Car stolen! Whats my situation insurance wise?

NeptunesMoon

Just finished having a chat with the Garda at my door at 4.15am. My car has been stolen and apparently written off. They have the guy in custody and the car has been towed for forensics to examine it. I'm not allowed see the car until this has been done.

Pretty annoying because I went to bed relatively early last night and had it been a usual night I would have been up and heard the whole thing! The car was locked, but I didn't press the button to turn on the alarm. What does this mean for the insurance? I'm covered for 3rd party fire and theft. The car is worth <2k btw

EDIT: Also if anyone could tell me what to expect in terms of procedure with this kind of thing that'd be great. How long for the insurance to come through, what involvement I'm expected to have in the case, anything like that. Thank you very much

Spitfire666

theft doesnt effect you NCB as far as im aware. i know it doesnt with mine or my parents anyway.
Not letting you see it is normal for evidence reasons.
Should be ready at some stage later today.

Tony Danza

Spitfire666 wrote:

theft doesnt effect you NCB as far as im aware. i know it doesnt with mine or my parents anyway.
Not letting you see it is normal for evidence reasons.
Should be ready at some stage later today.

Really? That's pretty good, I always thought, any claim meant you lost your no claims, must get out the old policy and have another look through it!

Ghupta Yahd

Sorry to hear about your car. Depending on you policy, it could effect your no claims bonus.

Henry Ford III

If you got an insurance discount for having an alarm and didn't activate it, aiding the cars theft, you may have a problem realising the theft claim.

PaddyFagan

Tony Danza wrote:

Really? That's pretty good, I always thought, any claim meant you lost your no claims, must get out the old policy and have another look through it!

I wouldn't be so sure - it depends on the fine print of your insurance policy. My car was taken two years ago (it was later recovered, but I'd gone a long way down the claim route....) - i would have lost my no claims if it hadn't been recovered.

Based on my experience -
1. contact your insurance company they'll register the claim and give you a claim number.
2. You'll then need to send them on the paper work (log book or VLC) for your car, keys etc.
3. They'll assess the car based on the information you've provided them and an inspection of the car.
4. Then they'll make you an offer based on the value of your car - this might be fair, but it could be low - you may need to go back to them with details of similar cars for sale, a statement from a garage who serviced it that it was worth more etc.
5. They'll issue a check and you can go get a replacement.

Some policies cover you for car rental for a fixed period while all this goes on - check when you call them to register the claim.

Sorry to hear about your car and I hope you get it all sorted quickly,

Paddy

Spitfire666

As said, it could affect your policy but i know it doesnt with anyone in my family on theirsso its worth checking out.

Also, not all insurance companies want you to send on the keys straight away in case its recovered soon. some send you a letter telling you to destroy your insurance cert and hold onto the keys but its not gonna be the same accross the board.

Dades

Shame as well about the new set of Pings you had in the boot.

NeptunesMoon

Thanks for the help folks,
Here's the situation;

The car has been recovered and towed away and is most likely written off

They got the guy in custody and the Guards said they'd vouch for any insurance issues.

I dont have the log book for the car. When buying it we both signed all the forms and everything, but I never received the log book and then she went to Australia. Was my first car so wasn't really sure what the correct procedure was.

But I have sinced taxed the car under my name a couple of times.

I am with Quinn Direct

As far as I remember the car is down as worth around 1500 with them.

However the NCT expired recently, and there were a few things that needed to be done with it to get it through.

Just trying to figure out my best option...

Thanks v.much

Anan1

The joyrider is more likely to avoid a prison sentence if he pays for the car, i'd see what the Guards say. Be sure to inform your insurance company immediately, if you haven't done so already.

golden

If you take the necessary precautions ie lock car and remove the key out of the car so far as I am aware you would be insured. Alarm is only a additional deterrent.

I know of a person who inadvertantly left his keys in the ignition of his saab on a petrol forecourt. He was told that as he left the keys in the ignition he was not insured.

Fey!

Sorry to hear about your car.

Ring Quinn with the crime number; from recent experience with them they tend to pay fairly quickly. However, they will want an assessor to see the car first.

Make sure you remove your insurance disc from the car as soon as possible.

milltown

Insurance companies and policies vary on whether theft will affect your NCB. The outcome may also depend on your age and no claims history. A guy in work had his car stolen a few years ago and sent in his claim form. He got a call from the insurance company to ask if he really wanted to claim. They said his no claims bonus (which he would lose) was worth more than they'd be paying him for the car!

Victor

The reason that some companies let it not affect your NCB is because the value of the car is relatively minor compared to the cost of a personal injury claim.