Dumb idea or not?

[GG.]

Dumb. It's just a car. You have insurance. DWAI.

Have you ever dealt with a car theft claim out of interest? Trust me "forget about it - its got insurance" is not a fun position to be in. Without stating what I'd think to be the obvious 1) you have to cross your fingers and hope they pay out and don't try and wriggle out of it, otherwise you're typically on the hook to pay off any the balance of any finance, in full, within a very short time period and 2) if and when they pay out it may be insufficient to buy back what you had. Both causes of massive anxiety and stress and much better to secure what you have for the sake of a few hundred quid for a good immobilser and tracker if its a high value + desirable car...

If they try to steal it and leave it immobile on your drive, it's hardly a better position to be in.

Not sure why you'd have to pay the finance off in full within an accelerated timescale; you're only obliged to pay the usual finance payments surely? Or is that an unregulated deal?

No - most finance contracts specifically taken out against the car will require immediate repayment if the insurance doesn’t pay out. Standard mandatory prepayment event - their collateral has evaporated and you are in breach of the covenant to keep the asset insured.

From my experience I’ve learned that most criminals will simply move on if it is made hard for them. They’re after easy pickings.

[GG.]

Dumb. It's just a car. You have insurance. DWAI.

Have you ever dealt with a car theft claim out of interest? Trust me "forget about it - its got insurance" is not a fun position to be in. Without stating what I'd think to be the obvious 1) you have to cross your fingers and hope they pay out and don't try and wriggle out of it, otherwise you're typically on the hook to pay off any the balance of any finance, in full, within a very short time period and 2) if and when they pay out it may be insufficient to buy back what you had. Both causes of massive anxiety and stress and much better to secure what you have for the sake of a few hundred quid for a good immobilser and tracker if its a high value + desirable car...

I concur with the honorable Gentleman from dat dere London! Total PITA.

I would still prefer the cars to be gone, rather than either given up with smashed bits on the drive, or recovered before the pay out!

The crims aren’t stupid though - cases with aggravating factors such as assault against the person or aggressive criminal damage are massively more likely to involve police resources being actively allocated to the case and them being pursued. Most of the time they won’t bother. I’d be happy to repair a broken window and keep the car though agree if the trim has been ripped to pieces I’d not but that happens when they’ve taken it and know they’re being pursued by virtue of a hidden tracker - I’m talking about immobilisation where the car is never taken.

After my phone got stolen recently the officer allocated to me said in conversation over the phone that the guys nicking phones on a regular basis will just drop it if there is any type of struggle as they know that the police prioritise cases where theft is aggravated by assault and battery or worse and the criminal sanctions applied also increase dramatically.

[Jobbo]

Have you ever dealt with a car theft claim out of interest? Trust me "forget about it - its got insurance" is not a fun position to be in. Without stating what I'd think to be the obvious 1) you have to cross your fingers and hope they pay out and don't try and wriggle out of it, otherwise you're typically on the hook to pay off any the balance of any finance, in full, within a very short time period and 2) if and when they pay out it may be insufficient to buy back what you had. Both causes of massive anxiety and stress and much better to secure what you have for the sake of a few hundred quid for a good immobilser and tracker if its a high value + desirable car...

If they try to steal it and leave it immobile on your drive, it's hardly a better position to be in.

Not sure why you'd have to pay the finance off in full within an accelerated timescale; you're only obliged to pay the usual finance payments surely? Or is that an unregulated deal?

No - most finance contracts specifically taken out against the car will require immediate repayment if the insurance doesn’t pay out. Standard mandatory prepayment event - their collateral has evaporated and you are in breach of the covenant to keep the asset insured.

From my experience I’ve learned that most criminals will simply move on if it is made hard for them. They’re after easy pickings.

You’re not in breach - it’s insured and the subject of a claim. I think I’d be going straight to the FCA if my finance company wanted full payment while I was waiting for the insurance payout.

[GG.]

Sorry - think we’re talking at cross purposes - I’m talking about where the claim was declined. At that point (from personal experience) the t’s and c’s said you personally need to repay the balance within a short period. I’d need to check what that period was but it wasn’t longer than 30 days.

Being in a situation where if the insurer declines a claim (even if you then take them to court to dispute) and you have 30 days to find £45,000 is not a fun hypothetical to have running through your head for a couple of weeks!

[Jobbo]

Why would you anticipate a theft claim being declined? If your car is actually insured and is stolen then it shouldn’t be. Is that what happened to you?

[GG.]

No thankfully it was fine but there are incidences of people having claims declined for keyless car theft - especially where there is a key missing or no other evidence. Fortunately I had both keys as only purchased the car a couple of weeks before (plus no quibbling over value as it was so recent and therefore no market apprasial needed to be done). I also had CCTV of what happened but that might not be the case for everyone.

[Jobbo]

@Rich B So your security worked then?

[Rich B]

@Rich B So your security worked then?

i think having my neighbours use my drive was probably of more use, but yep - safe.

[V8Granite]

@Rich B So your security worked then?

i think having my neighbours use my drive was probably of more use, but yep - safe.

When is the wheel and wheel arch being repaired ?

Dave!