To many wagon drivers their cab is their home but many drivers out there including us 7,5 tonne puddle stompers that also spend five nights away may be totally unaware that all their personal property such as sat-nav’s, TV’s, DVD players, Laptops and all those other gadgets you love to have in your cab is uninsured even if they have a house policy covering personal property away from home or even your own vehicle policy. They always say you only find out how good your insurance company is when you make a claim. I am insured by Churchill Insurance, one of the biggest and most publicly known brands in the country and have been for many years and was unfortunate to have my fully locked Mercedes 815 sleeper cab lorry broken into on a customer’s driveway during a delivery in Slough two weeks ago resulting in the theft of a brand new TomTom.LCD TV, Road Angel and a Sony Vaio Laptop and my wallet with all the problems that entails with bank cards etc. Despite it all happening under CCTV the police have got know where in finding the thieving little hooded culprits so having heard nothing from Churchill I chased it up with a phone call and spoke to a lovely lady who after studying my file said” Sorry your claim is not covered !” With shock horror I asked why and was told “Please refer to your policy document and it says you are only covered if the personal items were in a locked boot or a locked glove box”. Flabbergasted I explained yet again it was a lorry it did not have a boot nor did it have a lockable glove box only two tiny door pockets and the laptop, TV and wallet were in their respective bags on my bunk out of general view whilst the sat nav and road angel were admittedly attached to the windscreen but the cab was fully secured, immobiliser and alarm on and the lorry was under CCTV. I was even more flabbergasted by her reply” No Boot? Why didn’t you lock them in the back of the lorry? As you didn’t lock them in the boot or glove box securely I am sorry we won’t be paying out on this claim” Time after time I explained the lorry doesn’t have a glove box or boot so they were as secure as possible especially as I parked under the CCTV deliberately but to no avail…End of conversation.
After talking to numerous other drivers out on the road they have told me of other occasions that they have been heard of where a similar excuse by insurance companies has been used not to pay out. Churchill Insurance have been taking premiums off me for years some of these items as specified items. According to Churchill Insurance my vehicle wasn’t built correctly by Mercedes Benz so as to comply with Churchill Insurance’s Theft Policies. I really must remember to write to all the truck manufacturers making 7.5 tonne trucks to redesign the lorry with a lockable boot or lockers so truckers’ personal property is safe!
Sorry to hear about your misfortune but it could of all been
prevented by simply removing the sat nav from the screen.
Those scum bags that robbed your vehicle are opportunists
and spotted the ■■■■ nav.
I remove mine at filling station,delivery points and anytime im
out of the cab.I only leave it loose in my bag on the engine lump
or just on the lump.
What the little scum dont see they wont desire !!
Im sure you prob know all this and its prob a case of locking
the door after the horse has bolted.
quatrroman,
what you need to do now is this.
contact churchill again and ask to enter their complaints proceedure.
then write to them setting out your claim and keep a copy. they will reply refusing your claim… keep this letter.
write to them again asking for the address of their underwriters and write to them setting out your problem… keep copies.
when the underwriters refuse your claim ask for the address of the insurance ombudsman and write to them enclosing copies of all the correspondence you have sent and received.
You cannot go straight to the ombudsman, you have to go through the relevant proceedure… and more to the point…
IT BLOODY WORKS ( well it did for me in slightly different circs) well worth a try and good luck
Earlier this year i spoke to Lloyds of London who underwright most UK insurance companies, They told me that because of the nature of our work and it is common practice for us to have a lot of personnel items in our cabs, That all items would be covered.
As has been said, use the complaints procedure, keep all documents, then go to the Ombudsman.
I’ve had to use the ombudsman twice previously, and its taken about 2 months each time but once the ombudsman is involved Its always come out in my favour.
When we where insured by NFU one truck was broken into and a sat nav and PC stolen. The helpful girl at NFU told us to claim as tools of the trade rather than personal items. Personal items where not covered in the policy but tools of the trade are.
Make a complaint that they are essential tools(add what you use them for) , you may loose the TV but get paid on the rest.
Some rotten little toe rag nicked my phone and sat nav outside a McDonalds in Hastings at seven in the morning. Wasn’t very smart as my bag was behind the seat with my wallet and a hundred quid in it. Since been told that Hastings is druggy and asylum seeker on sea. You live and learn.
I gave up on a steady job with an agency driving reefers to Londis among other drops. These stores were in some very dodgy areas and although the trucks were smart enough none of them were lockable, just through neglected, badly maintained door locks. Funnily they insisted that the vehicles were washed every day. They were obviously more concerned with image than security for the drivers gear. It got to the ridiculous point of having to lock my stuff in with the frozen food When all my complaints met with the shoulder shrug I declined that particular job.
Thats very good advice about ‘tools of trade’, must remember that one
When all my complaints met with the shoulder shrug I declined that particular job.