There you are, keys in hand but there your car isn’t – it’s been stolen. Car theft is on the rise everywhere, despite the fact that car locking systems are becoming more and more sophisticated. For example, you may think your car is safe from theft because you have a keyless entry system.
Sadly that is not the case if the car thief is a smart one (and the good ones are) as the encryption system that many of these vehicles have to safeguard passwords is notoriously easy to hack. Car alarms will not always help either as they tend to get activated by accident so often that people ignore them when they go off in a real emergency situation!
Officer My Car is Gone!
The very first thing you need to do when you realize your car is missing is call the police. Telling the authorities that your car is missing will not be enough though. You will need to be able to describe your car, the last time you saw it and give details about its appearance.
Ideally you should also be able to provide the police with a copy of your registration and insurance documents but as most of us keep those things in our vehicles (in case we are pulled over) the police should also be able to use your license to get those details as well.
Better still though make sure you have a second copy of all these documents somewhere at home. No one wants to plan for a car theft, but it will make recovery easier and more likely if you can provide the information yourself right away.
After the police make a report, even if it is just a phone report which is standard for some busier police departments, you need to contact your insurance company right away. You will need to give them all of the same information that you did the police as well as the police report number. Insurance rules vary from that point and your rep should be able to guide you as to what to do next.
Tips to Prevent Car Theft
As we mentioned a conventional car alarm is not always enough to deter a car thief these days but it does afford some measure of protection and it is still a very good idea to have one installed on your vehicle and that will help reduce your insurance premiums anyway.
If yours is a newer or leased vehicle then you may want to invest in one of the more sophisticated vehicle tracking systems that can be purchased these days. A GPS system can be helpful but they are also rather easy to disable so a Lo-Jack type of system is a better idea. These things are an extra investment but often they save you a lot of money on your insurance premiums, usually far more than an alarm system alone, so they often pay for themselves in the end.
Often though when a car is stolen it is because a thief was presented with an easy opportunity rather than they were smart enough to bypass a security system. With that in mind remember to always lock your vehicle when you leave it, even in a ‘safe area’ and try not to park in a very secluded spot. You should also never leave your car running when you are not in it, even if you are only popping into the store for a few minutes! All of these things present an opportunistic car thief with an easy ‘score’ and no-one wants to make a thief’s day easier!
Will I Ever Get My Car Back?
Stolen car recovery is a bit of a hit and miss thing. According to the company who make the Lo-Jack system 99% of their customers do get their cars back and even if you don’t have such a system prompt action in calling the police may improve the chances that your vehicle is recovered.
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