My car was left unlocked in my basement garage (locked and not public) and my navigation device was left in the car.

As you can imagine, the device was stolen.

Before I call my insurance company about this, does the fact that the car was unlocked mean it was pure neglegence on my part, making any attempt at an insurance claim futile?

The thieves even had the courtesy to put the cigarette lighter back into the socket after stealing the TomTom charger. The lighter was in the glove compartment.

Ha, Ha, obviously the bit about it being unlocked was a *Joke*, ohh, that dark British Humour.

Amazing how these guys can open doors without a key, even with modern deadlocks etc. Gosh, your insurance company will be surprised but at least it WASN'T left unlocked, eh?

Dude

(Make a small hole in the rubber door-surround, just near where it meets the roof of the vehicle. Use a skewer or something, and it's a pity about the tiny scratches around the frame...those chappies certainly know what they were doing...etc. etc.)

Is your basement garage secured? Perhaps one of the other folks the the neighborhood makes a habit of buzzing anyone who rings the doorbell into the building?

I think you should have some sort of expectation that the neighbors in your building shouldn't be stealing your GPS, if your garage has a door that locks on it. Most garages I've seen in Switzerland are this way.

Our security folks at a former employer in the US could open pretty much anyone's car without doing any damage. I think they carried something called a 'Slim-Jim' or something like that.

I would anyway,go to the police and make a charge against unknown ( anzeige gegen unbekannt) for stealing the Tom-Tom give them all details they need to know.
You will need the proof that you had reported that to the police to make any claim with your insurance.

My eldest daughter left her cell phone once in the classroom in her desk when she went to the break ( grosse pause) and when she came back it was stolen,the classroom was not shut with a key and it was IMHO neglect of her part,but our insurance paid up and it was no problem.

Hope it works out for you as well!

Gooner, I'd come clean with the insurance company, after all there might be some coverage for you if you'd left the car in a locked garage but not actually locked the car. It's just not worth the hassle if you "bend" the truth with these insurance companies and they find out.

We left our car unlocked (by mistake) outside our block and someone took the CD case. We found it dumped in the bushes nearby because the CD's were all copies (HA HA!). They also nicked the snow chains and, bizarrely, a mucky sponge we kept for wiping the headlamps and whatnot.

This is covered under "simple theft" by most insurances.

But I believe they'd pay you but raise your insurance costs for the next year.

Thanks for the replies:

Update:

I called the police and they have told me to come in to report it. I don't plan on telling any porkies though.

If the insurance are willing to pay then I'll ask what the hit to my premiums will be. If they are significant, then I'll just buy a new one.

The garage was a private, locked garage.

Get the fingerprints off the lighter... CSI would have no problem getting these b*st*rds!

Your car insurance is modular so it should not be too bad if you claim. What's the excess on the theft module?

I had my bike stolen from my door.

It was a 700 CHF bike.

I requested the insurance to cover me under the "simple theft" clause of my flat insurance.

They did pay me but then forced me to re-sign a new insurance police with a 500 CHF franchise for the next year.

You're just plain bad Max, bad.

would be interesting to hear back from your insurance - I'd expect them not to pay saying you should have a) locked the car and b) put the TomTom out of sight?

TomTom was out of site. It was the cradle that was left out, plugged up on the window screaming like a foundling piece of tech.

TomTom was in the arm-rest compartment.

I'll keep you all updated.

Insurance should cough up I reckon, but I think next year will be more expensive!

Reminds me of a piece of advice for those with GPS systems.

If out and about NEVER leave a GPS in a car, or store "home" in the system.

Basically if your car is stolen, not only will that be missing, but they also know where you live and that you will be out.

It's happened a few times in the UK recently and people have had 2nd cars and houses emptied. It sucks, it's under the belt, but we have to remember this is how these scumbags earn a living.

Don't do it guys!!

This is the other worry. My home and others are programmed in. Also, the thieves now know where all the speed cameras are too.

given that they nicked it from your garage at "home", there seems to be little new information they have. What if they stole a telephone directory?

True, home was just a number on a street. It could be any one of 12 apartments. There are loads of old biddies keeping an eye out anyway.

It's a shame they can't set up these Sat Navs with a IMEI code, like a mobile phone. My sister's mobile was stolen a few months ago and, apparently, if you dial the IMEI code it renders the stolen phone completely useless.

It would be ace if you could do that with a Sat Nav.

[quote=gooner;136620]My car was left unlocked in my basement garage (locked and not public) and my navigation device was left in the car.

As you can imagine, the device was stolen.

I had a similar experience with loss of skis from an unlocked locker in a locked ski room and I claimed on my ski insurance policy. At first it was rejected because it was claimed I had left the skis in a public place but when I showed them the receipt for storage, which indicated I paid for the privelege, they paid up and did not alter the next year's premium. I suspect your Insurer will pay up, perhaps under a bit of pressure, because your garage was locked and it is not a public garage. Good Luck.