Car insurance news
Cheap car insurance policyholders warned about fraudsters
Although we hear a lot about the problems caused by the very high number of people who drive without motor insurance, there is also another issue related to car insurance that needs to be looked at. This is the matter of policy holders losing out when their motor insurance policy excludes claims for theft by deception.
According to the Financial Services Ombudsman, more and more people are becoming the victims of fraud. Unfortunately, most of these people discover that they cannot make a claim on their cheap car insurance policy if they have willingly handed over their keys to a fraudster who went on to steal the car.
A spokesman for cheap car insurance provider AA insurance issued a warning to drivers: "You can't just make the assumption that if it's insured, you can claim if it disappears or is damaged. If you hand your keys over to someone who turns out to be a crook, you put yourself in a very vulnerable position so far as insurance is concerned."
There is a range of tactics employed by swindlers which can persuade innocent people to hand over the keys to their car.
Phil Fletcher of Teesside recently experienced a theft by deception when he was trying to sell his car. He explained: "Someone came around to look at it, so I got in the car, put the keys in the engine and turned it on. Then this guy says, can I test drive it?"
"I got out, and as I was walking round to the passenger seat, he got in and sped off, nearly knocking me over in the process."
Other common methods of deception include fake valet services which take the keys to a car under the pretence of cleaning it and buyers providing forged bankers drafts that cannot be cashed.