Theft after property damage

Juliette100

I have fences around my garden as I’m on a corner plot.  After someone drove through my fences and out the other side I had all my storage and property in the garden exposed. Items have now sadly gone missing. Who is responsible for that.  I’ve logged with the police but is it the insurance company of the car that damaged my fence and in effect removed the security I had or is that a no go.  Overall had my fences not been knocked down my lawnmower etc would not have been on show and ripe for the picking.  I was unable to move these items as they were heavily damaged, coated in oil and the assessor wanted to see the scene. 

marcia_

 You report it to your insurer and give them the car registration. They will then attempt to get it back from the drivers insurance but will pay you out. If you should do this is dependent on what has gone missing, how much do they cost to replace and what your excess is. 

Aretnap

The driver who damaged the fence (or his insurer) is not going to be liable for the fact that somebody else subsequently stole from you - blame for that is on the thief and the thief alone. However if the lawnmower etc were damaged in the original accident then he would be liable for the damage to them - which depending on how badly damaged they were might be most or all of their value anyway. 

The alternative is to make a theft claim under your own home insurance policy, though look out for any clauses limiting the amount you can claim for items left unsecured in a garden.

Are you still attempting to make the main claim directly through the third party insurer or have you involved your own insurers yet?

(Original thread here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6517146/third-party-accident )

Juliette100

Yes I am looking to claim all my losses from the third-party insurance. I’m just very frustrated that had my fences been in place all the items stolen were in the garden and protected by the fencing then none of these would’ve been stolen or ideally wouldn’t of been stolen.  Due to the actions of the driver my fences were completely knocked down exposing my property and this was the result of why my items were stolen as I had no other way of protecting all the property damaged and exposed. Lawnmower, garden furniture, plant pots etc. 

cw8825

Very unlikely the motor insurance company will cover the theft. 

In the  instance the car was used to knock your fence down and the driver stole the items. They would not cover it. 

Even less likely they will cover a theft by a different thief at a different time. 

The best way would be to invoke your home insurance and they can then try to recover from the car insurance. 

Smithcom

Juliette100 said:

I have fences around my garden as I’m on a corner plot.  After someone drove through my fences and out the other side I had all my storage and property in the garden exposed. Items have now sadly gone missing. Who is responsible for that.  I’ve logged with the police but is it the insurance company of the car that damaged my fence and in effect removed the security I had or is that a no go.  Overall had my fences not been knocked down my lawnmower etc would not have been on show and ripe for the picking.  I was unable to move these items as they were heavily damaged, coated in oil and the assessor wanted to see the scene. 

How many days/hours between the motor accident and the theft of your items?

Juliette100

That same night. The fences were demolished and that night all the rubble was stripped 

Smithcom

Juliette100 said:

That same night. The fences were demolished and that night all the rubble was stripped 

To be honest, I think that your best bet is to involve your own insurer.  

They can pay for the damaged fence/wall, and hopefully the stolen garden contents.    They can then seek to make a recovery from the motor insurer.

If you can demonstrate that the removal of garden security by the car led to inevitable consequential losses, your home insurer may be able to recover these costs from the motor insurer, although, expect much push back on this, because they may well view the consequential theft as being a separate issue altogether

Ultimately, your home insurer will be able to recover from the 3rd party motor insurer, to the extent of the law.. 

There are two further advantages of using your own home insurer initially (as opposed to the motor insurer):

1.   You will have access to the Financial Ombudsman if things go wrong
2.    Your home insurer may (almost certainly) provide a wider scope of cover than the motor insurer owe you at law

I hope that you get it sorted.   

SC

DullGreyGuy

The person thats liable is the thief that took the items but tracing them is probably going to be difficult and the majority who go round nicking stuff generally dont have the means to pay much. 

In the absence of them then your Home insurers may cover theft from the garden 

Smithcom said:

If you can demonstrate that the removal of garden security by the car led to inevitable consequential losses

Causal chain is far too week and its not "inevitable". 

If security was considered an issue it would have been possible for the OP to move the items out of plain sight even if that meant a bit of discomfort for a few days whilst the fence was restored. 

Smithcom

DullGreyGuy said:

The person thats liable is the thief that took the items but tracing them is probably going to be difficult and the majority who go round nicking stuff generally dont have the means to pay much. 

In the absence of them then your Home insurers may cover theft from the garden 

Smithcom said:

If you can demonstrate that the removal of garden security by the car led to inevitable consequential losses

Causal chain is far too week and its not "inevitable". 

If security was considered an issue it would have been possible for the OP to move the items out of plain sight even if that meant a bit of discomfort for a few days whilst the fence was restored. 

I agree.   The OP would need to demonstrate that the theft immediately proceeded the removal of security, and that the subsequent consequential loss was inevitable.  

I think that the chances of successful recovery against the motor insurer for the theft is unlikely.

As per my post above, the home insurer will be able to recover from the 3rd party motor insurer, to the extent of the law

SC