out goes, http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.u...uation.html#14

covers pretty much all you need to know. You should get the retail/dealer figure which should be enough to go buy a replacement from a dealer

paddedjohn

A 2010 micra is worth around £4.5k-£5k and she owes £3k so she will probably end up with about £1k for a new car by the time shes paid her excess. (have the indicated that it may be written off?)

keith1950

She is entitled to a courtesy car under her policy but they said that they won't let her have one until they have taken possession of her car from the police impound.

You normally don't get a courtesy car until the repairs on the car actually commence and if it is deemed a write off you won't get one a all.

If you were entitled to a hire car you would usually get one the same day however if the costs cannot be recovered from the 3rd party you can be held liable for the full costs.

arcon5

Has the car actually been damaged?

facade

Be prepared for a lot of arguing with the insurance, If the keys were taken without definite signs of a break-in, they will be very reluctant to pay out.

Best hope the car is ok, (but judging by what happens on "Police Shock Horror " when they have a "pursuit" it usually causes about £250,000 worth of damage to a streetful of cars.)

Aretnap

Admiral's policy documents say they won't pay out if "Your Car has been unlocked and unattended or the keys have been left in or on Your Car". There doesn't seen to be any exclusion which would apply to leaving the keys in an unlocked house.

recovering_spendaholic

Thanks for these replies. The car is apparantly damaged, tyres blown out, bodywork scratches and dings, and damage to the underneath as it was razzed over speed bumps for about two hours. We don't yet know what the insurance company will do re: write off, but they have told my daughter that she will have to pay £250 excess, which is less than we thought.

The police have said that it was the result of a burglary and have given us a crime reference, but we are worried that they are going to try and not pay out, but the truth is that we don't know HOW they got the keys but they did. It was incredibly hot that night and we had windows and french doors open but we were in the house the whole time.

Thanks again!

spacey2012

was there any house keys on the keys they could have used to sell copies to other rouges ?

OddballJamie

keith1950 wrote: »

You normally don't get a courtesy car until the repairs on the car actually commence and if it is deemed a write off you won't get one a all.

If you were entitled to a hire car you would usually get one the same day however if the costs cannot be recovered from the 3rd party you can be held liable for the full costs.

Pretty sure with my insurance I get a courtesy car until a settlement figure has been paid in the event of a writeoff.

paddedjohn

OddballJamie wrote: »

Pretty sure with my insurance I get a courtesy car until a settlement figure has been paid in the event of a writeoff.

You may find the payout reduced to reflect this.