ATE Blog
Not about After the Event Insurance but a Word of Warning
3rd May, 2011
Another good short week? Enjoy the wedding?
I didn't. Had a bit of an incident which soured things a little.
Now if you read my blog regularly, you might begin to think that I am a used car salesman on the side but it's just coincidence. We bought a 7 seater to accommodate all of the children plus their assorted friends recently so last week, I put our Mercedes M class up for sale in Autotrader.
I got a couple of calls, and one person wanted to come and see it on Tuesday night. Problem was, I was out playing football but we finally managed to shift the times and 'Akesh' and his friend were there when I got home. I proceeded to show them around the car but refused to let them drive it as they obviously weren't insured. They checked all of the paperwork - chassis number against the V5 etc, even that the chassis wasn't bent at all.
They said they had seen one other car that night but the owner only had one key so they were suspicious. Did I have two keys? Of course - so I locked the car and got the other one. They then wanted to check that the central locking was working with the metal part of the fob (there is a small emergency key which is hidden in the Mercedes electrical fob) but it didn't seem to work.
They then wanted to check the spare tyre was in the boot so I opened it and lent in. Next thing I know, the boot lid has come down on my head and I am somewhat stunned. 'Akesh' said he was looking for the lock in the boot and hadn't realised I was going to lean in. I wasn't feeling all that great - but 'Akesh' said he was interested in the car and just wanted to do an HPI credit check on it and would call me in the morning. With that, he locked the car, handed me back the key and I went back in side to look at my head in the mirror (cut and massive raised bruise).
So that was that. Except, in the morning I woke up and the car had gone. I then looked at the keys and realised they had swapped one of them after cracking me on the head. It was pretty much identical to our keys and not obvious in the dark.
So there you have it. I am now dealing with my insurers and the police who incidentally, despite an assault and theft of an expensive car, couldn't be less interested.
I have since been told that this same theft modus operandi was featured on the BBC's 'The Real Hustle'.
Shame I hadn't seen it. I suspect 'Akesh' and his mate have.
Box Legal Limited: After the Event Insurance Providers
www.boxlegal.co.uk | daniel@boxlegal.co.uk | 0870 766 9997
I didn't. Had a bit of an incident which soured things a little.
Now if you read my blog regularly, you might begin to think that I am a used car salesman on the side but it's just coincidence. We bought a 7 seater to accommodate all of the children plus their assorted friends recently so last week, I put our Mercedes M class up for sale in Autotrader.
I got a couple of calls, and one person wanted to come and see it on Tuesday night. Problem was, I was out playing football but we finally managed to shift the times and 'Akesh' and his friend were there when I got home. I proceeded to show them around the car but refused to let them drive it as they obviously weren't insured. They checked all of the paperwork - chassis number against the V5 etc, even that the chassis wasn't bent at all.
They said they had seen one other car that night but the owner only had one key so they were suspicious. Did I have two keys? Of course - so I locked the car and got the other one. They then wanted to check that the central locking was working with the metal part of the fob (there is a small emergency key which is hidden in the Mercedes electrical fob) but it didn't seem to work.
They then wanted to check the spare tyre was in the boot so I opened it and lent in. Next thing I know, the boot lid has come down on my head and I am somewhat stunned. 'Akesh' said he was looking for the lock in the boot and hadn't realised I was going to lean in. I wasn't feeling all that great - but 'Akesh' said he was interested in the car and just wanted to do an HPI credit check on it and would call me in the morning. With that, he locked the car, handed me back the key and I went back in side to look at my head in the mirror (cut and massive raised bruise).
So that was that. Except, in the morning I woke up and the car had gone. I then looked at the keys and realised they had swapped one of them after cracking me on the head. It was pretty much identical to our keys and not obvious in the dark.
So there you have it. I am now dealing with my insurers and the police who incidentally, despite an assault and theft of an expensive car, couldn't be less interested.
I have since been told that this same theft modus operandi was featured on the BBC's 'The Real Hustle'.
Shame I hadn't seen it. I suspect 'Akesh' and his mate have.
Box Legal Limited: After the Event Insurance Providers
www.boxlegal.co.uk | daniel@boxlegal.co.uk | 0870 766 9997
