Classic thefts confusion

Despite classic vehicle theft being on the rise, with cars regularly reported missing, Heritage Classic Car Insurance claim not to have seen an increase in claims. Worryingly, most cars stolen either don’t have the correct type of cover, or have been in storage and don’t have any insurance at all.

The broker checked with the insurers it works with, to find claims were going down or staying the same, rather than increasing. Managing Partner Mark Wilkinson said: “On seeing the number of classics reported stolen, we did some investigating, before contacting our insurers and were surprised that the number of claims doesn’t reflect the crime levels.”

Heritage contacted PC Alan Colman of the Central Motorway Police Group and West Midlands Police Crime Reduction Team, finding victims sit in two camps – neither of which gave them any financial recompense for their loss.

Alan said: “Most of the victims we spoke to bought their insurance from an online aggregator and therefore have ended up with an off-the-shelf policy that hasn’t given them the cover they needed.”

He explained: “In most cases these cars are in storage so the owners haven’t got them insured to the correct level or, insured at all.

“This is why owners should have a full classic car policy that covers all eventualities.”