Quad Motorcycle

Sometimes, it seems like insurance isn’t worth it. As the recession has affected insurance companies as well as the rest of us, and insurance fraud is at an all time high, many customers feel that insurance companies are being tighter over claims, and in some cases, avoiding a pay out altogether. So is there anything you can do?

Reading your policy is the first thing that should be done. You should find out exactly what you are covered for, in order to avoid any nasty surprises later on. For example, there have been cases where people were leaving their cars running unattended outside their house on very cold mornings, so the car was defrosted and nice and warm ready for the morning drive to work. Foolish I know, and some unlucky souls had their cars stolen as a result. Naturally, insurance companies were not too happy about paying out claims for such daft behaviour when the problem could have been avoided entirely, and so most policies now have an endorsement on them denying any claims if the car was taken using the keys.

With me so far? OK, this is the rub: Stealing a modern car is extremely difficult without access to the keys. So what do thieves do? They simply take the keys instead, and then the car, but because of the aforementioned clause, there have been cases where people have lost out when their insurance companies have refused to pay out. In the case of being burgled first, there is probably grounds to appeal against a decision such as this, especially if it’s backed up by evidence of forcible entry to your home, but the thieves have some very clever methods up their sleeves…

In one example a person’s keys were stolen through their letter box using a fishing rod. In another example, a thief nipped into an owner’s house while he was pre-occupied mowing his lawn. In these types of circumstances, being turned down by your car insurance company would feel very unfair, and could lead to a sizeable loss. And it’s also unlikely your house insurance would provide any help or cover for this.

So the message is, don’t leave your car keys anywhere obvious or visible near your front door or any open windows. Your keys will be harder to steal if a thief doesn’t know where they are. Many people also leave their house keys in the door when they go to bed at night.  This seems like a perfectly innocent thing to do, but again, with a bent coat hanger and knowing where the lock is from it’s position on the outside, your house keys could go walkies too. And to add to the misery, many people keep their car keys on the same ring. Unfortunately, simple things like this can cost you dear, as thieves get increasingly sophisticated.

Lastly, if you have an alarm, always set it. If your car or property insurance company knows you have an alarm, (your price might have been reduced because of it), you will be expected to use it, and you could lose out if you don’t.  

Tags: car insurance, home insurance, house insurance, property insurance