It’s that time of year again where the cold snap encourages people to leave their vehicles un-attended whilst it defrosts and warms up ready for our on-ward journey.
According to previous surveys at least 47% of us in the UK are guilty of this. It’s important to make you aware at this stage that your Insurance Company may refuse to payout if your vehicle is stolen as a result of this negligence.
Be warned as opportunist thieves are on the lookout for an easy target. Around 2000 car thefts occur each year because motorists leave their vehicles to warm up during winter mornings. This equates to vehicle thieves getting away with around £12.7m worth of vehicles every year.
Claims director at swiftcover.com, Robin Reames said, “Leaving a car with keys in the ignition provides a perfect opportunity for thieves, and we as motorists are especially likely to do this at this time of year.
“People have an ‘it won’t happen to me’ attitude. However in reality, it can and does happen anywhere in the UK.”
For some, this is not just an occurrence during winter months as many motorists will leave their engine running whilst they just pop in the house to get something they forgot; or just pop in the local newsagent to pick up a paper
It doesn’t matter what reason the vehicle has been left; many insurance companies will in these circumstances nullify an insurance claim where a vehicle has been stolen with its keys left inside.
At present, it is a criminal offence to leave your car engine running when you are not in the vehicle. The offence is called ‘quitting’; t comes from the Road Traffic Act 1986.
The Road Vehicles (Constriction and Use) Regulation 1986 (SI 1986/1078) deals with the actual offence of “quitting”. It states “… that no person shall cause or permit to be on any road any motor vehicle which is not attended by a person duly licensed to drive it unless the engine is stopped and the parking brake is effectively set. Exemptions to the requirements of this Regulation as to the stopping of the engine include a fire brigade vehicle.”