Theft - to claim or not to claim...

[nky_84]

Went to get in the car home after work to discover smashed rear window and 2 sets of golf clubs missing :-(. Car was parked in a mixed residential and business parking with no direct cctv cover. Exit routes are covered to some extent but it was probably dark. I went out during the day, so i know it happened between 3.30pm and 6pm. Have notified the police and have a claim number but all they could offer was to tell me to start looking round the local cash converters..

Some details:

• The car is my gf's and i'm a named driver on the policy
• The rear window has been smashed and there are bad scratches on the rear door windows where they failed to smash them.
• Doesn't appear to be any other damage
• 2 sets of golf clubs, one very new worth approx £1,000 and the other 10 years old, worth £150, but £500+ when new.
• Girlfriend has 6 years NCB, i have 9, neither have protected NCB
• Car is worth approx £8k
• Both with Direct Line
• There is a £450 excess on gf's policy.
• Insurance is up for renewal 1/12/14 @ £200 per year
• We have house contents insurance with LV.

Questions:

• Should / can i claim for the clubs on contents insurance?
• Should everything go on the car insurance. Hers or mine?
• Will the insurance company cover the new cost of both sets of clubs?
• There is a £75 windscreen excess, is this the same for rear and side windows?
• Should we claim for the windows and forget the clubs?
• Should we not claim at all for a relatively low expense and not impact NCB?
• Will NCB be reset to 0 or a few years knocked off?

Appreciate any advice or previous experiences that people can share.

Thanks,
Nick

[sjg]

Check your cover, but when my rear and side window got smashed I did it via the glass cover on my insurance - £50 excess only.

Cover for items within the car tends to be pretty low though. When I had a car stolen, I'd left a decent socket set and other tools in the boot on top of the usual things like sunglasses, ipod, etc. Total on my cover was £100.

May be worth looking into whether your home contents insurance covers things like sports equipment when away from home, although I've not usually seen that unless you've specified you need it.

[Sheepshanks]

As above - most unlikely the car policy will cover for golf clubs. Glass should be OK though.

Your contents policy might cover them but you might need to have added personal possessions cover. Not clear from your description which part of the car the clubs were in - I think most only cover if locked in the boot. If the car was a hatch or estate you might be in some difficulty if they were on view.

[WolfAir]

Very sorry to hear mate. I f*ckin' hate scum that do this, I had my own car broken into twice in the same week, first time my subwoofer got stolen rear windscreen smashed and the second time was at a cinema where my uni bag, mp3 juke box and cds got taken. Hope you get it sorted which ever way you go.

[littlebasher]

Chances are your clubs are on Gumtree or in the nearest Cash Converters. May be worth seeing if you can track them down, especially if they were pawned out to a shop, as you'll likely get them back.

[nky_84]

Quick update that might help someone else if they are unlucky enough to run into this problem...

• Glass replacement was relatively straight forward an hassle free, albeit £75 excess
• Contents insurance can cover personal possessions outwith the home, but its an optional extra (with LV at least)
• Direct Line state they cover personal possessions as part of the fully comp policy but only up to the value of £100, with a £450 excess and loss of NCB...
• If i was going to claim, it would be on the cars policy, not the drivers

Been searching gumtree and ebay and also been round the local car boot sales but nothing, so unlikely to ever see them again :-(