What can be done if your bike or car is stolen?

One day, Mr. Shivaraman got the shock of his life. It was a Sunday. When he came out of the house, he didn’t find his parked car. For a minute, he couldn’t believe it. ‘Where did I leave my car?’  But he quickly realized that his vehicle was stolen in the night.  Mr. Karthik also had a similar experience. His parked bike was stolen by thieves from the parking lot near a shopping mall.

So how to deal with such situations?

Without getting upset, relax for a while and check with the neighbors or the people around whether they have seen your vehicle or whether it is towed by police for parking in ‘No parking zone’! Once you are convinced that this is an ‘act of theft’, then you can proceed to the next step.

Before doing anything – Inform your office that you will be on emergency leave for 2 days! And then get down to action. 

Step 1 – Lodge a police compliant – Write a complaint about the incident in a plain paper, visit the nearest police station and submit it. (Take a copy of the letter submitted (so, take 2 copies while going to the police station). Along with the complaint, attach a copy of Registration Certificate (RC) book of stolen vehicle and insurance policy. Once you file your complaint, the police will register a case and issue First Information Report (FIR)

Suggestion

• One should know the nearest police station to his house/office. In case of emergency, searching for a police station can be avoided.
• Keep the original RC Book and insurance policy in a safe place at home. (but keep it in a place where it is easily accessible)
• A photocopy of RC book, driving license and insurance policy can be scanned and saved in cloud storage space such as dropbox, onedrive or e-locker.

Step 2 – Inform Insurance Company

Check insurance policy, most of the insurance companies give the contact details in case of claims. If you have a toll-free number or a mobile number, contact them over phone and inform about the incident. Then submit the relevant documents such as (a) formal claim form duly and correctly filled (b) RC book copy (c) Insurance copy (d) FIR issued by the police station(e) duplicate keys of the vehicle and any other document sought by them.

Suggestion –

• While obtaining the insurance cover for your vehicle, talk to the agent or the officer of the insurance company and understand the claim process, contact number, etc.
• Don’t delay the process of lodging the claim. Submit all the required documents at one go.

Step – 3 – Inform Road Transport Officer (RTO)

Submit a complaint letter along with a  copy of your driving license, RC book copy, photo of your vehicle (if you have one), insurance copy, FIR copy to RTO office of your area. Normally, your insurance company will assist you in this process. If not, you have to personally do it. Don’t forget to get an acknowledgement for having submitted the complaint. (So, take 2 copies of your complaint letter and get acknowledgement on this letter)

Step 4 – follow up, survey and final report 

Whenever you have time, follow up with the police station about the traceability of the vehicle. In case, the police fail to trace the vehicle within 90 days from the date of theft, they will issue a report called ‘No-trace report’. You can submit this report to the insurance company. 

Meanwhile, the insurance company will appoint a surveyor to make a report about the incident. So, whenever you get a call from the surveyor, without any delay, give the details of the incident.

Finally, after collecting the above reports, the insurance company will make the payment towards the vehicle assured sum. You will have to sign the vehicle transfer forms/RTO forms 28, 29, 30 and 35 for the stolen vehicle. (So, in case after the settlement of your claim, if the vehicle is traced, the insurance company will sell it in the open market). Don’t think that you will get the value of new car! Whatever is the car assured value, you will get that. Obviously older cars will get lesser value.

The above information or the documents list is not exhaustive (it is indicative). The idea of this article is to make the readers aware about the general procedure. Instead of wasting time, watching unwanted debates in channels like TIMEPASS NOW, one can understand the important aspects like the above during free time. The knowledge may come to one’s help in case of difficulty.

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