# Car Break-in and Insurance cover



## Tommy (25 Apr 2003)

Last week i had the misfortune to leave a few bits of shopping sitting on the back seat of my parked car. When i returned a short time later, the shoping was gone and the back seat was beautifully decorated with sparkly glass chips.. very exoitic.
I managed to get a company to install a new window at a reasonable rate which i didnt mind paying as my comprehensive car insurance covers replacement windows with a 35 excess, but then i hear well you must go to one of our fitters to get your windows so sorry but you have to pay the first 70 yourself. Not much point in bothering to claim as the window only cost 120.
Next to the shopping, i have automatic cover of stolen items up to a value of 300, and about 180 was stolen. When i mentioned this insurnace company said hmm.. well, you would loose your no cliams bonus and your premium will probably rise as a result of your claim.

So what the hell are we paying insurance for if in the event of a incident like this making a claim  for damages incurred would in the long term cost your more that the value of damage caused. Surely there must be systems put inplace to protect the innocent person in these circumstances.



Topic title edited - Tommy


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## Dearg Doom (25 Apr 2003)

*Re: Not really a question, more of a rant.*

That's insurance for you - you're obliged to have it, you're charged a fortune if you're anything like a risk and then you're punished if you ever use it...


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## daltonr (25 Apr 2003)

*Solution*

I propose the legislation be brought in which forces
employees of companies (including management)
to pay the same price for the companies service
as non employees.  No Insurance discounts for
Insurance employees, no mortgage discounts for
bank employees.

See how quickly the industry reforms if it's managers
and employees have to go through this kind of 
nonsence every now and then.

Also, can AXA's adds be challenged for claiming that 
they care, and that the person on the other end of the 
phone has a personal relationship with their customers.

Surely truth in Advertising was meant for lies like this.
I've never once spoken to an insurance company
employee who I thought cared about me, and I
certainly wouldn't be inviting them to my birthday
party.

Apparently the adds were promted by Axa discovering
on entering the Irish market that there was extaordinary
holtility on the part of Irish Motorists towards insurance
companies.

There's a company who did their homework before 
moving in!!!

-Rd


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## ClubMan (25 Apr 2003)

*Re: Solution*

*Also, can AXA's adds be challenged for claiming that 
they care, and that the person on the other end of the 
phone has a personal relationship with their customers.*

Feel free to [broken link removed]!


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## XXXAnother PersonXXX (26 Apr 2003)

*Re: Solution*

When the back window my car was busted, it never even occured to me to claim on the insurance. I wasn't even going to bother with the Gardai either, but I reported it for the craic anyway. (I wasn't doing much else, and neither were the police farce)

Crooks know that they will get away with crime.


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## CM (24 Jun 2003)

*Crime pays*

The guards couldn't be bothered. They're happy enough just to stroll down to the ATM machine and wait for the benchmarking payments to roll in !

Now, THERE'S a crime.


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## hello hello (24 Jun 2003)

*...*



> They're happy enough just to stroll down to the ATM machine and wait for the benchmarking payments to roll in !




They'll have to queue up behind our Government ministers and TDs who have their hands out first.


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## niall4 (24 Jun 2003)

*...*

Ok, you've had your rant, here's one back:  To be quite honest, if I was an insurer (and effectively I am, because I, and all of us, pay the premiums that pay the claims) I wouldn't dream of paying out to someone who left goods openly on view on a car seat - at best it's pure negligence and not what insurance is supposed to cover.  You say you had the misfortune to leave goods sitting in the back seat...you can be sure there was no fortune involved, the ensuing robbery must be as close to a guaranteed event as they come.  There are enough claims that happen at no fault to the insured without us all having to fork up for these perfectly avoidable events.  Ok rant over.


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## PGD (24 Jun 2003)

*Re: ...*

Niall,

so you are saying that it's normal to live in a society where you have to hide your shopping?

you leave your property in your own car and it gets stolen and it's your fault for leaving it there in the first place.

gimme a break!


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## Kathy (24 Jun 2003)

*Re: ...*



> so you are saying that it's normal to live in a society where you have to hide your shopping?



We DO live in that sort of society.  I wouldn't think of leaving stuff in plain view in a parked car - you're just asking to have it nicked.  I always put my shopping in the boot, out of view (and harder to break into).  Even if it's not that valuable I don't want thieves to be tempted by the thought that there might be something valuable there.  180 euros worth is a lot of stuff to leave lying around IMHO.


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## rainyday (24 Jun 2003)

*Re: ...*



> you leave your property in your own car and it gets stolen and it's your fault for leaving it there in the first place.



Hi PGD - I think Niall's point was that it's definitely NOT the insurance company's fault! OK, so we'd all like to be able to leave our doors open at night and not lock the car (like the good oul days), but in reality, we have a responsibility to take sensible precautions with our own security, like not leaving goods on display in the car. If we don't take these precautions, is it reasonable to expect an insurance company to pay out?


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## ClubMan (24 Jun 2003)

*Re: ...*

*OK, so we'd all like to be able to leave our doors open at night and not lock the car*

Just to be pedantic, the original contributor never said that his/her car was not locked.


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## Niall4 (26 Jun 2003)

*....*

Hi PGD,

I am indeed saying that it is normal to live in a society where you have to hide your shopping... you live in one such society!  In the same way, it is perfectly normal for me not to walk down the street with money hanging out the back of my pocket, nor to leave my front door open when I go out (or indeed stay in)  etc. etc.  You and I might like to live in a society where you can do all of those things, but for obvious reasons we don't.  My point then is that, for the same obvious reasons, you should not leave shopping openly on view in the back seat of a car.  If you do, then I believe you are being as negligent as the person who got robbed of the money they left hanging out of their back pocket.  I also think an insurance company cannot be reasonably expected to pay out for such events.


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## daltonr (30 Jun 2003)

*Re: ....*

Niall,

    You are missing the point.  

    The original post pointed out a few issues.

     1.  The insurance company insists on you using their
          fitter.  This is no doubt to get around the problem
          of garages etc charging different prices if it's being
          paid by an insuarance company.  Can't blame the 
          insurance company for trying here, but annoying if you
          can get the work done cheaper.


     2.  Had to pay the first €70 even though his policy had
          an excess of €35.  Insurance companies don't do 
          themselves any favours by screwing their customers 
          after they've had the misfortune of an accident break 
          in etc.  personally I think this at least contributes in
          part to the fraudulant claims culture.


     3.  Had automatic cover of contents up to €300 but losing
          No-claims bonus it would have cost far more to claim
          than not to claim.  This is the real scandal.  We pay
          stupid premiums, and then can't claim when there's
          an incident which is within the terms of the policy.


Personally I think we should be allowed to leave a few bags of
shopping on our back seat in a locked car.  I don't think it's 
good enough to brush over that aspect of the story.

Would the same argument hold if your TV could be seen through the front window of your house?  A car is private property, and while we should be careful about what is on view, we buy insurance to insure ourselves against theft, and the original poster was short changed on that front.

-Rd


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## ParkLane (4 Jul 2003)

*I despise them more than replacement window salesmen.*

A tile blew off the roof and went through the bonnet of my car. My car insurance company told me it should be claimed on my household insurance and my house insurance people told me to claim off my car insurance. Neither would pay up in the end.


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## ClubMan (4 Jul 2003)

*Why have you taken no for an answer?*

If the tile blew onto your neighbour's car, your neighbour would claim against your house insurance and if your car was damaged by your neighbour's roof tile, you would claim against his house insurance so IMHO the claim is against the house insurance.  The [broken link removed] should be able to sort this out very quickly for you.


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## TonyoS (5 Jul 2003)

*Insurance*

Geez, it never fails to amaze me the number of people who despise and hate insurance companies - all we ever hear are the gripes and the moans.  Professional Moaners and eternal victims seem to be the only people who become customers of insurance companies.  I've no doubt there are thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people who have done very well out of their insurance policy - either that it's provided them with a consistent peace of mind for a modest price, or if they had to claim that the claim was paid out as expected.  Is it any wonder the premiums are what they are if all we hear are the moaners?  We feed on this....and it fuels bad feeling against the companies, which in turn fuels spurious, unrealistic or inflated claims, which in turn fuels the inflated premiums.  OF COURSE, some claims have gone wrong..OF COURSE some people feel they have been wronged - that is the case with any institution.  But I've little doubt a straw poll of any group of people would result in the majority admitting they would inflate a claim.  Why is this?  Greed, yes.  But equally that the faceless 'company' probably deserves it anyway.  What fools are they.  The only people paying the claims are those paying the premiums.


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## Westbound (24 Jul 2003)

*Good stolen from car*

Am I right in thinking that if the goods stolen were purchased by credit card, then there is some insurance?

Or am in dreamland?


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## Shanks1 (24 Jul 2003)

*Re: Good stolen from car*

Yes you're right. In the bumf you get with credit cards they claim to offer various types of insurance. However I suspect that these are just marketing gimmicks and if you made a claim, there would be some clause to allow them wrangle out. The accompanying leaflet with my credit card offers travel insurance as one of its benefits but then immediately claims that it's not a substitute for "proper" travel insurance.


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