Stolen car should have been garaged

[robnokia]

Friend of mine has had his car stolen off his drive but it should have been garaged. Will he still be able to claim. He hasn't got a reason why he didn't put it in his garage other then that when he got home his friend was parked in the way and then he forgot to but it in the garage. They broke into house and stole keys if that makes a difference

[Ug_lee]

During the day or overnight?

[singlecoil]

Was it a condition of his insurance that it be garaged when not being used?

[robnokia]

Stolen at night, he's insured with elephant I think. He told them when asked it would be garaged but he forgot on this occasion

[Snowboy]

I'd really like to know how this pans out.

I am sure there are loads of opinions on this.
My guess would be the car is covered; iirc they ask where it is usually stored; rather than having the garage as a condition of insurance.

It depends on whether the friends policy is worded like that.

[robnokia]

He's emailed me his policy but it's only two pages long with only reference to a garage being the fact it's garaged over night. Where can I get elephants full terms for his policy, he's logged into his account and can't find them

[zed4]

The insurance usually asks "where is the vehicle usually kept". Not "where is it always kept".

[MGZTV8]

Let's just hope your "friend" has been truthful when they took out cover and didn't just say it was garaged to get a cheaper quote. It has been known for a quick google streetview check to be done which shows in a lot of cases that a garage doesn't even exist!

It would be interesting to see how it goes as insurance company's have heard all the excuses in the book when these kind of things happen.

[robnokia]

He's got a garage he just forgot to put it in

[dazwalsh]

If he usually parks the car in the garage then I think he should be OK, if the garage was full of crap making it impossible to park the car in there then he may have a problem proving that's where he puts it every night.

[007 VXR]

I would say, A can was bloking the drive, so could not park in the garage ?

[Denis O]

It is not unknown for the premium to be cheaper if the car is not garaged overnight. Something about people driving into the garage wall as they park so more accidents when the car is garaged.

I always put on the drive or in the garage so as to cover myself. With 3 cars it could be any of them that go in the garage.

Best people to speak to would be Elephant for clarification. Whatever the putcome, you can't change it now so get the definitive answer from the elephants mouth.

[wildcat45]

I would have thought they would take the "reasonable" Common Law approach.

It is not reasonable to expect the car to be garaged all the time when not in use. There are too many variables.

If the house hasn't got a garage, or if he can't come up with a garage that belongs to a friend, then there may....that is may.....be a problem.

My wife is paranoid about this and it does casue diffiuclty. We have space for two cars on our property but a narrow entrance, so getting one out requires the movement of the other. She won't leave her car on the road - even during the day - because she claims it's not covered on the insurance which has been told the cars are parked off road.

I suppose she is right, but I would have thought it would be reasonable to park on the road outside the house during the day.

[robnokia]

He usually parks it in the garage so he has plenty of space to fit it in, should he take a pic or show forensics when they get round as I get the feeling from a couple of replies that it's automatically assumed your lying

[nickfrog]

Denis O said:

It is not unknown for the premium to be cheaper if the car is not garaged overnight. Something about people driving into the garage wall as they park so more accidents when the car is garaged.

True. More often than not it is cheaper on driveway, the other reason being stuff stored on shelving in the garage falling on cars regularly apparently.

[nickfrog]

Denis O said:

It is not unknown for the premium to be cheaper if the car is not garaged overnight. Something about people driving into the garage wall as they park so more accidents when the car is garaged.

True. More often than not it is cheaper on driveway, the other reason being stuff stored on shelving in the garage falling on cars regularly apparently.

[nickfrog]

Denis O said:

It is not unknown for the premium to be cheaper if the car is not garaged overnight. Something about people driving into the garage wall as they park so more accidents when the car is garaged.

True. More often than not it is cheaper in driveway, the other reason being stuff stored on shelving in the garage falling on cars regularly apparently.

[98elise]

He needs to speak to his insurance company, whatever happens he shouldn't lie. He might see a small reduction in the pay out, but he might not. Unless he has a classic policy, which often says it must be garaged, then its not going to be a mandatory clause.

I always say drive, but if my car was garaged one night then I doubt it would mean its not insured. Its just used to build up your risk profile. Some companies will find garaged cars are damaged more often, so may charge more for it being garaged.

[Dog Star]

There are a couple of options that I have seen with garaging - my car and bikes are all garaged, bike garaging is compulsory between 2200 and 0600.

Over the years I've seen
- doubled excess if vehicle not in garage between 2200 and 0600.
- theft cover inoperative when vehicle not in garage between 2200 and 0600.

I think this is fair enough; without this people will claim they're garaging the vehicle and won't, since their garage will be full of crap or they're too lazy. (Mine goes in the garage straightaway due to falling tree sap and bird poo).

The worst one I ever saw (I didn't take the cover) was "no theft cover if vehicle outside garage". At all. Any time of day. Including if I was outside cleaning the bike, nipped in to the house for a wee and in the meantime some 3.14 key grabs bike and throws it in the back of a van

[All that jazz]

It's Elephant. One of the most complained about insurance companies (it's a marketing name for one of the well known ones iirc). I'll bet a tenner that they refuse to pay out.