Stolen – What Now?
You’ve just discovered your precious car has gone… you are likely to be hit with the usual emotions of disbelief and anger, but it is important to stay calm and follow the following steps to handle the situation as shouting or crying may make you feel better but won’t really help.
First things first – are you safe? No matter how nice the car was it is not as important as your own safety, so make sure you do not put yourself in any further danger. This may not apply if you’ve just got back to a parking space to find it empty, but if the theft involved a break in to your home to get the keys, firstly make sure that any criminals have left your house – if you are unsure, get out of the house yourself and call the police. Whatever you do – don’t try and confront the thief as they may have a weapon -worry about your own safety before the cars.
If you have been confronted for the cars keys, either in your own home or via a carjacking – let them go! Again you may be angry or upset, but your own health is more important than the car, no matter how valuable. If you are in the car and threatened and cannot drive off, then make sure you get out of the car, and get anyone with you out of the car too – you do not want to be taken as a hostage.
So you’ve made sure you are safe? Good. Step 2 – contact the local police and report the theft. It’s a sad fact that only between 12 and 15% of vehicle thefts are resolved with an arrest, but report the crime as soon as you can. The police will need the details of the car, so make sure you can give them the VIN number and the registration details, along with a good description. Make a personal record of the details with the time and date, if you are later called to give evidence it will help enormously. The Police should give you a crime reference number – keep this safe as you will need it when you speak to your insurance company.
Step three (optional) , if you have a tracking device installed, call the tracking company and activate it. Some devices activate automatically, some don’t. Make sure you know how your device works and who to call.
Step four – call your insurance company and notify them of the incident. For this you’ll need your policy number, and all the details of the crime that you wrote down earlier, you will also need the crime reference number. Check to see if your insurance policy entitles you to a courtesy car in the event of theft, and if so, for how long. You should also check to see how long you car has to be reported missing for before the insurance company decides it is a total loss and pays you for the car. This can be a month or longer before they confirm they will compensate you for the loss. If the car is recovered in this time, it will be repaired if necessary and returned to you.
Finally a big thank you to the guys at Orangewheels.co.uk who supply new Jaguar Cars who gave up their time for free to help us put together this information site.