CAR STOLEN- am I screwed ?
Discussion
Going to keep this brief, went on holiday, left car in LHR car park. came back and it was not there.
The panic started as I approached the car park as I realized I no longer had the keys, i have literally no idea what happened to them. Maybe I dropped them or left them in the security tray, or was pick pocketed, no idea.
Am I screwed? Is there anything I can do to mitigate this?
The panic started as I approached the car park as I realized I no longer had the keys, i have literally no idea what happened to them. Maybe I dropped them or left them in the security tray, or was pick pocketed, no idea.
Am I screwed? Is there anything I can do to mitigate this?
nikaiyo2 said:
Going to keep this brief, went on holiday, left car in LHR car park. came back and it was not there.
The panic started as I approached the car park as I realized I no longer had the keys, i have literally no idea what happened to them. Maybe I dropped them or left them in the security tray, or was pick pocketed, no idea.
Am I screwed? Is there anything I can do to mitigate this?
Have you lost your car in the car park? I've done this before!The panic started as I approached the car park as I realized I no longer had the keys, i have literally no idea what happened to them. Maybe I dropped them or left them in the security tray, or was pick pocketed, no idea.
Am I screwed? Is there anything I can do to mitigate this?
Had a mate that did this years back, parked up down a residential terraced street in Eastbourne...came back to find the car had 'gone'. Reported as stolen, went through all the motions with insurance company, etc.
A few months later he had a call from the police, they found the car parked a couple of streets away from where he left it...
A few months later he had a call from the police, they found the car parked a couple of streets away from where he left it...
I realized I did not have the key when I got to where the car "was." I had been away for 10 days and had no need to even think about my keys.
The car is 100% not there, I took a photo of its location in relation to one of the location markers. I have the ticket to allow it out the car park. My car has NEVER left the car park according to the car park people, so someone has changed the number plates to get out!
The car is 100% not there, I took a photo of its location in relation to one of the location markers. I have the ticket to allow it out the car park. My car has NEVER left the car park according to the car park people, so someone has changed the number plates to get out!
Edited by nikaiyo2 on Thursday 13th February 10:15
Sounds a little odd.
Even if you dropped them / left them in the security tray - and by chance they were picked up by somebody who steals cars - they'd then have to walk around all of the Heathrow car parks - both short term and long term - to find your car. And even then, cross their fingers to hope you parked in Heathrow parking and didn't use off site parking.
Even if you left the keys in the car, it seems pretty unlikely that somebody would notice - and that it happens to be somebody who steals cars.
Both are possible, but the odds seem pretty slim.
ETA : Somebody changed the number plates to get out? That would presumably mean that Heathrow parking let a car exit that didn't even have a booking to park there. Do they do that?
Even if you dropped them / left them in the security tray - and by chance they were picked up by somebody who steals cars - they'd then have to walk around all of the Heathrow car parks - both short term and long term - to find your car. And even then, cross their fingers to hope you parked in Heathrow parking and didn't use off site parking.
Even if you left the keys in the car, it seems pretty unlikely that somebody would notice - and that it happens to be somebody who steals cars.
Both are possible, but the odds seem pretty slim.
ETA : Somebody changed the number plates to get out? That would presumably mean that Heathrow parking let a car exit that didn't even have a booking to park there. Do they do that?
Edited by davek_964 on Thursday 13th February 10:18
nw28840 said:
Maybe contact thre car park and ask what day/time they recorded the car havijng left the car park?
Sounds a good shout as a starting point.davek_964 said:
Sounds a little odd.
Even if you left the keys in the car, it seems pretty unlikely that somebody would notice - and that it happens to be somebody who steals cars.
Both are possible, but the odds seem pretty slim.
It strikes me if I was an opportunistic thief I may just wander around airport car parks looking for just such an occurance. i can well imagine with people distracted thinking about their flight or just rushing its not that unusual for people to leave their keys in the ignition.Even if you left the keys in the car, it seems pretty unlikely that somebody would notice - and that it happens to be somebody who steals cars.
Both are possible, but the odds seem pretty slim.
davek_964 said:
ETA : Somebody changed the number plates to get out? That would presumably mean that Heathrow parking let a car exit that didn't even have a booking to park there. Do they do that?
Unless they took the plates off another car in the car park? But it does seem quite an elaborate scheme.Edited by davek_964 on Thursday 13th February 10:18
GT03ROB said:
It strikes me if I was an opportunistic thief I may just wander around airport car parks looking for just such an occurance. i can well imagine with people distracted thinking about their flight or just rushing its not that unusual for people to leave their keys in the ignition.
I get the impression this is the case, the guy from the car park had clearly dealt with this before. He said that they would book an old banger in and then switch plates!
Will me not having keys mean my insurance wont pay out ?
nikaiyo2 said:
I get the impression this is the case, the guy from the car park had clearly dealt with this before. He said that they would book an old banger in and then switch plates!
Will me not having keys mean my insurance wont pay out ?
Even the "old banger" thing seems a bit complicated for stealing cars. Presumably they can't have the old banger registered in their name for obvious reasons. Which means they've had to acquire another car somehow, register it for parking and then dump it in the car park. And they can't take it because that car has already left according to the ANPR.
I'm not really into stealing cars, but I'm sure there are simpler ways.
Edited by davek_964 on Thursday 13th February 10:31
nw28840 said:
Maybe contact thre car park and ask what day/time they recorded the car havijng left the car park?
Surely this! Must be a pretty brazen theft from somewhere so camera monitored such as LHR.Do you need the ticket to exit if pre-paid? I can't remember but thought it was all done by ANPR these days.
reefer110 said:
Had a mate that did this years back, parked up down a residential terraced street in Eastbourne...came back to find the car had 'gone'. Reported as stolen, went through all the motions with insurance company, etc.
A few months later he had a call from the police, they found the car parked a couple of streets away from where he left it...
I did it in London once. On the lash for a weekend, parked in a suburban street where they all look the same. Called the pound, the police etc. About four hours later found it where I parked it. Couple of years ago lost my car in Gatwick car parks. Again several hours later we found it. This was late at night so really annoying. Amazing how your mind things it has something when in reality it doesn't!A few months later he had a call from the police, they found the car parked a couple of streets away from where he left it...
I've often thought that a ringfenced period of stay could easily be implemented where a car cannot leave until a designated time. So if you're away for a week it cannot be removed before the specified time without extra checks, e.g. passport, flight details or similar. Could be a feature that most might ignore, but available for those who want it.
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