to think that if some yob smashes your car window.....

[bonkerz]

but realises there is nothing of value so smashes the rear windscreen and then leaves the car doors open and runs away that the police should log it as attempted theft adn not criminal damage?

This has happened to me today and because we have taken the advice of police and insurers and removed all goods of value we have now been told its not theft its criminal damage and that our insurance will not cover us!

i hope the police are getting something from the insurers cos its not fair that i am now ALOT of money down thanks to mindless idiots who like to smash car windows!

That is really bad, will your insurance not cover it at all??

Bloody little shits,

We had our window smashed by a thug with a baseball bat when inside - we fully knew his intentions. To me that was nearly attempted murder, or GBH or something. Nothing was done.

Are you absolutely SURE nothing was taken, you have not forgotten even a little thing that was in the car and is now gone?

we found it at 6am and i rang police straight away and reported it.
Rang insurance at 9am who said it is covered if its logged as attempted theft with police. Then they rang back and said police have logged it as criminal damage so im not covered.
Police say that if it was one window smashed it would be attempted thefts but 2 windows (they smashed driver rear and rear windscreen) is criminal damage!

Have spent all morning hoovering up glass, getting family to take DS to his respite carer and trying to sort out this whole mess.
Now im not so angry at the thugs who did it as i know they will get what they are owed but im furious that the police can assume its not attempted theft and that insurers can hide behind this wording.

Im out of pocket by a large sum, police dont want to know, they not even been out to get the bricks that were in the car or to see the damage!

Check your insurance policy it should tell you about window cover, as far as i am aware you should only have to pay roughly £60 towards each one broken and the insurers pay the rest. see if you can find the glass repairers in your policy, and phone them, otherwise get back on to your insurers, look at your policy

lol mumdrivemad........only after i had told insurance and police did it dawn on me that if i had said i had left my satnav/laptop/ipod etc in car and it was missing then i would have been fine! unfortunately i dont have the guts to lie to police and insurers.......i do have some principles and morals although i cant guarentee i would be able to find them if it happens again! ;)

rechecked policy and it does state full cover if attempted theft and mentiona nothing about criminal damage. i only have 3rd party as car not worth much but would have thought with a crime number i would have been covered! why else would someone smash my windows unless it is to nick something!

I wasn't suggesting that you lie to them, but it can take you a while to process what has happened in your head. If you lost your handbag today could you list EVERYTHING that is in there off the top of your head? I know I couldn't. BTW if they left the doors open, why did they need to do that if they were not planning to steal from your car, if it WAS simple criminal damage they would not have bothered would they? Think about any tools, or a first aid kit, safety eqipment for the car, is there anything like that missing?

sadly there was nothing in the car at all anyway to steal. both booster seats were left, radio is still there and all paperwork from glovebox is there too.
criminal damage or attempted theft......surely that shouldnt matter, fact is my property was violated leaving considerable damage and me, the victim, is left paying the price. The police dont give a shit and nor do the insurers.

A bit late now I know, but I have always had fully comp insurance simply because they will cover your glass, and it has never been very much more that 3rd party would be. When I was sorting out my very first insurance, it was just £2 more!! I foolishly left my bag in a hired car while I was taking my DT into my DF's house, the little front glass and the main glass on the drivers door were smashed,and the bag was gone. It turned up later in the woods and was all mouldy, there was no money in it BTW, so I do feel for you, the little bastards should be made to pay for the damage they do, but that is just wishfull thinking.

There is a difference in how criminal damage and attempted theft are dealt with by courts. Criminal damage under a certain amount can only be dealt with by a magistrates court where as attempted theft can be dealt with by either a magistrates or a crown court. So yes it does matter.

However YANBU to be annoyed about your car being damaged.

What do you mean by "i hope the police are getting something from the insurers"? That doesn't make sense to me.

Are you sure nothing was taken from the car, maybe a cd or a kids toy?

Are you sure you didn't leave some cash in there that you have only just remembered about? fuck that's ridiculous. Bloody cheating insurance companies

Surely if you had 3rd party only insurance they wouldn't cover theft anyway? You would need TPF&T for that surely?

FTR I have found that there is virtually no difference between TPO and TPF&T policies in price, so TPO is a waste of the paper it's written on.

i have third party fire and theft sorry not 3rd party only!
i really wish something had been stolen but it hasnt. there really was nothing in the car apart from 2 booster seats, an umberella and rubbish. Its our smaller second car! only used for dh to get to and from work!
ljgibbs, my comment was made with a sarcastic tone TBH.....the police assumed it was criminal damage, have not been out or even phoned me since initial call at 6.30am and i felt this morning like the police were covering the backs of the insurers by saying it was criminal damage.......the drivers side door was open......surely that means they broke the window of my car to gain entry which is attempted theft.

all sorted now but im feeling completely drained by the whole days events and very bitter. I need cider adn a good night out!

was the glove box or any other compartments open at all? Surely if they were that would prove they were attempting to steal soemthing.

clutchign at straws I know but just trying to help

thanks gingernut, ive been clutching at straws all day. the police have not even been out so i think i have to chalk it up as experience! drivers door wide open so they obviously went in the car for something but glovebox is empty apart from manuals for car which are still there and boot had umberella and a rain mac thing. police knew this but said its criminal damage

Unfortunatley, it is right that this situation is not an attempt theft but a criminal damage.
As there as been no attempt to steal your car, even if they had been inside it at this stage it is hard to PROVE that the reason they were inside the car was to steal anything. That is not to say that if there had been anything to steal they wouldnt have done IYSWIM?
But you cant attempt to steal something that isnt there??
However what can be proved is that the car has been damaged, which is why the police will only record a damage crime.
If they had been messing with the steering column then that is defo an attempt theft.

Sorry, i know thats not what you want to hear, but thought i would give you an explanation.