Stolen-Property.com

If your car has been stolen, it is very important to report the stolen car to the police immediately, this way if it is involved accident you will not be held responsible. Also, the sooner you report the car stolen the higher the chance is of recovering the car.

Here are the general steps to follow to file a police report for a stolen car:

• Call the non-emergency phone number in the district that the car was stolen to acquire the address for the police station.
• Go in to the police station and they will provide the police report paperwork to report the car stolen.
• When filling in the police report, be sure to include the vehicle identification number (VIN) and the license plate number of the stolen car. The VIN is always on the title and many times the license plate number is on insurance cards.
• Once the police report is processed the police will provide a police report case number. Be sure to keep this number safe as this case number will be needed to follow up on the stolen car.

Once you report the stolen car to the police and have a case number, you should contact your insurance provider to inform them of the car theft. Just about every insurance company requires a police report number for the stolen car to provide compensation.

Car warranties do not cover car theft so you may consider covering the car for theft, especially if you are still making payments for the car or if you drive one of the top ten stolen cars.

When filing a stolen vehicle claim to your insurance provider, you should have the following information available:

• The title certificate for the stolen vehicle.
• The location of all the keys to the stolen vehicle before and after the vehicle theft.
• All the names and contact information of everyone who had access to the stolen vehicle.
• A detailed description of the stolen vehicle, this should include mileage, vehicle options, all service records, and receipts for any upgrades.
• A detailed list of any personal property that was in the stolen vehicle. Coverage for personal property that was stolen in a car theft incident varies from insurance carrier, the insurance coverage and from state to state. Also, if you have homeowners or renters insurance, you should inquire whether these policies provide additional coverage for personal property that was stolen.
• If you were still making payments, include all finance or leasing contact information and the account number. If applicable, inform your finance or leasing company of the vehicle theft to discuss the case directly with your insurance provider.

If the police recover your vehicle, be sure to notify your insurance provider immediately. This will avoid any discrepancies and help to resolve the stolen vehicle claim more quickly.

This is a list of the most common ways a car is stolen. Knowing this can help defend yourself from being a victim of car theft.

• Checking for an alarm system. Throughout the years, people have been conditioned to ignoring car alarms on the account a loud motorcycle or a loud truck can set a car alarm off. Peoples senses are so dulled to these car alarms many times they ignore the noise as the car is being stolen. Prevention - instead of using a car alarm that just makes noise, use a car alarm that has a pager that alerts you if the alarm is activated.
• Smash and grab. One of the most popular ways to steal from cars is breaking a window, grabbing what ever it is the thief is after and running away. Prevention - always remove anything of value from plain sight. The majority of crime is "crime of opportunity." Also, if you have a stereo with a removable face plate, bring this with you instead of leaving it under the seat or in the glove box.
• Drive off in a car with the keys in it. Thieves case out ATM's, movie rental store drop offs or other businesses with quick drop off or pick ups. When a person walks away from a running car, they jump in and the car is stolen. Prevention - never leave your car running or with the keys in it for even a moment, that's all it takes for a car theft to occur.
• Cutting a steering wheel. If you have a steering wheel locking device to deter from car theft, a thief will actually cut the steering wheel to remove the anti-theft device. Prevention - invest in a "kill switch" that disables your car from starting.
• Disabling the alarm system. Professional car thieves know how to disable a car alarm for car theft within 15 seconds if they know what kind it is. Prevention - when having an alarm system installed in your car, go to a professional alarm installer instead of a big retail chain store. Also, do not advertise with stickers what kind of alarm system is on the car. Professional car thief's then know what method to use to disable the alarm.
• Car theft using back up or spare keys. Many stolen cars are done so with the actual car keys. Prevention - Don't ever leave or "hide" any spare or back up key in the car or under the bumper in a magnetic key holder as thieves do look for these for car theft.
• Stolen car from big parking lots. Thieves often case out big parking lots such as that at sporting events or concerts. Prevention - park in secured, well lit parking lots when possible to avoid this type of car theft.

It's bad enough to experience car theft, learning that your insurance policy doesn't cover the loss and expenses just worsens the situation.

Manufacturer installed theft deterrent systems may not be enough. As they are the same for each manufacturer or model they can be easily disabled by experienced professional car thieves. It may be worth investing in a more sophisticated anti-theft alarm system and having it professionally installed.

Older cars are just as likely to be stolen as new ones. Older car models are stolen to be stripped for parts which are no longer manufactured. If you review the top ten stolen cars, you will see that according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), most cars stolen in 2008 were older models.

Report the stolen car to the police immediately, especially if you are still at the scene of the crime. Time is of the essence, most cars are not stolen for a "joy ride," they are more likely stolen to be stripped of parts so every delay means the stolen car is more likely to be driven to a chop shop or out of town. Keep the license plate number and VIN in your wallet or purse and keep a copy of the registration and insurance card at home so they can be quickly provided to the police and your insurance company.

Closely review your insurance policy to ensure you are covered for car theft and for a rental car. If you are not covered for a rental car you may want to consider this option as it may only cost a few dollars per month which is a very small cost in comparison to even a few days of car rental.

Do not keep personal information in your car such as anything with your address, birth date, drivers license number or especially social security number. Unfortunately, more and more cases of stolen cars and car break-ins are leading to other crimes linked to the car theft. It's better to keep your registration and insurance information on your person, this is more inconvenient but it's worth the peace of mind if your car is stolen.

Here is the step by step process to report stolen car online here on Stolen-Property.com.

1. Register - if you haven't done so already, click the "register" button at the top right side of the website.
2. Enter your information on the easy registration form and click "Register" to send the form.
3. Email verification - once the registration form is sent, an email will be sent to verify the address. Open your email, find the email sent from Stolen-Property.com (check the spam or bulk if you don't see it in the inbox) and either click the link or copy and paste into the browser navigation bar.
4. Now the account has been activated through email verification, you will be ready to log in.
5. Once logged in, click the "New Listing" button in the main navigation, then click "Automobile," then click "Car" to report stolen car.
6. Enter as much information as possible, especially the VIN for the stolen car then click "Submit."

Once these steps have been taken to report stolen car, there will be a permanent record of the stolen car online.

If you have experienced car theft then you know the terrible feeling of "I'm sure I left it right here" first hand. Talking with people who have experienced car theft, they will tell you the importance of stolen vehicle recovery systems.

Vehicle recovery systems use a combination of a GPS transmitter in the stolen car for tracking and cellular technology for transmission to and from monitoring centers. However, these do have technological limitations. A GPS requires clear line of sight to at least three satellites to locate the stolen car's position. Hiding the stolen car in a concrete parking structure or something similar blocks the lines of sight. There are sometimes also "dead zones" that cellular phone service doesn't work.

The one stolen car tracking device that is an exception is LoJack which uses FM radio frequency. LoJack also works with police cars specially equipped to hone in on the stolen car. The LoJack system has a 90 percent recovery rate which makes it the preferred system of the police.

Here is a list of stolen vehicle recovery systems and how they work for you to decide whether or not investing in one of these stolen vehicle recovery systems is worth the investment and which on would be right for you.

Factory / Manufacturer Installed Stolen Vehicle Recovery Systems

• GM Onstar - GM's OnStar service is better known for it's crash notification feature but it also offers stolen vehicle recovery. Once a police report has been made, contact OnStar immediately. From there the police and OnStar will work together to recover the stolen vehicle. If the stolen car is involved in a chase, OnStar has a new feature called Stolen Vehicle Slowdown that assist's police to capture the thief and to prevent accidents. For the first year OnStar is free, after the first year the cost is $18.95/month or $199/year.
• Mercedes-Benz TeleAid - The first year is free then is costs $240/year to renew. A subscription-based service is used by Mercedes-Benz that was developed by Hughes Telematics.
• BMW Assist - The first four years is free ( the model year must be 2007 or newer), after the first four years or for models 2004 - 2006 it costs $199/year.
• Lexus Enform - except the SC, a free year trial of Lexus Enform is offered on select 2010 models with navigation. After the first year trial it will cost $264.90 per year.
• Toyota Safety Connect - A free trial of Safety Connect is included on select 2010 Toyota models. After the first year it costs $139.95 per year.

Aftermarket Stolen Vehicle Recovery Systems

• LoJack - A small radio transponder is installed in one of 20 different places. This makes it difficult to detect or for quick removal. Once the car is reported stolen to the police, the information will then be quickly sent to the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) which has a cross-checking for LoJack's. With a match a signal is then sent which turns on the LoJack's transponder. A silent signal is then sent to the local police equipped with LoJack vehicle tracking units, which can then track the stolen car. If the thieves are still near the stolen vehicle they can then be apprehended. The LoJack system has a one time fee of $695 or $995 for an early warning feature. LoJack uses FM radio technology to track the stolen car.
• Mobile IQ - Mobile IQ is made by AirIQ, it's a vehicle recovery system that can be installed with a factory or after market alarm system. When a car is stolen, the Mobile IQ alarm is triggered and transceiver unit inside the car is activated, notifying a monitoring center. You will then be contacted by your choice of e-mail, text message, pager or phone by the monitoring center. At this point you must notify the police with the car's location. Now you or the police (you must provide your Mobile IQ log in information to them) can track the stolen vehicle on the Web. Mobile IQ costs $499 for the system plus and average $100 installation. The Mobile IQ service is free for the first year then then $100 per year after that.
• Zoombak - This vehicle tracking device is a lower price but the downfall is that it will not notify you if your car is stolen, this could potentially loose you hours or even days before you discover the car theft and report it to the police. Once the theft is discovered, you notify the police and then track the stolen vehicle location from the web like the Mobile IQ tracking system. Zoombak is also portable which means you can remove from your car, if you ever got lost in the woods or needed other rescue your location can be tracked. Zoombak costs $199 for the device, the service is $15 per month and has unlimited usage.

More than likely your are paying too much for your car insurance. There is a good chance you can get a better rate from another insurance company than you can from your current insurer. With the widespread use of the internet insurance rates have become much more competitive with the ease of shopping for lower rates, research coverage and premiums. However recent studies show that most people don't shop around for car insurance they way they do while shopping for a car and most stay with their current provider without researching options. Break the trend and take advantage of the web to save yourself money and at times get better coverage in the process.

Here's some ways to save money on car insurance:

Know what discounts you qualify for

Occupations of low risk
Insurance adjusters collect data on what occupations get into the most and least amount of accidents. You can use this information to your advantage. When getting quotes for car insurance, be sure to mention what industry you work in and request discounts for you industry.

Affiliation with organizations and auto clubs
Insurance, like hotels, at times will offer discounts if you have and affiliation with and organization like AAA. Ask the insurance agent when inquiring about rates for affiliate discounts. Also be sure to ask your employer if the company offers any sort of group rate.

Combined coverage
You can also save money on your car insurance by using the same insurance company to insure your house, boat, motorcycle, etc. as you do to insure your car. Many times this can save you not only on your car insurance but also on your homeowners and other items that you insure with the company.

Auto Safety Feature Disounts
Having auto safety features on your vehicle can save money on your car insurance as well. On the top of the list is anti-lock brakes, other items include automatic seatbelts and airbags. Mention these items while getting an estimate and request the discounts for them.

Assuming more financial risk
If you are a safe and responsible driver odds are in favor of nothing happening. This is of course how insurance companies make thier money. By increasing your deductable, the expenses that you will be responsible for in an accident of your fault, you can greatly decrease you rates. So if you have a deductable of $500 and there is an accident that costs $2000, you are responsible for $500 and the insurance company pays the remaining $1500. By increasing your deductable to $1000, your are still protected the responsibility of huge expenses but you can save as much as 30% on your monthly rate.

Research insurance rates before purchasing a car

Every car has different insurance rates - more expensive cars, newer cars and sports cars are much more to insure than economy and utilitarian vehichles. This is why it is so important to request insurance quotes before purchasing a vehicle.