While working at home for a few weeks, you may have parked your car in front of your condo. Perhaps when you go to retrieve your forgotten Bluetooth conference speakers a few days later, you discover they have been stolen, and so too has the car stereo and GPS.
You've just become part of an alarming statistic — a sharp rise in car thefts across the nation. Fortunately, you likely have auto theft insurance, but are all the stolen contents covered?
Car Theft and Attached Items
Most standard car insurance policies cover the theft of a car. A comprehensive insurance policy will reimburse you for the market value of the car, minus the deductible. But not all content will be covered by the policy.
With the increase in property crimes, more car owners are confronting theft of items attached to their car. Car thieves break into cars by hacking electronic codes or smashing windows. The most common items stolen are stereos and GPS systems. Since these items are attached to the car, they would be covered under a comprehensive insurance policy.
Stolen Car Parts
If valuable items are visible, you're asking for a thief to break in. With more complex electronic devices requiring the interception of signals to decipher codes, more thieves are going for the easy pickings and taking parts. Rims and tires are easy to steal but hard to inconspicuously tuck under a jacket.
Thieves prefer small but valuable items. Notably, theft of catalytic converters, taken from underneath cars, is on the rise. Theft of the small emission control devices, valued for their precious metals, rises when metal prices are high. Some repair shops have reported a backlog in orders to replace stolen converters. Because these parts are attached to a car, they too would be covered under a comprehensive insurance policy.
Personal Items Left in a Car
However, many car owners mistakenly believe that the personal items they leave inside a car are also covered by insurance. If your smartphone, sunglasses, or purse are stolen, are they covered? Not by your auto insurance policy. Personal items are not covered by most comprehensive insurance policies because these items are considered personal content. Insurance coverage can be obtained for personal items under house, condo, or apartment insurance.
In the current environment of rising property crime, consider reviewing your home and auto insurance policies and consult with your auto insurance agency to ensure you have thorough content coverage.
For more information about auto insurance, reach out to an agency in your area.
Share26 August 2020
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