What a horribly written headline.
When did the back of a van stop counting as a trunk or covered boot? This sounds like typical insurance company bullshit. They are basically saying that they won’t cover it if you can see it though the window.
Insurance company used the phrase “forced violent entry” in their rejection message to the cyclist and the The Standard spun a totally misleading headline around it. Impressive.
This story amused me a bit. I was on their side initially. I mean generally if a bike is on an approved locked roof rack, car insurance would pay out for this.
But, it’s not car insurance. It’s house insurance and they never declared the valuable bikes. So now, I’m stuck in a position I don’t want to be in. Defending an insurance company. Eugh. I feel dirty.
So reading between the lines, they were left in an unlocked van, or a locked van that had a lock that wasn’t suitable for securing £15,000 of gear.
My wife has two very expensive road bikes. They are d-locked onto a fixed shelving unit in the garage as a condition of the insurance. I did this because when I insured the bikes as specific named items on the house insurance I asked them what steps I needed to take.
This doesn’t take away from the fact that this is entirely the fault of the criminals, but being morally right and the insurance company being morally wrong won’t lead to a payout if they can prove you didn’t secure your property in a manner consistent with the insurance policy. And I can guarantee with items this expensive there would have been explicit conditions of insurance.
We all know insurance companies are cunts and should act accordingly
Also most people who live in Clapham (and every other area) know not to leave anything in a vehicle overnight, let alone 3 bikes!
You right. Meeting the terms of contract with a mutual agreement has always been a requirement. Who knows what the terms were in their contract but ‘a van’ as the secure storage and ‘I don’t know how’ they got in isn’t good enough. You need to know what locks were on the van. When I insured my motorcycle I had to include the model of D lock, as I learned later, relying solely on the bike’s lock isn’t enough because with enough force thieves can yank the handlebars and snap the key lock off the forks. Or carry the whole thing onto a bed
There are always skits and jokes about the UK police force not doing anything until it’s too late or there’s a confirmed state-defined criminal actually making themselves known. Because it’s accurate and true.
These asshole insurance dudes act exactly the same. I honestly don’t think England has a petty crime investigative team
until it’s too late
They don’t to it then either, unless you count paperwork & PR.
…Is this not common knowledge/sense? Don’t leave anything valuable in your vehicle??
Fuck insurance companies but if this was a bag of £15,000 in cash instead of 3 bikes, no one would be outraged because it’s such an obviously stupid move
And is anyone surprised that Automobile Association Insurance Services avoided paying out for stolen bikes?
Need another Luigi
He would deny their claim to not have bullets in the chest because the bullets entered too slowly
UK at it again :/
