E39 stolen

[northerner]

The mother in law has had her E39 stolen and recovered, but the insurance are refusing to pay out on the basis that the steering lock is not broken and that when the car was recovered, the doors were locked and the ignition barrel is undamaged.

The only way I can see that this car was stolen was with a replacement key.

Suggestions welcome!!

[northerner]

I should also mention that the car was stolen from Sheffield and found badly crashed in Birmingham

[derin100]

How on earth can they be refusing to pay out!? That sounds ridiculous to me! What's their contention?

[julianhj]

Was it reported to the police before it was discovered crashed? Have the police had the vehicle forensically examined yet? Any idea how the thief may have obtained a duplicate key?

All seems rather odd. Are the insurance trying to suggest that your MIL is making a fraudulent claim?

Edited by julianhj on Tuesday 26th December 09:13

[cptsideways]

Someone with access to BMW's inhouse records/security/service dept could have had some keys made. Also was this a recent purchase by any chance? maybe she never got the full key set?

[apache]

They seem to be working on the assumption that the keys were left in the vehicle which negates any claim for theft. As usual, you will have to prove your innocence rather than them proving your guilt. Tricky

[northerner]

The car was only supplied with 1 key, the car was reported to the police prior to it being found smashed up in brum and the insurance company (MMA) are essentially stating because of the lack of lock damage, the person who crashed the car must have had a key.

As the MIL confirms that there is only one key, the insurance have arrived at the conclusion that something smells fishy and have refused to payout. The insurance company even got a service key cut and have disputed that the key supplied by the MIL is not the correct key!!

[agent006]

Two steps to take:

1: Letter to the chief exec's office requesting his final offer in writing.
2: If they still don't pay then contact the Ombudsman

[Kinky]

[redacted]

[Fixedwheelnut]

If the car was only supplied with one key then the missing keys should have been disabled at the EWS immobiliser so that they could not start the car, if not you may have grounds against the seller to claim.

[blackspider]

Good lesson for all here..If you have purchased a BMW/MINI and you dont have 4 keys(3 keys on later-MINI 3 keys),then you should go to your dealer to have the missing keys disabled-It takes 10mins to do..Make sure you take all the keys you have with you so the missing ones can be identified.
I have heard lots of cases of cars being sold then a few weeks later the cars going missing.
If you buy from a used from a dealer this should be done on the AUC-a report is printed out so you should be able to check this