Car stolen from garage

big896

Hi, my car went into a garage for some work to be done, the work wasn’t done at the time the garage was broken into and my car was stolen! Owner isn’t being very forthcoming with information about his insurance & changing his mine about if he’s going to claim for my car. Surly he is liable for the fact my car was stolen from INSIDE his workshop! Any help or advice much appreciated. Thanks 

m0bov

Go via your insurance. Have you informed the police?

McKneff

As above. Leave it to your insurance company. Thats what you pay them for.

big896

m0bov said:

Go via your insurance. Have you informed the police?

Yes police aren’t doing anything can’t even get hold of them for a update! My insurance company have said they can claim from the garages Insurance but it will go done as a total loss and cost me money until they get money from his insurance, something that I don’t want to do as i will have to state I have had a total loss claim for the next 5 years! 

tonyh66

Its always going to be a total loss, and you will have to declare it on future insurance quotes anyway, even if the garage pays for it (which looks unlikely).

big896

tonyh66 said:

Its always going to be a total loss, and you will have to declare it on future insurance quotes anyway, even if the garage pays for it (which looks unlikely).

Even if it’s not my fault and with a bit of luck the garage insurance pays out? If I’m not claiming for it on my insurance then it’s not going to go agains me! 

Car_54

big896 said:

tonyh66 said:

Its always going to be a total loss, and you will have to declare it on future insurance quotes anyway, even if the garage pays for it (which looks unlikely).

Even if it’s not my fault and with a bit of luck the garage insurance pays out? If I’m not claiming for it on my insurance then it’s not going to go agains me! 

You can't escape the fact that it's a total loss. If the garage (or their insurers) do pay, then it will be recorded as a non-fault claim.

Ant555

big896 said:

If I’m not claiming for it on my insurance then it’s not going to go agains me! 

it may seem like a rubbish situation on top of the fact you don't currently have a car, but now that you have informed your insurance company, those details will have been entered as an 'incident' on the big central insurance databases like CUE so you will have to declare this on future quotes for the 3/5 years that they ask for.  The official reason for this is to prevent fraud and spotting repeat insurance fraud offenders.

facade

If the garage doesn't have insurance to cover the theft of a customers car, (which seems to be the case) then you will have to claim on your own policy.

Your insurer can try and get the money back from the garage' insurer, but if the garage were not negligent it is not their fault, and their insurer will deny liability.

As Ant555 says, your insurer knows about it now, so you might as well claim.

AdrianC

big896 said:

m0bov said:

Go via your insurance. Have you informed the police?

Yes police aren’t doing anything can’t even get hold of them for a update! My insurance company have said they can claim from the garages Insurance but it will go done as a total loss and cost me money until they get money from his insurance, something that I don’t want to do as i will have to state I have had a total loss claim for the next 5 years! 

It's a total loss because the car can't be repaired and returned to you. They pay out the value instead. If the car is found, perhaps it'll be repairable, perhaps they'll write it off because of the cost of repairs.

Yes, claiming from your insurance will be at-fault unless and until they recover all their out-of-pocket payout. That's the way it works. The alternative is you don't get any money. Your insurer are at least as likely to get a payout from the garage's as if you went direct, probably more so.
Which do you prioritise? A payout, or your clean record? Remember that you still have to declare this for five years, even if there's no claim or payout, because you HAVE suffered a loss.

foxy-stoat

Look on the bright side, you have saved the money that you would of spent on whatever the car was in the garage for.....unless the insurers reduce the settlement for work that would of been done to make it roadworthy.

Looking on my policy wording and it does cover it for theft with a motor trader - you will likely get a higher payout if you claim on your own insurance so claim on your own insurer.  More good news, the car wasn't stolen from your home postcode.

Keep us informed.