Sat Nav stolen from car on driveway. Not insured!

abssorb

Posting this as a warning to others really.

First the obvious, don't leave your sat nav in the car. Mine was stolen on a private drive in a nice area on a bank holiday in broad daylight from a locked and thatcham alarmed merc. They know all the tricks.

Second. The scum that are the insurance industry only give you theft cover for things that are not desirable to thieves, leading to the perspective of "what is the point of theft insurance?".

The car insurance say that sat nav is not insured, as it is not a fixed part of the vehicle or considered a vehicle accessory, it is a personal possession. "Try your home insurance" they say.

Our prudential home insurance say that it is excluded, as it is a motor vehicle accessory.

One won't pay because they say it is, one won't pay because they say it isn't.
Essentially, I have been robbed twice. What a dishonourable profession!

lisyloo

what is the point of theft insurance?

No offence but it isn't so that you can leave expensive things lying around in an unattended vehicle.

Insurance policies require you to take the same care that you would take should you not have insurance and that applies to ALL insurance.

Essentially, I have been robbed twice.

No offence but have you thought about reading your policies to make sure you are adequately covered for the things you have?
Secondly have you thought about not leaving expensive things lying around unatttended?

Just a thought.

I have a safe at home that's bolted in place.
When we take expensive cameras out they are attached to the car boot in a wire cage.
When we take baggage on a train or airport trolleys (in some locations) then they are attached by a cable lock.

Guess what............Never had to make a claim.

Take care out there.

asea

Where was the satnav when it was in the car & stolen? Did you take reasonable care as to prevent it being seen from the outside?

Just because somebody has insurance it doesn't remove the responsibility for reasonable care from the insured. The insured should behave as if they do not have insurance (ie. take reasonable care to prevent a claim).

abssorb

lisyloo, I do take offence. I have already done the self-deprecating and I was posting to warn others to make their own preparations.....

abssorb wrote: »

Posting this as a warning to others really.

First the obvious, don't leave your sat nav in the car. <etc>

I was not posting for advice or sympathy. You've never made a claim. Great. Neither have I.

I live in a small town where there is very low amount of crime. The police sent out CID to dust the car and did house to house. Would you expect that? The insurance company didn't. It IS reasonable for us to expect no crime here. Yet, the sat nav was completely out of sight as this is my habit when parking after a journey.

The amount of precaution makes no difference, so kindly refrain from judging me. My point is that even if someone mugs you and takes your sat nav at knife point - you are not covered.

raskazz

Surely you can claim for the sat nav under the personal belongings section of your car policy (assuming you're covered comprehensively). Is your car a convertible?

However, bearing in mind the costs of a sat nav, it would probably be uneconomical to claim anyway due the the effect on NCD/future premiums.

If you tell us who your insurers are we can check the terms.

raskazz

abssorb wrote: »

lisyloo, I do take offence.

I'm sure many others have taken offence at your description of an industry that employs over 300,000 people as 'scum', simply because you were too lazy to check what your policy actually covered.

stugib

I thought you were covered - may be policy specific, can't remember whether it's home personal possessions or motor - if it was out of sight in a (locked?) glove box? Leaving the holder on the windscreen, or even the sticky mark it leaves behind may be a gray area I suppose.

I have some sympathy for the OP TBH - even if he's not looking for it - what's the difference, apart from the potential ease of doing so, between that and someone breaking into your house because they see a TV aerial on your house and assume you've got a TV worth nicking? (genuine question).

jessjess_2

abssorb wrote: »

lisyloo, I do take offence. I have already done the self-deprecating and I was posting to warn others to make their own preparations.....



I was not posting for advice or sympathy. You've never made a claim. Great. Neither have I.

I live in a small town where there is very low amount of crime. The police sent out CID to dust the car and did house to house. Would you expect that? The insurance company didn't. It IS reasonable for us to expect no crime here. Yet, the sat nav was completely out of sight as this is my habit when parking after a journey.

The amount of precaution makes no difference, so kindly refrain from judging me. My point is that even if someone mugs you and takes your sat nav at knife point - you are not covered.

Technically you have made a claim and its been repudiated......

FlameCloud

abssorb wrote: »

The amount of precaution makes no difference, so kindly refrain from judging me. My point is that even if someone mugs you and takes your sat nav at knife point - you are not covered.

The amount of precaution unfortunatly matters a great deal.

Lets get this straight-

You didnt check the cover you have to ensure that it is adequate for your needs, yet it is the insurance companies fault?

There are home insurance polices that cover sat navs, so you clearly didnt read any of the documentation.

lisyloo

The amount of precaution makes no difference

I disagree with you entirely on that.
You might live in a very nice place but you can't discount visitors on any day.
Obviously it's entirely up to you what risks you want to take, but we disagree on the amount of precaution.

so kindly refrain from judging me

I'm not judging you and I'm sorry you took it that way.
I only write (like you) to try to help other people in the future so my points are more aimed at others rather than you personally.

My point is that even if someone mugs you and takes your sat nav at knife point - you are not covered.

Thanks for warning us.
My advice (on top of yours) is for everyone to check their policies up front to make sure they do have the coverage they require.

My suspicion is that it's not economical to claim for a sat nav.
There are excesses and premium loadings in future years.
The best option is to self insure and take care of things.
I appreciate that you cannot be 100% safe e.g. someone mugging you at knife point, but you can beat the opportunists (which is most of crime) with a little effort.

lisyloo

what's the difference, apart from the potential ease of doing so, between that and someone breaking into your house because they see a TV aerial on your house and assume you've got a TV worth nicking? (genuine question).

I believe that a insurance company would regard leaving a sat nav in view (and possibly even the holder) as negligence **
In general you should put things covered in the boot or (if small) take valuables with you.

Having a TV ariel on your house would not be regarded as negligence by an insurance company.

Other examples of negligence would be leaving doors unlocked, not switching the alarm on when it's declared on your policy, leaving curtains open to display hundreds of Xmas presents in full view, leaving items unattended on the beach etc.
Insurers expect you to take reasonable care.

** Note I am speaking generally and not about anything the OP did or didn't do.

Personally I do not declare my alarm on my insurance, because then we would be expected to switch in on 100% of the time.
Of course being a cautious person we do use it generally, but I want to be covered if one day we forget the alarm.
So be careful if accepting discounts for security. If you accept the discount then you should expect use the security 100% of the time.

Insurance is not a dishonourable profession, but having insurance does not give you an excuse to be less careful (speaking generally, nothing implied about the OP).
Most policies do state that you are expected to exercise the same level of care as if you had no insurance.
I don't work in insurance but don't forget that they have to deal with fraudulent claims all the time so they need to rule out both fraud and negligence.