Car Thieves Did Me A Favour

It was back in 1989 when my IT career really got started. I had been selected to join the large IT department of a blue chip bank.  They would train me as a computer programmer on a 6 week training course during the summer.  But this training course was some distance away in another city.  At the time I was driving a rusty old, brown Ford sedan with a rear benchseat that slid around everytime I applied the breaks.

My old Ford made it all the way up to the training course.  By the time I had reached the hotel the window screen and grill on the car was spattered with dead insects it had collected on the trip.  In the last week of the course my car had its first mishap. Whilst driving at low speed towards a road junction the engine started kicking backwards and forwards.  Fortunately there was a mechanic's garage just yards away.  It complained bitterly as I steered it into the garage parking bay. It didn't take the mechanic long to identify that the problem was a broken cambelt.  I booked it in for repair for the following day when I would be returning home.

Come the following afternoon I was delighted to find my Ford in a driveable condition once more. I paid the bill, jumped in and steered my way towards the Friday traffic. Just before I left the garage forecourt however, the mechanic came rushing over to the driver's window. He warned me that whilst inspecting my car he had noticed that one side of the sub-frame was completely rusted through. This meant that one side of the chassis was completely unsupported.  I accepted the risk and drove the vehicle all the way home without incident.  But I was lucky.  If the sub-frame had snapped completely I could have found myself in a very nasty accident.  The car was a death trap.

When I got home, I left the car out on the road and went out with family and friends for a few beers to celebrate the successful conclusion of my IT course.  Several hours later I got back home and slumped into my bed tired and slightly drunk.

At 4 o'clock in the morning I was disturbed by a pounding on the front door.  I get out of bed all groggy and headed for the door in a half dressed state. Standing there were two police officers. Oh dear, what have I done, was my first thought. The two officers then explained to me how they had been ringing my phone for the last half hour trying to get a response. Obviously I was a heavy sleeper. They then informed me that my car had been stolen and smashed into a brick wall.  I was stunned.  I felt like I was in the script of a movie. In a 24 hour period my car had failed, I was told it was a death trap and now it had been stolen and wrecked.  They explained that two joy riders had taken my car and been involved n a police chase in a neighbouring town, all while I was fast asleep from the beer.

They drove me to the scene of the incident. My car was was embedded in the side of a low wall, its left handlamp smashed, bumper crumpled and front chassis heavily indented.  They allowed me to drive the vehicle home in that condition.

My insurance claim for the vehicle was processed extremely smoothly due to the weight of the police report.  I got back all that I had paid for the vehicle and, to my surprise, the isnurance company let me keep the vehicle.  I sold the vehicle on to a car dealer the subsequent weekend. So does crime pay? Well it did for me as the victim of it.  The theft turned out to be a good thing.  I had recovered much of my expenditure on a car that could have left me seriously injured in hospital.

Insurance

By Steve

Q. How do we get the best deal from an insurance policy?

This is my online scrap book about insurance policies. Most of us are either under-insured or over-insured and working out which is the key to getting the best deal when buying insurance.