Way 5 Use Security Camera Systems To Find Your Stolen Car
When your car is stolen, you should check the security camera footage at once. Security camera video recordings are one of the best ways to find your stolen car and vehicle.
1. Check the security camera footage of your garage & your home. By checking the video recordings, you can see the car thief’s clear images, and his general escape route. With these evidences, the likelihood of finding your stolen car will significantly increase.
You can watch the video below to see how the Reolink RLC-410 security camera stops a car theft.
2. Check your community’s security camera footage . If your car is stolen in your community, such as the public driveway, security camera systems will record the trace of your stolen car.
A stolen Chevrolet Silverado car owner got his car back by checking a primary school’s security camera systems.
Call The Police And File A Report
You should call the police within 24 hours of your car being stolen. When you file a police report after your car is taken, you will need your vehicles specific information. This may include your cars physical description , license plate number, and the vehicle identification number . You should also provide police with the specific date and time that the theft occurred.
What Cars Are Being Targeted For Catalytic Converter Theft
The Toyota Prius is the most common vehicle targeted for catalytic converter theft. Prius converters include higher concentrations of the precious metals platinum, rhodium, and palladium as a low-emissions car.
From unscrupulous scrap yards, thieves may get up to $700 per converter. Unfortunately, this may result in expenses of up to $2,000 for Prius owners.
Because they are higher off the ground, trucks and SUVs are also typical targets for catalytic converter theft. This makes climbing beneath and sawing through the metal simpler. However, every vehicle on the road is susceptible to a stolen catalytic converter.
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What Happens When A Stolen Car Is Recovered After Settlement
If my car is recovered after claims settlement
Even if you were already paid out for the total loss of your stolen car, you need to contact your insurance company if its found. Because your insurer already paid you, they will consider the recovered car to be their property, designating the car as a salvage title.
A Few Things You’ll Need
When you contact GEICO, have the following information available:
- Certificate of Title for the vehicle.
- Location of all keys to the vehicle before and after the theft.
- Names and contact information of everyone who had access to the vehicle.
- A description of your vehicle, including mileage, options, service records, and upgrades*if you have receipts for any upgrades or maintenance, please have these available as well.
- A list of personal property stolen with your vehicle. Coverage for personal items varies from state to state, and your homeowners or renters insurance policy may provide additional coverage for personal items that were stolen.
- Please include any finance or leasing company contact information and your account number, if applicable.
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Why Are Catalytic Converters Being Stolen
Your catalytic converter is an important component of your car that is meant to decrease the pollutants and hazardous fumes produced by your emissions system. To finish this procedure, valuable metals such as platinum, rhodium, and palladium are used. People have been stealing catalytic converters from automobiles in order to sell them for scrap metal.
While this has been occurring for years, a current increase in catalytic converter theft may be spurred by the pandemics economic instability. Furthermore, the lower foot traffic during this time period may make it simpler for criminals who believe they are less likely to get detected. A thief can saw the catalytic converter out of your automobile in a matter of minutes, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
What Is The Process Of Reporting A Stolen Vehicle To My Insurer
Once you have reported the vehicle as stolen to the police, your next call should be to your insurer to make a claim. You will likely be asked what items you had in the vehicle, if any, as these may also be covered, depending on your policy. The insurer may ask you to provide a police report number, so it could be a good idea to make a note of this number once you have lodged your report.
Note that some policies may have a waiting period before action will be taken, enabling some time for police to search for your vehicle. It is a good idea to have a look at your policy to see if extras, such as car rental, are included in cases of car theft.
If your vehicle is found, your insurer can determine whether it can be repaired or if it is considered a write-off, whereby it will pay you the amount it is covered for minus the excess .
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What Does Insurance Cover If Your Car Is Stolen
If you have the right insurance in place, it will cover an automobile that has been involved with theft.
Protection against auto theft is not included in basic policies. If you have basic policy limits, you may not have it included. It is available in optional packages such as comprehensive insurance.
This type of endorsement will help :
- Replace a stolen vehicle
- Replace parts that are stolen or damaged
- Repair damages to your automobile from theft or a break-in
Way 7 Check The City’s Transportation Website For Parking Violation When Your Car Was Stolen
You can track down your stolen car online via checking the parking violation. When your car was stolen, the car thief would park your car somewhere and then abandoned it.
The car was ticketed and put into the parking violation database, which is available online apparently.
You can follow the below steps to do a “stolen car” lookup online.
Step 1. Log into your city’s transportation website.
Step 2. Use your license plate to check whether your vehicle is in the database.
Step 3. Check the area where the violation takes place.
Step 4. Contact the police. They will search for your missing car and then release it to you if they find it.
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Contact Your Insurance Provider
Once the police are on the case, youll need to make a few more phone calls to help get everything sorted out. The most important of these calls should be to your insurance company. Hopefully youll have Comprehensive or Third Party Fire and Theft insurance, which cover you against theft. If you only have Third Party insurance, at least youll have a chance to remove that particular vehicle from your policy, so you dont end up paying money to keep it insured.
If youre insured with Budget Direct, you can make a car insurance claim online, or call us on .
Way 4 Use Gps Device To Locate Your Stolen Car
If you’ve installed a GPS tracking system, like OnStar, LoJack, etc. to your vehicle, the company of the tracker can help you determine the location of your stolen car, and even shut it down.
No matter where your car got stolen, such as the dealership, driveway, garage, valet parking, or a mechanic shop, you can trace your stolen vehicle with the GPS quickly.
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How To Prevent Your Car From Being Stolen In The Future
While it may be too late to protect your stolen car, there are several things you can do to ensure that your next vehicle is safer from thieves. Some of these measures will even help lower your auto insurance cost.
Here are some simple tips to reduce the chances of your car being stolen:
- Close your windows
- Install a car alarm system
- Install a GPS tracking system
- Keep valuables out of sight
- Lock your vehicle
- Park your vehicle in safe areas
- Store keys in a safe area away from your vehicle
- Turn off the ignition when not operating the vehicle
- Use a physical anti-theft device
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the authors opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.
Could My Car Insurance Claim Be Rejected
There is a possibility your claim could be rejected if the insurer thinks you hadnt been careful enough. If you lost your car keys, but they were left in or around the car, you are unlikely to have your claim covered. If there is no sign of break-in, you may have to prove your keys werent easily accessible. Your insurer could also argue you did not secure your car well enough.
If you disagree with your car insurance for rejecting your claim, you have every right to dispute the decision. In this situation, the best thing to do is make sure you have enough supporting evidence to back up your argument. You should also make an official complaint to your insurer if they are taking too much time to settle your claim for no valid reason.
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What Happens When Your Car Is Stolen And Then Found
If your stolen vehicle is found, immediately notify your insurer. Comprehensive will pay to repair your vehicle if the thieves managed to put in a few fresh dents. You would owe the deductible amount.
Most insurance companies have a waiting period of 30 days before declaring the car gone for good. After that point, your insurer will pay out the “fair market value” of your car the price an identical car would bring on the open market. Its somewhat negotiable if you can find comparable values.
Your deductible will come out of the insurance settlement check, and so will anything owed to lienholders.
Most comprehensive claims wont drive up your rates, Megna says. Unfortunately, any valuables left in your vehicle, like a cell phone or laptop, usually aren’t covered. But your homeowner’s insurance or renters insurance might kick in.
Your car may be found after you settle the claim. If so, the car belongs to the insurance company.
Keep Up The Insurance And Loan Payments For The Stolen Car
You should keep making both your insurance and car payments until the case is resolved.
Youll want to keep up your insurance payments for a couple of reasons.
First, if you intend to replace your car, a gap in coverage greater than 30 days will sharply increase the amount you can expect to pay for insurance. Some carriers wont touch a driver not currently insured, Megna says.
Second, your personal insurance coverage typically covers you in a rented car as well. Otherwise, you might need to buy liability and collision coverage through the rental agency.
Last, until you suspend the registration on the car, you are obligated in virtually every state to keep at least liability coverage on it.
You will also need to continue making payments to your lender for the car if you have a car loan.
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Install A Protective Device
Theft of catalytic converters has grown so common that firms have begun to market protection devices. Nobody will be able to cut off your catalytic converter with these setups. Unfortunately, high-quality gadgets and installation will most likely set you back a few hundred dollars. It might, however, save you thousands of dollars in catalytic converter replacement.
What To Do If Someone Steals Your Car
So it really happened. Someone took off with your car. Although it can feel scary, now is the time to pull yourself together and think as clearly as possible. Youll need to have your wits about you so you can help out with the investigation and increase the chances that youll get your car back in one piece. Here are the steps you need to follow:
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How To Find A Stolen Car
You can use your vehicles identification number to look up your car on the National Insurance Crime Bureaus VINCheck, which functions as a stolen car database. The database can help you locate your stolen vehicle.
If any partner of the NICBincluding insurance companies and law enforcement agenciesfinds your missing vehicle, it will be reported on VINCheck.
Who Owns The Items Inside A Recovered Vehicle
In most cases, your auto insurance policy doesn’t cover personal items inside your vehicle. Renters or homeowners insurance most often protects items stolen from inside a car. If your car is recovered, the items inside it are still yours, even if the car itself is now the property of the insurance company.
Your policy also may pay for the cost of custom parts or modifications if you have custom parts and equipment coverage. Comprehensive and collision coverage may pay up to a certain amount for custom parts, depending on your insurer, but any damage beyond this amount requires CPE coverage. This coverage protects upgrades and modifications to your vehicle, like rims or a custom stereo system. If your vehicle is stolen, this coverage will pay the additional replacement cost of those items, up to a specified limit.
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Report Your Stolen Car To Your Leasing Or Financing Company
If your stolen vehicle is financed or leased, youll need to contact the financing or leasing company. In this scenario, the insurance company pays a claim out to the financing or leasing company and you’re no longer be liable for payments.
Have your financing or leasing company contact your insurer directly, so that the claims process moves quickly.
Are Cars With Key Fobs Harder To Steal
In keyless entry cars, when armed with the scanning and booster devices, thieves can be gone in as little as 10 seconds. The security experts said it takes about two and a half minutes to steal a car without keyless entry. When the key fobs are inactive or in sleep mode, it was almost impossible to steal the cars.
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What To Do If Your Car Is Stolen
While getting your car stolen can be overwhelming, there are immediate steps youll need to take to ensure that you dont face any repercussions. If you dont take these steps within a reasonable timeideally immediatelyyoull not only not have a car, but you could be accused of crimes that were committed with your vehicle even if it was stolen.
The longer you wait to report the car stolen to the police and your insurer, the lower your chances are to recover the car.
Below, we outline the steps you should follow if your vehicle has been stolen.
How Does Auto Theft Affect Your Insurance Costs
Auto theft can affect how much you pay for insurance. It costs drivers, companies and the government millions of dollars annually. Your insurance is impacted by many factors such as :
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What Happens If My Belongings Are Stolen Out Of My Car
If you walk out to your car to find a smashed window, youre probably understandably frustrated. Why would someone do this? And to add insult to injury, the thief stole some belongings out of the vehicle. You dont have high hopes of seeing your property again. So, your question now is how are you going to replace those possessions? Will car insurance cover the cost of the stolen item? Lets take a look at this unfortunate scenario.
If My License Plate Is Stolen Can I Still Drive My Car
It’s only natural to wonder if you can still drive your car if the license plate gets stolen. Nobody likes being stranded and losing that sense of freedom. Sadly, the law states that no vehicle may be operated without valid license plates, so the answer is no. Luckily, there are some workarounds. Quick remedies vary by state some allow for the issuance of a temporary plate or permit if you produce the police report. This would make you legal on the road until you get your permanent plates. When reporting the theft to the police, ask them what you should do in your state to drive legally while waiting for your replacement plates.
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