Bike stolen/Insurance query

[Neeja]

Bike got nicked last night from outside the girlfriend's. Was alarmed and had a disclock on, so I'm within the guidelines of my insurance policy which states that both these security devices are in place. Seems to be a fairly planned out job, given that they slashed the girlfriend's mum's tyres so we couldn't give chase, and they managed to get it into the van before the alarm had even woken me up. Managed to get a lovely view of the van pulling away (with my alarm getting quieter) when I got to the window, but unfortunately no view of the plates.

I feel it's quite unlikely I'm going to get it back due to the planning involved in taking it (which in itself is puzzling, as the bike is there maybe one night per week, on a random night, and rarely overnight), and I'm just wondering if people here have experience with insurance claims due to theft and how long they take. My housemate had his bike stolen from our home property about 5 months back and is still waiting for his cheque (despite his bike being found burned out within 72h of it going) - is this normal, or exceptionally long? I need some idea so I can work out what the hell I'm going to do financially to get myself sorted with another bike ASAP.

Should probably mention that I'm insured through MCE with NIG as the underwriters.

Cheers.

[kwak zzr]

ive been insured with MCE with NIG and i made a claim that was swiftly delt with no problems.

[Neeja]

Was it a theft claim? And if so what were the circumstances?

[stuballs]

No personal experience with having a bike stolen but I work in insurance and I'm training to be a lawyer so....

First of all check your policy regarding theft and how long the bike has to be unrecovered for before they will pay. Also check if there's any requirement for where the bike is kept overnight. If they want to be difficult they could argue that it should have been at home in your garage at night (if you have a garage and said it will always be in there at night).

Bear in mind that insurance companies are heavily regulated by the Financial Services Authority and have strict guidlines to adhere to (though many do not until prodded by someone with knowledge). They cannot unreasonably delay a claim without giving you a reason (and that reason cannot be spurious). If they're going to deny a claim they have to tell you promply and tell you why.

If you don't get the result you want you have to file a complaint with them. If they do not resolve to your satisfaction then complain to the Financial Services Ombudsmen. The very threat of this will often prompt an insurer to pay just becasue of the costs and bad image it promotes. If I was your mate I would have gone down this route a long time ago!

When you're talking to them mention the FSA handbook ICOBS 8 and if they have any sense (they might) they will pull their finger out:
http://fsahandbook.info/FSA/html/handbook/ICOBS/8/1

[Neeja]

Policy has no details on how long a bike has to be unrecovered for before they'd pay out, but over the phones they said they couldn't start processing for 48 hours to allow the police a fair attempt at a quick recovery.

The policy itself also doesn't state that it needs to be garaged overnight; it's registered at my home address as being kept off-road in a designated parking place, though I usually keep it in my garage anyway. My girlfriend's house doesn't have a facility to keep it garaged, but it's in an area where crime is ridiculously low (this is the first incident of crime on her street for about 3 years, apparently), so it's lower risk than where I live. Policy doesn't state anything at all about keeping it anywhere else overnight, so think I should be fine.

[stuballs]

Sounds like you'll be alright then. Drop me a line if you need any help.

[Stu]

Unlucky, but hope you end up with something better & not too much hassle.

[bris]

I had my cbr 125 nicked a few months ago before I passed my test and it was recovered next day, all be it crashed and written off. The claim took about 6 weeks to get a cheque through. If it is'nt recovered though they wait a bit longer to see if it shows up or not. You could check with your insurer on the timespan until they give up waiting.
Keep an eye on ebay as most of the parts end up on there.