| Be very careful out there when you are parking | | | | vehicle is covered comprehensively or for fire and |
| your car. The good old days of casually leaving | | | | theft. A vehicle insured as third party cover only |
| your car in the driveway with the keys in it are | | | | is not covered for theft in any case. |
| over as far as insurance services in Ireland are | | | | The insurers are homing in on other areas of |
| concerned. How many time have we all popped | | | | what they consider negligence by the owner. For |
| into shop or filling station and left the keys in the | | | | example, many insurers insist that high value cars |
| ignition or even running? Countless times, no | | | | have a satellite tracker system fitted as part of |
| doubt, particularly in rural areas where there | | | | the conditions of the policy. The helps greatly in |
| appeared to be less risk of your vehicle being | | | | locating the car if it is stolen. Stating that you will |
| stolen. All this has now changed in recession hit | | | | put the tracker on it in your proposal form and |
| Ireland. | | | | then failing to do it will immediately invalidate a |
| However, a spate of car theft crime is rampant | | | | claim for theft. Indeed, even if you have a |
| throughout Ireland in the last year or more, | | | | tracker system on it and fail to renew the annual |
| believed to be organized in the main by Eastern | | | | monitoring agreement (which a lot of people do), |
| European gangs who export the vehicles back to | | | | then your claim is invalid as the insurers will |
| their homelands. This has prompted insurance | | | | rightfully claim that having effectively an inactive |
| companies to take a very hard line on the cars | | | | tracker on the vehicle amounts to negligence. |
| and jeeps (a particularly attractive target for | | | | The moral here is to study the small print in your |
| these gangs) that are stolen whilst the keys are | | | | motor insurance policy and adhere to the |
| in the ignition and the vehicle unattended. The | | | | conditions you agreed to in the first place when |
| insurers take the view that this amounts to | | | | you took out the policy. Always keep at hand a |
| negligence on behalf of the owner and this | | | | copy of the proposal form you originally filled out. |
| invalidates any claim they have assuming the | | | | Happy motoring! |