really annoying. yes! another car thread.

[root]

Same thing happened to my friends car as well nothing was taken so the cops said there was nothing they could do the only charge they could lay is vandalism and that don't carry much weight. If nothing was stolen there ain't nothing the cops can do so there's no sense even bring them in on it.

Get yourself a good car alarm and hope it don't happen again.

I bowed to the nagging of my girlfriend and decided that it really was better to call the police, even if it's just to report another statistic...

they were quite good about it, and pointed out that if everything was rummaged through and yet everything was intact it seemed that they may have been looking for somethign a little more specific, or somethig very valuable, (especially since the stereo was still there).
(the stereo I have is an Mstation http://www.ssiamerica.com/index.shtml released in 2001 at a cost of £500 for the basic kit).

you're right though... vandalism will mean bugger all to the police. because there is little to nothing that they can do... they asked about CCTV in the area, and I said that since it was parked next to a filling station there is a reasonable chance that someone would have been caught on camera.

they were also reasonably interested in the lighter from the point of view of fingerprints.

they also said that I should let my insurance company know.. they will most likely advise me to go to a garage to make sure that the door latch mecanisms still work, but it's better that I do that now and my marginal expense than have the door come open on a motorway...

now I'm in the situation where I have a crime number, they have my mobile number, and if my case is important enough I will be contacted.

in view of the post above... a car alarm would far outweight the cost of the car!!!

 

[root]

One question what the heck is a boot? Also i would call the police so they can file a report on the situation then that will come in handy if they find the person.

boot = trunk

 

[^Mike^]

boot = trunk

ah ok i was sorta thinking that

 

[Nik00117]

In guam our car was broken into, expct those poeple took everything, including the seats. We were camping and it was parked in a remote place prob a poor faimly likely everything including the seats.

But heh I would of just said forget it but hey you reported it and now you learned that you should get it repaired just in cse.

 

[Brookfield]

It's a good news bad news situation.

I'm hoping that brookfield is on this morning so he can perhaps advise.

I also can't say that I'm really all that surprised... when I moved here and changed my insurance details the insurance premium did go up, because there is more car crime. in fact there is more crime in general. so it's no surprise at all that one day I'd be the victim...

The question is...

Do I report it? and if so who to?...
I know it's not a 999 emergency, so I'd just have to get the local stations number (or drop in on the way home from work). but if nothing was taken, should I put myself out to add a few more numbers to the crime statistics?

second... do I report it to my insurance company? as I said, nothing was taken, so there is no claim, but I'm *fairly* sure that there is a clause that would mean if I reported it that I would loose my no claims bonus, even though I didn't claim. (would it be a non paying claim?).

I think that the worse part is that it rained a little last night and my jeans were a little wet when I got out the car as the seat had gotten a little damp... but that will undoubtably be dry by the time I'm driving home anyway.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Yes I'm here mate, what can I do?, is it security advice you want, or about your insurance?, if it's that, use a top-notch firm, I've got a nine year no-claim, I shouldn't think that they wouldn't pay out because you put in a claim, surely, the solicitors firm I worked for didn't deal with car insurance claims, very wise of them, as to getting your jeans wet, theother week I left my car out with all the windows down, it was in the middle of that heat-wave, later, I was watching TV, & Iheard a roaring sound, it was a violent clour-burst, by the time I got there, all the seats, the floor were literally awash, the seats took nearly a week to dry out, I had to sit on polythene!!

Anyway, back to the subject, & insurance costs, where do you live?, PM me, & we can chat about it

 

[root]

Taking the seats would have really really pissed me off!

my first thoughts were to forget about it... but thinking it through.. it cost me nothing to phone the police, (freephone number).
it could be that they do take it seriously.
they might catch the guy... and whilst breaking into may car and stealing nothing is more of an inconvienience, it could be that he did every other car in the road and I just didn't see it. in which case the difference between nine and ten cases reported could be the difference between a year or five years...

I once had a friend who frequently broke the law in minor infractions... and one day the police just said enoughs enough, and he spent a couple of years in juvenile detention.
another guy they said enoughs enough and he spent a few years in prison... it's not necessarily the first or last crime that the guy has commited... but if he is ever brought to book then they would consider his(or her) history or crime as well when sentencing...

so in some ways I'm glad I reported it... it's cost me nothing to do, and it may (hopefully) actually help the police to do their job...

besides... it would have really annoyed me if at the end of the year the police released figures to say that crime has gone down and I'd be left thinking, well maybe if I'd reported it, instead of giving themselves praise, they'd be saying, lets try a little harder next year...
it's not that I think the police don't do a good job, I know that they do (mostly), but not reporting a crime isn't really all that helpful.

since my last post I went to my insurance company, and they said that unless I intended to make a claim then they didn't need to know.