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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask if you've ever had your car stolen?

83 replies

Loafingaround · 09/11/2016 07:13

Woken up to find bastard got in through a tiny window, found car keys (for nicer car) and its been nicked. All of us- 2 small DC sleeping upstairs.
What are chances its found and we get it back- none? Do you think insurance will stay pay out? our double buggy, car seat, basically so much of my life is in that car...just utterly shocked.

OP posts:

ForgotStuff · 09/11/2016 15:15

You should double check that the insurance coves you, they might try not to pay as you left the window open.

Our household insurance won't pay out if we leave doors or windows open it unlocked.

Fortitudine · 09/11/2016 15:22

I had my first car stolen from a car park about 25 years ago. Ford Fiesta, never found. Some years later had a Ford Focus stolen from outside the house - it was found dumped on an estate about 5 miles away, stripped of car seats, tyres, engine, radio.

vindscreenviper · 09/11/2016 15:23

SoleBizzz afaik once the insurers pay out the car belongs to them, I was allowed to retrieve my stuff once the CSI people had finished with car and the insurers said I could keep it even though they had paid out for replacements for everything from the child seats to the PE kits.

Littlepleasures · 09/11/2016 15:30

We were at the swimming baths. Came out to find car gone. Was found later that night smashed up and pushed into a river a mile away. Was a real shock at the time but the insurance paid exactly the same as we'd paid for it when we bought it 2 years previously. As it had rust holes in the doors I don't think we'd have been able to sell it for even half that. We used the money for a deposit on a brand new car. Funnily enough, we were able to retrieve the child car seats which weren't damaged at all.

RoastitBubblyJocks · 09/11/2016 15:38

You should double check that the insurance coves you, they might try not to pay as you left the window open.
Our household insurance won't pay out if we leave doors or windows open it unlocked.

This shouldn't matter as a) the house wasn't unoccupied and b) the car insurance policy doesn't have anything to do with the home insurance policy.

CatThiefKeith · 09/11/2016 15:45

Some bastard nicked my beloved MKII Escort Ghia back in 1992. Never saw it again, but it took me years to stop looking for it. I hope you have better luck.

Oblomov16 · 09/11/2016 15:53

Yes. Years ago in Bristol. They did it in front of me! Was found abandoned (run out of petrol) the next day. Was so relieved.

Pooka · 09/11/2016 15:54

We had TWO cars nicked one night by thieves using flexible surveyors rods to get through the letterbox and round to a hook.

One was mine, 6 weeks old. Recovered the day the insurance company said they were ordering me a brand new one, having been crashed during an armed robbery, and given that it was so new it was economical to repair.

Dh's was never seen again - was the target car, nicked to order. Bit of a hot hatch, desirable. It had a tracker but was lost when driven into an underground car park, tracker removed and by the time we woke and found it missing, police reckoned it was on a shipping container being taken overseas.

Dh replaced his for another. We were burgled twice by scrotes trying to get the keys (he used to cycle to work quite often so was parked outside during the day). The day I came home to the house turned upside down and nothing taken (he had the keys with him) with getaway parked outside (think the actual burglar escaped over the back fence, having bolted the front door to slow me down) was the day we decided to sell it and buy a less desirable car for dh. Bastards.

Dopeydonut · 09/11/2016 15:56

DHs mum had her 1 year old Jaguar XF stolen from her driveway. Had a supermarket delivery and police think they took keys with them after delivering shopping and returned later to steal car. Car was found 3 days later as he been parked in a resident only bay. Resident who owned bay called police and was found that way . Police said that these days because so many cars have gps/trackers thieves often steal them, park them somewhere inconspicuous for a few days, if not found/tracked by police they then go on to resell/ship out of the country.

Aworldofmyown · 09/11/2016 16:05

We had our car stolen from the drive whilst we were asleep, it was horrible.

The home and car insurance companies did pay out, was a right pain though. They also stole the keys to our 2nd car, so we had to claim on 3 insurances.

BobbieDog · 09/11/2016 16:11

Pooka.

What car was it?

ForgotStuff · 09/11/2016 16:15

This shouldn't matter as a) the house wasn't unoccupied and b) the car insurance policy doesn't have anything to do with the home insurance policy.

Lol, I do realise that the home insurance has nothing to do with the car insurance. I was just suggesting she check her car insurance to see if it had a similar requirement. Also, fact people were home would make no difference. A lot (most?) Home insurance would still not cover you.

LBOCS2 · 09/11/2016 16:23

Had our car (a mkII micra) stolen a couple of years ago. Spent a very puzzled 10 minutes on the phone to DH ("are you SURE you haven't moved it?!") before realising.

They got £600 worth of 'stuff' (including our buggy), 2x car seats, my spare glasses, my favourite scarf (still sore about that), all sorts - as well as the car. As it was the car insurance covered the car's value (more than, in fact, IMO), plus the seats and £100 of contents, then I claimed on our home contents insurance for everything else.

RoastitBubblyJocks · 09/11/2016 16:26

Forgot I don't think that's right. Your home insurer should still cover you if you were at home and something happened. It's different if you're away from the house and leave the house unsecured.

Most car insurance policies will have a clause saying they won't pay of the keys are left in the vehicle - eg you pop into the corner shop and leave the keys in the ignition, or leave the car on your drive running to defrost the windscreen when you're in the house. But if you're in the car with your keys then that's different. And so the keys being in your unlocked house wouldn't trigger that exclusion.

And a breach of the terms of the car insurance policy wouldn't mean your home insurer could turn down your claim (which is what I meant by the two separate policies comment).

kierenthecommunity · 09/11/2016 16:55

I've had two cars stolen.

Years ago my first car, an Astra, was broken into and driven across the city, then abandoned. The police said someone had probably nicked it to get home. I wish they'd knocked and asked for a lift as they made a right mess of it.

My second was last year when the house was broken into. All my big IKEA bags were laid out so I assume they'd planned to clear the house, but my neighbour (whose house was also screwed) came home so they just made off in the car. With my Percy Pig money. And some beer from the fridge, the fuckers. Car was found the next day, they'd kerbed it and burst a tyre but it was intact. I saw the pic of it being recovered on twitter before the police told me though!

A lot of cars are nicked to carry stolen goods from several burglaries and then abandoned, so you have a reasonable chance it'll turn up. Fingers crossed!

pugsake · 09/11/2016 17:02

Yes by my dickhead ex and his friend when I was younger.

Friend payed for the repairs and impound fee. Ended up dating for a bit...

I had horrendous taste in men in my younger years.

Pigeonpost · 09/11/2016 17:06

Mine got stolen years ago from outside my work. Turned up abandoned in the next town full of needles and other assorted drug taking paraphanalia. Wasn't worth much initially (crappy Metro) the insurers said it was a commercial write off. I went out and bought a new car. Then we disagreed with the insurers over the value and they said if you thinks it worth that much then we'll repair it and you can have it back. So got it back and then sold it privately.

LurkingHusband · 09/11/2016 17:06

When the insurance pay out and the car is found in a driveable state what happens then?

The car belongs to the insurance company.

MissHemsworth · 09/11/2016 17:07

MIL got car nicked but they always left car keys in the ignition. It was found a few days later down the road. Sister also had hers nicked she left them in her front door & an opportunist stole the car. It was also recovered.

Pooka · 09/11/2016 19:53

bobbiedog

First nick able car was a golf gti. I hated it. But still. (And mine was an smax which is apparently v good for ram raids and armed robberies)
The replacement was a lovely Audi s3 sporty thing. :(

Pooka · 09/11/2016 19:54

Oh and mine had 3 car seats which needed replacing (crashed car) and a pushchair and a scooter. The car insurance coughed up for everything.

BobbieDog · 09/11/2016 19:57

Pooka

Ahh so a mixture of cars there.

Does it make you nervous at home of it happening again?

Was your insurance sky high the next time you came to re new?

mintthins · 09/11/2016 20:03

We had two stolen in one night. Our front door locks were picked, wallets and car keys stolen from the drawer in the kitchen. Both were highly desirable, and DHs was only a couple of weeks old. Mine turned up 18months later on an industrial estate, interior trashed, and the police reckoned DHs was in a container being shipped abroad before we even woke.

We didn't have any problems with insurance either in claiming, or in renewing the next year.

Pooka · 09/11/2016 20:19

No not really - just we've modified our feelings about cars. Wouldn't buy the ones the policemen listed as particularly desirable for nicking to order (Lexus, Range Rover, golf gti, zippy audis). I suppose we've just decided it's not worth bringing potential trouble to the door again so I have an smax still (was a bonus car for the robbers, police said would have been sold straight on to nefarious folk) and dh has an old and not remotely interesting Audi). It's a shame because you feel aggrieved that you have to think about that when you buy a car (round here at least - car crime/theft to order is the number one crime) when you should be able to buy a 'nice' car with impunity. But they're only cars and I was comforted that despite having access to our house the first time (house keys on fob) they weren't remotely interested in coming into the house, and the other time they stole nothing at all - only interested in the car.

Re: insurance premiums, actually they didn't go up significantly despite my claim being about £8000 all told and dh's being significantly more to get replacement value for his car, as he had some kind of insurance that paid out like for like rather than depreciation value I think. We've never had any other claims and now have more than 6 years no claims. Plus the replacement cars are worth less (mine because of depreciation and his because he downgraded).

ForgotStuff · 09/11/2016 21:12

Roastit I am no expert but I know that my home insurance would require a window downstairs to be locked if we were upstairs. We have high value items in the house so maybe it's not a requirement in other households. I also know someone who was burgled when they were asleep upstairs and the insurance company wouldn't pay out, however in that case they gained access through an unlocked patio door.

I guess the best advice is for everyone to check their own policies.

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