Car broken into - Insurance claim rejected.
Discussion
After some opinions.
We had our car broken into. (Broad daylight, Lowndes Square as I checked into accommodation - all done in 15-20 minute window)
Method unknown - when I returned to the car it was locked and undamaged. The car self locks.
Several other cars had also been opened and contents stolen. (All high end German stuff - Beware VAG, VMW and Porsche owners reading this)
All undamaged. All locked on the owners return.
The insurance company have rejected the claim because - and I quote
any loss, theft of, or damage to Personal Baggage left in an Unattended motor vehicle if:
– the items concerned have not been locked out of sight in a Secure Baggage Area;
– no forcible and violent means have been used by an unauthorised person to affect entry into the vehicle; and
– no evidence of such entry is available.
So, the items were locked and out of sight - they were in the boot.
I argue violence and force were used in the form of a device unknown against the remote locking system. At no point do the T&C's state damage must be caused.
Evidence is available from the state of the interior of the ransacked car, the police reports, witness reports from other victims and the fact all our bloody stuff was missing!
Worth fighting? Or should I have chucked a brick through the window at the time?
Total claim high side of €8,000. (There was a weeks luggage in the car along with a new laptop, dress watches, cocktails outfits etc etc)
We had our car broken into. (Broad daylight, Lowndes Square as I checked into accommodation - all done in 15-20 minute window)
Method unknown - when I returned to the car it was locked and undamaged. The car self locks.
Several other cars had also been opened and contents stolen. (All high end German stuff - Beware VAG, VMW and Porsche owners reading this)
All undamaged. All locked on the owners return.
The insurance company have rejected the claim because - and I quote
any loss, theft of, or damage to Personal Baggage left in an Unattended motor vehicle if:
– the items concerned have not been locked out of sight in a Secure Baggage Area;
– no forcible and violent means have been used by an unauthorised person to affect entry into the vehicle; and
– no evidence of such entry is available.
So, the items were locked and out of sight - they were in the boot.
I argue violence and force were used in the form of a device unknown against the remote locking system. At no point do the T&C's state damage must be caused.
Evidence is available from the state of the interior of the ransacked car, the police reports, witness reports from other victims and the fact all our bloody stuff was missing!
Worth fighting? Or should I have chucked a brick through the window at the time?
Total claim high side of €8,000. (There was a weeks luggage in the car along with a new laptop, dress watches, cocktails outfits etc etc)
Cheers Streaky.
I recall our Crime Prevention bod opening the Supers car years ago with a TV all-4-1 remote.
I had hoped things had moved on.
My VAG dealer is adamant this couldn't happen. My very friendly BMW guy says it does - but only unofficially.
My main support, I guess, is that the bloody thing self locks, and was locked (witness to this was one of the other victims) on my return.
Has any current BiB caught anyone with one of these scanners? That would add weight to the argument as well.
I recall our Crime Prevention bod opening the Supers car years ago with a TV all-4-1 remote.
I had hoped things had moved on.
My VAG dealer is adamant this couldn't happen. My very friendly BMW guy says it does - but only unofficially.
My main support, I guess, is that the bloody thing self locks, and was locked (witness to this was one of the other victims) on my return.
Has any current BiB caught anyone with one of these scanners? That would add weight to the argument as well.
SystemParanoia said:
i think i could be convinced to break into a car if it had £8000 sitting on the passenger seat!! lol
I bet they couldn't believe it when they opened my old sports holdall to find a couple of sets of Mont blanc cuff links and a Rado Jubilee watch. Came to well over half the amount.Luckily the OH had chucked her jewellery into her handbag to get cleaned so they missed that.
The brand new - as in not 30 minutes old Laptop didn't help matters either.
That was in the spare wheel well.
Deva Link said:
davemac250 said:
I bet they couldn't believe it when they opened my old sports holdall to find a couple of sets of Mont blanc cuff links and a Rado Jubilee watch. Came to well over half the amount.
Luckily the OH had chucked her jewellery into her handbag to get cleaned so they missed that.
The brand new - as in not 30 minutes old Laptop didn't help matters either.
That was in the spare wheel well.
You didn't put the laptop in the boot immediately before leaving the car, did you?Luckily the OH had chucked her jewellery into her handbag to get cleaned so they missed that.
The brand new - as in not 30 minutes old Laptop didn't help matters either.
That was in the spare wheel well.
Have you tried speaking to your house contents insurance company?
How did you pay for the laptop? Some credit cards cover theft for a short period after purchase.
To make matters worse, this is holiday insurance.
Neither house or car insurance covered it as the claim was outside of Luxembourg. They have both stated that they would have paid in these circumstances if it had happened in Lux. And for the full amount, not a capped limit.
I paid by credit card, a Luxembourg based one that does not offer anything like this, first thing I tried.
The car wasn't targeted, I have a feeling the one next to mine was - he lost even more and had taken a load of clothes from Harvey Nichols back to his car moments before. I suspect mine opened first and they had a look to see what was worth taking.
Perhaps I should expand.
This happened new years eve 2009.
The amount in the car reflected Christmas in the uk. Going to a black tie function with all the paraphernalia entailed.
There was also some sale shopping involved.
8k in the car is by no means the norm.
I have gone round in circles with house and car insurance and been refused with no chance of recourse. Unless I sue the broker who 'forgot' to mention the policy he provided did not cover me outside of Luxembourg.
My last hope was (is) my holiday insurance. From which I can claim a max of 2k.
Their T&C are, IMO, out of date in relation to current crimes and how they are carried out.
I appreciate the comments from streaky and noger and will see where things lead.
Zollar, I don't know if your mini rant was aimed at me, if so - meh! If not - ok.
Been playing with the car and have re-run how I parked up.
Pulled into parking space left car, locked it on the remote and walked to lay machine.
Return to car. Open it. Put ticket on display.
Walk away from car. IF I assume I didn't lock it the car self locks aftr 30 sec. I would have been on full view of the car for all this time and cannot imagine it being opened whilst I was there.
Or I locked the car and this is moot
When I returned to the car the guy from the BMW next to me approached me saying he thought my car had been screwed as it was a state inside and his had been done in the adjacent parking space.
I walked up to he car and pulled on the door expecting it to be open as I could see the mess inside. The doors and boot were locked.
Lastly, the evening out was great. We were allowed to go to the black tie function at a well known tower in jeans and t-shirts and treated superbly.
I have posted this from my phone and cannot proof read it, so anyone picking up grammatical or spelling errors can, to be blunt, cock off!
This happened new years eve 2009.
The amount in the car reflected Christmas in the uk. Going to a black tie function with all the paraphernalia entailed.
There was also some sale shopping involved.
8k in the car is by no means the norm.
I have gone round in circles with house and car insurance and been refused with no chance of recourse. Unless I sue the broker who 'forgot' to mention the policy he provided did not cover me outside of Luxembourg.
My last hope was (is) my holiday insurance. From which I can claim a max of 2k.
Their T&C are, IMO, out of date in relation to current crimes and how they are carried out.
I appreciate the comments from streaky and noger and will see where things lead.
Zollar, I don't know if your mini rant was aimed at me, if so - meh! If not - ok.
Been playing with the car and have re-run how I parked up.
Pulled into parking space left car, locked it on the remote and walked to lay machine.
Return to car. Open it. Put ticket on display.
Walk away from car. IF I assume I didn't lock it the car self locks aftr 30 sec. I would have been on full view of the car for all this time and cannot imagine it being opened whilst I was there.
Or I locked the car and this is moot
When I returned to the car the guy from the BMW next to me approached me saying he thought my car had been screwed as it was a state inside and his had been done in the adjacent parking space.
I walked up to he car and pulled on the door expecting it to be open as I could see the mess inside. The doors and boot were locked.
Lastly, the evening out was great. We were allowed to go to the black tie function at a well known tower in jeans and t-shirts and treated superbly.
I have posted this from my phone and cannot proof read it, so anyone picking up grammatical or spelling errors can, to be blunt, cock off!
B16JUS said:
davemac250 said:
To make matters worse, this is holiday insurance.
straight away this to me saysspare key / tip off on luggage carried / location staying in
Spare key - only if they drove to Luxembourg, broke into my house, stole the key opened the car and got it back to lux and into the key safe where it still is?
Tip off? I'll get my foil hat on shall I? It is a family car that happened to have a lot of stuff in it, carried from best part of 200 miles away.
B16JUS said:
davemac250 said:
B16JUS said:
davemac250 said:
To make matters worse, this is holiday insurance.
straight away this to me saysspare key / tip off on luggage carried / location staying in
Spare key - only if they drove to Luxembourg, broke into my house, stole the key opened the car and got it back to lux and into the key safe where it still is?
Tip off? I'll get my foil hat on shall I? It is a family car that happened to have a lot of stuff in it, carried from best part of 200 miles away.
if not do you mean your claiming off your travel insurance ? why not your normal insurance ?
I've been chasing this for 11 months now and had rejections from Car, Home and now Holiday Insurance.
That was how my OH read it (lawyer) but we got knocked back on the first letter of appeal against the initial decision.
FWIW I agree that the terms can be read either way, and am guessing will be read in whichever way protects the insurance company (shhh don't tell Zollar I said that).
We have to now write to the 'Experience Department' (FFS) to go to the next step.
What I couldn't find out is who regulates a UK insurance company trading overseas?
The providing from country, or local version of FOS?
FWIW I agree that the terms can be read either way, and am guessing will be read in whichever way protects the insurance company (shhh don't tell Zollar I said that).
We have to now write to the 'Experience Department' (FFS) to go to the next step.
What I couldn't find out is who regulates a UK insurance company trading overseas?
The providing from country, or local version of FOS?
terzo said:
You left cufflinks and a watch combined worth approximately £4,000 in the boot? I know hindsight is 20/20 but why wouldn't you take small highly valuable items like that into the hotel with you? Also couldn't you have changed the latch on the boot lock so that it can't be opened using the boot release switch in the car? Sounds like it was one of those unfortunate occasions when you forget to lock the car due to being distracted and some scrote has been passing by checking for open cars.
Wasn't a hotel - was a rented flat and everything, I mean everything from Christmas was in the car. Carrying it around was not an option unless I wanted to unpack the boot in the middle of Lowndes Square. Luckily I didn't have to worry about this.Yeah, change the boot release mechanism. On planet earth this doesn't happen to company cars.
Oh, in case you missed it. THE CAR LOCKS ITSELF. Without fail, whether you want it to or not, walk away from it with the fob and it locks. Come back to the car, it unlocks.
Use a scanner as Streaky mentions and it also appears it unlocks.
Streaky - Was it VAG that used the VIN? Seems like the 'safety' measure with old Jags where a smart crack to the front bumper popped the locks. i.e. badly thought out and pointless.
Too many films.
Guy parked next to me was, without doubt a victim of crime. Either that or it was the best performance since Arnie in Twins!
No CCTV in that part of Lowndes Sq. Wrong side for the commission and too far from the tower.
Surprisingly, I knew to look for that. The only camera on that part was a non recording entry camera for one of the apartment blocks.
Guy parked next to me was, without doubt a victim of crime. Either that or it was the best performance since Arnie in Twins!
No CCTV in that part of Lowndes Sq. Wrong side for the commission and too far from the tower.
Surprisingly, I knew to look for that. The only camera on that part was a non recording entry camera for one of the apartment blocks.
Holy thread resurrection.
I don't post here much any more but there are a few who might be interested in this.
After taking this to the Insurance Ombudsman and arguing the various points and definitions the insurance company was instructed to settle the claim. We received a cheque a few weeks back.
Streaky - your input was invaluable.
I don't post here much any more but there are a few who might be interested in this.
After taking this to the Insurance Ombudsman and arguing the various points and definitions the insurance company was instructed to settle the claim. We received a cheque a few weeks back.
Streaky - your input was invaluable.
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