car stolen and i dont have spare key

zore

Hi,
Last week my car (Audi A3 2013) was stolen in the middle of the night. When i woke up the car was no longer on the drive and this is where it was parked last. After speaking with the police, I rang my insurance company and after the general questions they asked how many keys I had with the car and I said one. I had lost the spare key and I was quoted over £250 + VAT to get a replacement from the dealer which I didnt obtain. It had been over a year since I had lost the spare key and I took my policy out in the last 6 months. I was never asked when taking the policy out if I had both keys.

I have recieved 3 phone calls from my insurance company (Admiral) asking about the spare key. How it was lost, when, who did I report it too? etc. Does anyone know the policy of insurance companies with respect to a car being stolen and only having 1 key? Is your insurance void if you dont have the spare key? I am very distressed at the moment as I think the insurance company will not pay out for the car as it only had 1 key. In addition, there was no glass on my drive in the morning and the insurance company will probably rule out forced entry.

Any advice on this will be much appreciated. Thanks

bertiewhite

I've never been asked if I have 2 keys for insurance purposes.

I'm sure I only got 1 key with my Fiesta as well, with a "pattern" key which could only be used to make a copy, not actually used to open & start the car.

FIRSTTIMER

How did they steal the car?

zore

FIRSTTIMER wrote: »

How did they steal the car?

I dont know how the car was stolen. I have recently seen 2 videos where a key signal booster is placed near the house and the key is detected in the car. The car had key less entry and start.
We have a community CCTV camera on our road but the police have said they will not investigate further as other crimes take higher priority.

sheramber

Your insurance will be considering the possibility that the car thieves had your lost key.

Comms69

zore wrote: »

I dont know how the car was stolen. I have recently seen 2 videos where a key signal booster is placed near the house and the key is detected in the car. The car had key less entry and start.
We have a community CCTV camera on our road but the police have said they will not investigate further as other crimes take higher priority.

Uhm car crime is a high priority, I'd suggest you make a complaint if they refuse to investigate

lisyloo

It's up to your insurer to ask you all the questions they need to know up front. If they didn't ask you about lsot keys up front then you've done nothing wrong.

However I think they are quite within their rights to ask you questions like - did you lose them recently? did you lose them closeby to your house/car? could anyone have seen you? any information to tie them to your address or car? as it may be related to the theft, but if you've been honest in answering their questions then you should have nothing to worry about.

takman

If you loose a car key then you can reprogram the ECU so that key is no longer able to start the car. So that's why they are asking what happened because they probably want to know if this was done and/or what else you did to ensure the car remained secure.

But considering you lost the key well over a year ago then that will probably go in your favor because it's less likely someone with the key would wait so long.

Retrogamer

Comms69 wrote: »

Uhm car crime is a high priority, I'd suggest you make a complaint if they refuse to investigate

It's not higher than sexually related crimes, violent crime, weapon offences, drug dealers etc so if it's anything like my area, the police will be too busy with the crimes mentioned above to spare the resources for things they consider trivial in comparison.

KeepOnRunning

sheramber wrote: »

Your insurance will be considering the possibility that the car thieves had your lost key.

You don't say?!

Comms69

Retrogamer wrote: »

It's not higher than sexually related crimes, violent crime, weapon offences, drug dealers etc so if it's anything like my area, the police will be too busy with the crimes mentioned above to spare the resources for things they consider trivial in comparison.

I feel sorry for you and your neighbours in that case.