I-Team: Does your insurance company cover damages if your car is stolen?


(WFSB) – If your car is stolen, will your insurance company cover the damage left behind? Will they replace it if it’s never found?

When Meagan Johnson’s car was stolen last month in New Haven her first question was: what happened?

Her second: what does her family do now?

“I’m trying to go through the worst case scenario of how we are going to manage our lives with both our jobs and our son,” says Johnson.

It’s the same question Destinee DiNino asked herself after her car was stolen outside of her Meriden apartment in April.

“I’m thinking it’s gone. Like, I’m thinking kids took it for a joy ride and that’s the end of me having my Kia,” says DiNino.

After first calling the police, both said their next calls were to their insurance companies.

Insurance agent Heidi Summa says there’s one type of coverage that’s key in this type of situation.

“You absolutely want to have comprehensive coverage,” says Summa.

Summa says she cannot stress enough, comprehensive is the best way to protect yourself against theft.

“Comprehensive coverage is inexpensive coverage. It’s not as costly as collision coverage and you can have it without the collision,” says Summa.

Insurance agent Joe Lombardo agrees. He says comprehensive will cover everything.

“If it’s damaged, then they are going to pay for the damages done to the car,” says Lombardo. “If the car is gone and they can’t find it, then it’s based on the books the insurance companies use to verify the total value of the car.”

Lombardo says with comprehensive coverage, you don’t have to set any coverage limits, it’s all covered, unless your car is a classic.

“If you have a 1939 Mercedes e350 in your garage and it’s worth $53,000 you have it insured for $53,000 and that’s the coverage you would get,” says Lombardo.

As for finding a car to drive while yours is in the shop – summa recommends looking at your policy to see if rental coverage is in there and what amount it covers.

“If you’re at $30 or $40 per day for rental, you should up that to at least $50 or $75,” says Summa.

Another thing she recommends?

Updating your car with anti theft technology and other upgrades if you can, especially if your manufacturer offers it, because you can’t count on the person responsible or their insurance, if they have it, helping you out.

“A lot of carriers are refusing to cover those vehicles unless they have had something done to keep those issues from happening,” says Summa.

Both Johnson and DiNino luckily got their cars back.

While in DiNino’s case, insurance was able to pay for repairs, Johnson says her experience with insurance was a little more stressful.

She’s just grateful the car came back with such little damage, they didn’t even need to file a claim in the end.

Both Summa and Lombardo say it’s always good to review your policy frequently to make sure you’re as covered as can be.


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