Catastrophic situations happen to the best of us. Even if you think you’ll never be the victim of a stolen car, it happens. That’s why you need to know what to do if your car is stolen so you can recoup your losses quickly and efficiently.
Obviously, you’ll need to report the car stolen to the police, your insurance company and lender, and if you need legal advice you should talk to an attorney. Before we go through the major steps to take, let’s take a look at some of your top questions from our decades of experience as vehicle title experts.
What Do You Need to Report a Car Stolen?
If your car is stolen or you have reason to believe another one is, you’ll want to notify the police right away. Don’t be nervous! You didn’t do anything wrong (I mean, unless you did). Make sure you have the following information handy:
Year, make, model and color of the vehicle
License plate number
If possible, the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number)
What Will Insurance Cover When Your Car is Stolen?
Whether insurance will cover the theft depends on your level of coverage at the time of the theft. If you have comprehensive coverage on your insurance, then it should pay to replace your car. Many people confuse comprehensive with collision, but insurance companies consider it the catch-all to cover things unrelated to an accident. This includes fire, vandalism, hitting an animal and, of course, theft.
According to data from U.S. News & World Report, the average comprehensive auto policy costs around $22 a month. Of course, this varies based on factors like how much the vehicle is worth, where you live, and what deductible you choose.
Unfortunately, if your insurance coverage only includes liability, then recovering the car is your only option. You will not receive a payout on your vehicle.
What Happens if Your Car is Stolen and You Still Owe Money?
If you have a financed or leased vehicle and it gets stolen, you will need to get in contact with your lender immediately. Typically, the insurance company will pay the claim out directly to the bank so you may not be liable for any more payments unless the value paid out exceeds what you owed.
To get that handled quickly, you’ll want to have the lender contact your insurance company directly. This helps keep the claim moving swiftly. If your car is stolen, you will still be responsible for active title liens like a mechanic’s lien and active car title loans.
5 Steps to Take if Your Car Has Been Stolen
Now that we’ve answered your biggest questions, it’s time to walk through the steps you must take when your car has been stolen.
1. Confirm it was stolen (not lost, moved, or towed)
Before you laugh, realize that this happens all the time. Say you parked on the street and went to a local restaurant with some friends. You had a couple drinks, and when you came out your car wasn’t where you left it! Immediately, you feel a sense of panic and fear. Of course, it only takes a minute to calm down and realize you parked on the next block over.
Filing a false theft report is a serious thing. That’s why we recommend you take a minute and think it through. Could you have parked somewhere else? Could someone else have moved it? Of course, it’s possible that you are right that the car has been towed or stolen.
Start by calling the local parking authority or the local non-emergency police number before you file any police reports. If you were parked on private property, you may have been towed – or your car may have been towed by mistake. Within a couple hours the parking authority should be able to tell you who towed it and where it ended up.
2. Call the police and file a report
Many people want to rush to this step without first checking impound lots, but that’s not what you should do. Ensure it wasn’t towed first to save the police from wasting resources they don’t have.
With that in mind, the sooner you call the police the more likely you are to see your stolen car once again. Make sure you have the license plate number, VIN and description of your vehicle. If you have locating hardware such as OnStar or LoJack, make sure you give the police that information as well. Once you’ve filed the report, write down your police report information so you can use this for your insurance claim.
If it brings you any comfort, the state of California estimates that 89.6% of stolen vehicles were recovered in 2017. While each state has different figures, this should help illustrate that finding your car is the likely outcome.
3. Contact your insurance company
No matter what type of policy you carry, you must notify your insurance company of the theft. It’s vital that they know you don't have the vehicle just in case it becomes involved in an accident or crime in the other person’s possession. It could have even been sold to someone who doesn’t realize it’s a stolen car – an interesting situation to say the least.
If you don’t have comprehensive coverage, you won’t receive any reimbursement for the car, but it’s still essential that they know the car went missing. If you do have comprehensive coverage, don’t expect an immediate payout.
The insurance company needs to rule out fraud before they pay you anything. There are going to be plenty of delays. First, the company needs to perform an investigation. You might wonder why, but it’s true that the owner tends to be the number one suspect in car thefts. If that doesn’t make sense to you, that’s a good thing. Then, there’s a waiting period to see if the car is recovered. Typically, you are looking at two to eight weeks of waiting for a potential recovery to occur before you see any money.
The payment you receive will usually be the actual cash value of the vehicle minus depreciation. Of course, the deductible will also come out of that payment as well. Here’s a quick tip to keep in mind. The ACV of a car is negotiable. Your insurance adjuster will always start at the lowest end of your vehicle worth. Make sure you do your own research and be ready to negotiate. Don’t back down until they don't go any higher.
4. Contact the DMV
Once you get off the phone with your insurance company, your next call is to the DMV. They keep a stolen car database and work with the police to reunite owners with their vehicles. There’s always the chance that someone might try and register your stolen vehicle, so you will want the DMV to know about the theft so they can contact you if that happens.
5. Do your own searching
If you want your car back, nothing is stopping you from doing your own investigation. Head to Craigslist and Marketplace in your area and start looking for someone selling your car or parts from it. You might not be successful, especially if you have a common vehicle, but honestly it happens a lot more than you might expect – especially if the thief thinks they’ve gotten it listed before you realized it was gone.
Steps to Preventing Car Theft in the Future
Sometimes there is nothing you can do to prevent a theft from happening. However, if you want to protect your next vehicle, some simple tips will prevent you from losing your car again. Some of these will also lower your car insurance premiums!
Get a car alarm installed
Keep your windows closed when parked
Install a tracking system
Hide or remove loose valuables
Park in safe areas
Always lock the car
Never store spare keys in the car
Whenever you get out, turn off the ignition
If Your Car Is Found, Inform Insurance and the DMV
Just remember to try and stay positive in the days and weeks to come. Follow the steps in this guide showing what to do if your car is stolen. Hopefully, the next time your phone rings it is the police telling you they located your vehicle and it’s all in one piece. Once that happens, make sure you contact the DMV and insurance company again to let them know that you have recovered your car – even if you choose to let it go as a result of the theft.
Dirt Legal offers VIN Checks and title replacement for cars, motorcycles, and almost anything with wheels. Click the links to learn more about our services.
We are not attorneys. This article is not legal advice. Cover image source
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