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Someone broke into my car. Filed police report. Now what?

JimJimBinksJimJimBinks Registered User regular
edited July 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
Someone broke into my car on Saturday night.
It was in my driveway, and I guess maybe when I hit the lock button on my key ring, it didn't take. I came out to my car on Sunday morning and the drivers side door was open a crack. The entire contents of my glove compartment and center console had been spilled all over the drivers and passengers seats.
They got away with a pair of Rayban sunglasses, a 60GB 5th Generation iPod, and the GTA 4 soundtrack (From the collectors edition of the game.)

I filed a police report just because I figured it would be a good idea to have a police car in my driveway in case it was local kids that did it. I changed the light bulbs in the lights right outside my garage (Which had been out for about a year.) and I plan on keeping them on 24/7 now just so there's light where I park the cars.

I was wondering if that's all I should do or if there are any other steps that I'm missing?
I can't file a claim with my insurance company because the combined value of the stuff stolen is exactly equal to my deductible, so there's no real point.

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JimJimBinks on

Posts

  • -Phil--Phil- Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    You might want to think about installing motion detection sensors instead of keeping your lights on all the time. They arent too expensive and easy to install.

    If you have any shrubs obstructing the view from the street to your car you might consider trimmming those back.

    Also, you might want to find out if a rash of similar incident have been happening in your area. If so, you might want to look into getting a crime watch setup.

    As for the police report, theres pretty much nothing else you can do D:

    -Phil- on
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  • mastmanmastman Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    if your driveway is on a hill, park backwards. For the daylight hours, it will make it a bit more suspicious to others if they see someone climbing around inside because no one would work on their car with it facing down hill.

    I say for the day, because during the night, any car activity would be suspicious to others.

    mastman on
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  • Popped CollarPopped Collar __BANNED USERS regular
    edited July 2008
    Kind of fitting that they stole a GTA 4 soundtrack.

    Popped Collar on
  • JimJimBinksJimJimBinks Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    -Phil- wrote: »
    You might want to think about installing motion detection sensors instead of keeping your lights on all the time. They arent too expensive and easy to install.

    If you have any shrubs obstructing the view from the street to your car you might consider trimmming those back.

    Also, you might want to find out if a rash of similar incident have been happening in your area. If so, you might want to look into getting a crime watch setup.

    As for the police report, theres pretty much nothing else you can do D:

    I've been thinking about the motion detectors. Do they have any that install into light fixtures that are already there? (Like an adapter for any regular light socket?) We're renting the house so I'd want to do it in a way that doesn't change things too much. At least until we're sure we want to buy the place.
    mastman wrote: »
    if your driveway is on a hill, park backwards. For the daylight hours, it will make it a bit more suspicious to others if they see someone climbing around inside because no one would work on their car with it facing down hill.

    I say for the day, because during the night, any car activity would be suspicious to others.

    It's not on a hill but that's a damn good idea if I ever move to a place that is on a hill.
    Kind of fitting that they stole a GTA 4 soundtrack.

    I thought the exact same thing :lol:

    JimJimBinks on
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  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I can't file a claim with my insurance company because the combined value of the stuff stolen is exactly equal to my deductible, so there's no real point.

    File a claim anyway, so that your deductible will be a lot lower if anything else happens in the next year.

    In the future, never leave anything in your car.

    supabeast on
  • Gnome-InterruptusGnome-Interruptus Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    supabeast wrote: »
    I can't file a claim with my insurance company because the combined value of the stuff stolen is exactly equal to my deductible, so there's no real point.

    File a claim anyway, so that your deductible will be a lot lower if anything else happens in the next year.

    In the future, never leave anything in your car.

    Unless you filing a claim moves your residency into a higher risk threshold which would then increase your premiums...

    Gnome-Interruptus on
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  • DjeetDjeet Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    supabeast wrote: »
    I can't file a claim with my insurance company because the combined value of the stuff stolen is exactly equal to my deductible, so there's no real point.

    File a claim anyway, so that your deductible will be a lot lower if anything else happens in the next year.

    In the future, never leave anything in your car.

    Aren't insurance deductibles per incident? So even if he filed a claim for this incident, if his car were broken into again next month, he'd still have to pay his deductible when he claims that. It being a separate claim and all.

    Djeet on
  • The_LightbringerThe_Lightbringer Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    You could try looking in local pawn shops to see if anything recent they brought in was yours. How to convince them to hand it over is a big question mark to me, but it might be something to do.

    The_Lightbringer on
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  • embrikembrik Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    You could try looking in local pawn shops to see if anything recent they brought in was yours. How to convince them to hand it over is a big question mark to me, but it might be something to do.

    Here was my next suggestion. You call them, tell 'em what was taken, and give them your Police report record number. If you happen to have the serial number of the iPod, provide that too.

    The police here in Madison have a running list of all the pawn shops and their phone numbers. Your local dept might have something similar. There are a lot more than you'd think about. This could include places that deal only in used music, etc.

    Finally, change your habits, if you haven't already. Stop leaving valuables in the car. Take 'em in with you. Get a carrying case to put your "stealables" in, and take it with you instead of having to deal w/ individual items.

    embrik on
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  • CoJoeTheLawyerCoJoeTheLawyer Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    If you're convinced whoever did it will come back, invest in a car alarm or a set of motion-sensitive lights.

    Other than filing a police report and insurance claim, nothing you really can do.

    CoJoeTheLawyer on

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  • AtomBombAtomBomb Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I would think that motion detection is much better than leaving a light on. I think it's much scarier for a criminal to have a light turn on as they walk up to your car rather than a light on all the time. If it's always lit they can walk up in the least visible way possible, if the light just comes on they'll probably be standing right in the middle of it with their eyemask and dollar sign bag lit up for the world to see.

    You might be able to use something like this to add motion detection to the light you already have. It depends on what kind of fixture it is. It also might be really easy (and possibly cheaper) to swap out the fixtures with motion detecting ones without doing anything that you can't change back when you move depending on the fixture. If you take a picture of the light I could probably offer more specific advice.

    AtomBomb on
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  • SueveSueve Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    -Phil- wrote: »
    You might want to think about installing motion detection sensors instead of keeping your lights on all the time. They arent too expensive and easy to install.

    Sueve on
  • MayGodHaveMercyMayGodHaveMercy Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Djeet wrote: »
    supabeast wrote: »
    I can't file a claim with my insurance company because the combined value of the stuff stolen is exactly equal to my deductible, so there's no real point.

    File a claim anyway, so that your deductible will be a lot lower if anything else happens in the next year.

    In the future, never leave anything in your car.

    Aren't insurance deductibles per incident? So even if he filed a claim for this incident, if his car were broken into again next month, he'd still have to pay his deductible when he claims that. It being a separate claim and all.

    Correct. Not the same as medical insurance. Deductibles on auto insurance claims are per claim.

    MayGodHaveMercy on
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  • Namel3ssNamel3ss Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I feel for you, someone recently broke into my older car, ripped open my dash and stealing my CD deck. They caused alot of damage in the process. Funny thing is this happened in broad daylight, outside of a hospital. Some people in this world. . . and what they will do for $20 as long as that doesn't mean a job. . .

    Namel3ss on
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  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I can't file a claim with my insurance company because the combined value of the stuff stolen is exactly equal to my deductible, so there's no real point.

    Do you have home insurance? It might be worth trying that. I know that with the policies I deal with, stuff within the boundaries of your property (i.e. in your driveway) still counts, though there's a limit that applies to "contents left outside".

    japan on
  • VisionOfClarityVisionOfClarity Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Someone broke into my car on Saturday night.
    It was in my driveway, and I guess maybe when I hit the lock button on my key ring, it didn't take.


    I'm going to go with the more simple lock your doors and make sure they actually locked.

    VisionOfClarity on
  • PotatoNinjaPotatoNinja Fake Gamer Goat Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Someone once smashed my car window to steal a backpack I had left in the back seat.

    Bad news: Police couldn't do anything, I had to repair the window and it cost me over $200.

    Good news: They stole my dirty laundry.
    Scary news: The backpack wasn't found in the nearby vicinity, so they might have found some use for it o_O:|:winky:D:

    Not much you can do about petty theft.

    PotatoNinja on
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  • desperaterobotsdesperaterobots perth, ausRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I had my car broken in to when I parked it on the verge at the front of my block of units. They smashed the back corner window and rifled through my stuff. They took nothing, not even the $10-$15 worth of coinage in the ashtray. Apparently burned cds labelled MP3 FUN aren't all that attractive to thieves?

    desperaterobots on
  • The Muffin ManThe Muffin Man Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I had the same thing happen, Desp, only they jimmy'd the lock on my trunk and climbed in. I know because the radio faceplate, while still there, was on the floor, and the actual radio itself was dented like someone tried to take it out before realizing it was a huge problem to get out.

    My mother got HER car broken into (as in literally, a window broken) and CDs stolen, and then our house got robbed. Overall, nothing really happened except us moving...

    The Muffin Man on
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