Someone has stolen our car !!!

EXACTLY ...... she looses out on just about everything while whoever stole it, is having a whale of a time, not giving two sh*ts to the devestation they left behind

Claire - does this mean that just because we have told them it has been stolen (as advised to by the police) that her premiums will rocket anyway even if we dont claim at all ??

Fran has already said she isnt going to claim after what the insurance company told her yesterday and just try to save up and buy another one herself. Pretty tough with the climate as it is though as she has only just left college after doing a pre-teaching course and is taking a year out before starting uni so is working in a bar in town to get cash - needless to say minimum wage but at least she has some work which is better than most of her friends who cant get any job, anywhere!


I havent yet rang the insurance company myself, but I will seeing as we are paying for the policy anyway! Just got so much on my plate at the moment its just stressing me out too much.

Other halfs nan died last week so down to Weymouth tomorrow till Sunday for the arrangements and funeral etc.

Found out yesterday our dog isnt pregnant after mating her - scan showed she was empty :(

Plus all the normal stuff from having a demanding job, 4 kids and two dogs!


It never rains but pours eh!!

 

Claire - does this mean that just because we have told them it has been stolen (as advised to by the police) that her premiums will rocket anyway even if we dont claim at all ??


The way it works is this.....................you ring someone, answer all their questions and when they are done they click "enter", in front of the salesperson is a long list of companies that offer quotes. Each of these companies offer different things-lower excesses, discounts for certain cars, securtiy devices etc-but the salesman gives you the cheapest quote and then goes through the excesses etc-it is very much like the way it is desplayed when you go through comparethemarket.com etc. During the process you are asked about thefts, attempted thefts and vandalism. If you answer yes to any of these questions certain companies won't give a price-and even if they do they will load the premium. You must have heard of something called a "target market"? that is what they are trying to ascertain-are YOU their target market? If you are-you're quids in, but if you aren't...............well they offer a stupid quote like £4899.87 per yr. You would never choose them.



Short answer to your question is therefore yes-absolutely she will be penalised for a theft even if you don't claim. They assess the risk of a claim-and a theft in one area increases the risk of it happening again-and the premiums quoted will reflect that.


If she is a student ( which she is-even though she is currently on a gap year) then I recommend Endsleigh Insurance-I used to work for them and they train their staff to an extremely high standard, however I won't be working for them or any insurance company ever again-it is a horrible job-I could tell you some stories, not just about how the general customer is manipulated but how the public treat each other during a claim.


To be spoken to like cr*p because of the fact that you work for an insurance company is pretty much the reason why I quit and won't ever return-but to be lied to on a daily basis is also part of the reason-I'm not saying that everyone lies to their insurance company or that a lot of people do, but enough do to create a very hostile and suspicious situation when a claim is made. I know some companies have lie detectors connected to their claims departments phone lines-hence the reason for the existence of organisations like MIAFTR. Horrible, horrible job.


But by far the worst part is that you were stolen from-it is the criminal who is responsible, not you, not the police and not the company. Until we put in place serious consequences for crimes like this we will get nowhere.

 

The worst bit about car thieves and how the law treats them is that after stealing your car, they will then drive like a complete maniac. If they hit another car then the other driver loses out (having been hit by an uninsured driver), and if they actually kill someone through their stupidity they'll serve maybe 3 years in jail for causing death by dangerous driving, which is a much lesser offence than murder or manslaughter. It makes my blood boil. I even heard a couple chavs bragging once about a car they'd nicked a few days before hand. I was going to give them a good hiding but the wife insisted I leave it.

As far as I'm concerned a car in the wrong hands is more dangerous than a loaded gun. If you take a two tonne object at 70+ mph it can do an awful lot of damage. By that logic it follows that car thieves should get a mandatory jail term of at least 5 years (the same as being caught with a firearm in public) even if they don't hit anyone or anything. More if they cause damage, injury or death, plus they should get hammered for the theft part of it in the first place, rather than just being told off and told not to do it again.

 

As far as I'm concerned a car in the wrong hands is more dangerous than a loaded gun.


I was taught to drive by my Dad who said that I was driving an oversized bullet and should always be aware of it so I agree with you Clueless.

 

Your both right, a car in the wrong hands is leathal! hence why i dont drive because i know i would not make a good driver - far too easily distracted and have to shut me eyes in the dark when other cars appear with their lights on!

This is probably very wrong of me ,.... but I hope whoever has stolen it crashes and seriously hurts themselves - a permanent injury too! (although i do hope they dont hurt anyone else in the meantime).

I wouldnt want them to die ..... just be crippled enough so that everytime they have to get someone to wipe their a*se for them, they remember exactly what they did!!!!

Sorry - but am still VERY angry. At them. The police and the insurance system !!!

 

You have nothing to apologise for Sam-I to have little sympathy with criminals. If I ruled the world things would be very different. How many hours it takes for a family to earn that amount of spare cash-and the little barstewards get let off with nothing more than a telling off!.


I know why you are angry and I agree with you.

 

I think thats what makes it worse (if it can get any worse!) is knowing we both work hard for everything we have (no rich relatives here that just give us money!) ..... and then you have people who just think its ok to steal!!!!

Guess I am also just pee'd off we spent so much on our own car now. Lovely car and prob the best car we have ever brought ourselves really ..... but had we spent less then we could have just gone out and replaced her car tomorrow so at least she wasnt so gutted.

I hate seeing her so sad :(

Not to mention her "real mother" (and i use those words VERY loosely) even had the nerve to blame us for the car being stolen ....... how the F she works that out is beyond me!!! Not that is has anything to do with her anyway. She didnt even ring the girl on her birthday let alone buy her the car!!

Guess thats a whole nother story though ......

 

Another story we both share then Sam. Stuff that bee-atch!!

 

Years ago a car full of lads came cruising down my mam's street, they were leaning out the windows and shouting stuff at passers-by. They chucked some sort of pink liquid (fortunately not paint) over dad's white car as they went past. Later that day it was on the local news that there'd been a fatal crash involving some lads in a stolen car, they'd hit something and then gone head-on into a wall apparently. From the description of the car and from eye witness accounts of the behaviour of the lads in the car, I'm pretty sure it was the lot I'd seen. My attitude was that it was four less idiots on the loose. I guess I should have had some sympathy, and I'm usually quite a left-wing beardie, but I couldn't muster any sympathy for them. For their families, yes, certainly, for them, no.

 

Good to hear Karma does sometimes work.

 

In my measly experience of life I have found that I can always rely on Karma

 

Just back from the funeral ....... we have found the car.

Our daughter found it herself on so we legged it up there as soon as we got back (about 20 mins walk from the house) and drove it back ourselves.

Rang the police to tell them - seems we are in trouble for not allowing them to tow it away to their compound (and charge us £150 for the privilleage). Someone will be in touch apparently.

Tut

Lady at police station said they will be out to look at it, and they may well decide to still take it to the compound .... and they we will still have to pay £150 !!!

Ermmm excuse me ... it was parked in a well seen place and they havent even bothered to look for it in a week so why the hell should we now pay you to do your job ???????!!!!!!!!!!?????????

Daughter is sooooooooo happy she has it back. Door was bent (where they crow barred it open) but we have bent it back, and the ignition is gone but can be replaced.

Just await what the police decide to do now !!

 

great news sam you have found the car but i cant believe the police would take it back to their compound it is after all your daughters car and i cant believe the police didnt spot it, couldnt have been looking that much for it, im just shocked to hear all this great injustice to say the least, do hope they dont do that and charge you all that money, let us know outcome

 

Sam, I'm glad you got it back relatively intact.

The coppers these days just don't seem to care. I'm not sure what you can do about it in practice, maybe a letter to your local MP or a formal complaint? My mother-in-law's neighbour contacted the local newspaper when they found themselves in a similar situation, and the coppers back pedaled a bit in their case and waived the £150 recovery fee.

Now you've got the car back, after the coppers have had time to not bother taking finger prints off it, it may be worth getting it looked over at a garage, just in case its been ragged about and suffered any damaged to the likes of brakes and suspension. Most local garages will only charge about £20 for a quick check-up, and it gives you peace of mind that the brakes haven't been burnt out or the suspension hasn't been pummeled into oblivion. Then its off to the scrappy for a new door and ignition barrel - Corsas are common enough motors so should be no trouble finding the bits for it, and maybe a Disclock for the steering. Ordinary crook locks are not that great, as they actually help a knowledgeable thief to take the car (it was explained to me by a mechanic, I won't go into the details on t'internet where anybody can read it).

 

A friend of a friend worked in a college, where they had several naughty people - ones who think nicking a car is fun, and he asked his class what type of car steering wheel locking device should he go for, and two things the people said to him, one was like clueless says a disclock, may be on the pricey side, but worth the money, and they will always try and take a car with the steering lock that's sat on the back seat, as it's the easiest car to take........

Glad you got your car back, when mine went 'missing' on my birthday - several years ago, the police were not too bad. The found it within about an hour, but you couldn't have missed where they had parked it if you know what I mean. The longest thing was the AA man trying to get the ignition barrel off so that I could drive the care safely again.