Car stolen, followed by loss of documents and keys.
October 9, 2009 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Andreas Scholz
Dear Sir or Madam,
Some time ago my car was stolen, after which I contacted the police and also the insurance company.
I always sent the documents required for the claims settlement by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt to the insurance company.
Unfortunately, the shipment containing the vehicle documents and the 2 original keys got lost in the mail, and after a 4-week waiting period, the post office only refunded me 25 € + postage.
I explained all of this to the insurance company, and they said they at least need the vehicle documents.
As a result, I submitted a sworn statement at the relevant vehicle registration office to obtain replacement documents after another 5-week waiting period, in order to have the insurance company settle the claim.
I sent these replacement documents to my insurance company, but now they say they actually need the original documents and keys for the settlement.
I do not believe that an insurance company necessarily needs the keys for the claims settlement.
Furthermore, the replacement documents are the only valid documents after the loss of the original documents.
Please write to me so that I can roughly assess whether to take any legal action.
Thank you.
Dear inquirer,
You claim to the insurance company that your vehicle has been stolen. The insurance company will of course only provide insurance benefits to you if this is actually the case, in order to initially rule out insurance fraud.
Reasons that may present theft as at least a questionable assertion include, for example, the fact that on the one hand the papers cannot be provided and on the other hand the vehicle keys cannot be handed over. These may be enough indications for the insurance company to take the position that theft did not actually occur, and therefore the insurance event did not take place.
If your insurance company does not want to pay due to the lack of papers and keys as described, then you would have to take legal action against the insurance company. The appropriate type of claim would be a claim for performance. However, you would also have to prove that the vehicle was actually stolen. This indirectly leads you to explain what happened to the keys and papers. If there are no further indications that you have only pretended the insurance event, the insurance company will be ordered to pay the insurance sum. Further indications that suggest a pretense could, for example, be financial difficulties at the time of reporting the insurance event or relevant previous convictions. If none of this applies to you, then there should be no reason to deny you the insurance benefits solely based on the unfortunate circumstance of losing papers and keys.
If you do not have such indications, you should once again inform the insurance company that the loss occurred in the mail. You probably have corresponding correspondence from the postal service that can prove the loss of the mail item. If the insurance company continues to refuse to pay, a legal dispute will likely be inevitable.
I hope this has helped you. If you have any uncertainties, please ask.
Best regards,
Andreas Scholz, Attorney
