Carjacking

[Uncle Nick]

Being relatively new to The Philippines.....

I apologize if my questions sound inane, but my insurance agent was not helpful.

If you hand over your keys to a carjacker, will usual car insurance stand behind you, or, could/would they take the stand that you willfully "gave" the vehicle up.

Should I have photographs of my vehicle available for insurance purposes, or, are snapshots sufficient?

Thank you.

Ciao!

Uncle Nick.

[hinDMaxsiado]

Good day Unk Nick.

Have you tried asking this to your car insurance provider? i take it that yours is a comprehensive one.

i'm not really sure about what's the action of an insurance company in an event like this, if the people working for the insurance won't "progressively" interpret it the way you may have thought so "that you willfully surrendered your car to the carnappers", just so they have an excuse not to pay (at the depreciated price) your insured vehicle. But then, there's an issue here of life being threathened, more than anything else. The only way is to really give up the car, no matter what, as life itself takes precedence over any earthly belongings, as a point of discussion, for example.

It would be better to verify this to your car insurance provider, Unk Nick. And sometimes, it's also a lot better to have personal lawyer, or a lawyer-friend within your family, especially if he's highly-connected that can easily advise you or even help you through glitches like this one.

In other topic, i always carry my parking ticket in my wallet each time i parked a vehicle in a parking place so that in the event when someone steals it, i "somehow" have an evidence that the car was stolen....

But, above all else, i pray that none of these things happen to anyone of us....

GOD bless.

[yebo]

hi nick,

firstly, if the insurance company, at this early point in time, can not even answer your question then i think you'll need to change your insurance provider. the thing is, what the heck do they expect you to do? do they suggest that you die a little, suffer a small bullet wound, or get beaten up with a pry bar, before you give up the keys? i hope not. the usual thing to do here is give up the keys, walk away, report to the police, and file a claim. becoming a casualty is not included in the requirements.

get a reputable insurance provider like mapfre or philam.

[yebo]

all you need to keep are copies (originals if possible) of the car registration papers and original papers of the insurance coverage tucked away in your files at home or the office. photos are needed only when your car is in an accident and the insurance company needs to check that the car was indeed damaged. the photo should show the plate number and the damage done to the vehicle.

[hinDMaxsiado]

Ours is MAPFRE.... Good thing you mentioned some of these good insurance providers, Sir Yebo....

Kind regards.

[abcdboy]

Uncle Nick,

Im studying law and took up insurance already. There will be no problem when you hand over your keys to a carjacker and they could not tell you that you "willfully" gave them your key because you were under duress i.e. the mere presence of carjackers asking you to give your keys is enough. Since you have a comprehensive insurance then you can claim under the theft/carjacking clause.

However, there are certain conditions in the insurance in order for you to claim and most often they require you to submit a police report, copy of the insurance policy, and copies of your car registration so make sure that you don't keep in your car the original otherwise if the car is lost then you will also lose your original car registration. So be careful, keep your original car registration and only bring with you in the car a photocopy of the same. They may also require your driver's license but you don't need a picture of your car for the theft/carjack clause.

Moreover, there are some "limitations" in your car insurance such as when the carjacker/carnapper is your driver then the insurer will not be liable so if you have a driver make sure that he is trustworthy! Hope this helps!

[hinDMaxsiado]

Good day Abcdboy.

Quoting you sir, en toto:

"Moreover, there are some "limitations" in your car insurance such as when the carjacker/carnapper is your driver then the insurer will not be liable so if you have a driver make sure that he is trustworthy! Hope this helps!"

WOW Atty, didn't know about this! Wheew!!

This is note-worthy. Thanks sir!

[abcdboy]

Sir HinDMaxsiado,

Most of the time the insurer stipulates such clause in the policy. meron din naman pong wala it depends sa policy pero just to be safe that's my advice po just assume that such limitation applies to your policy because insurance agents will not tell you about it. Good day sir!