Stolen

Slightly Bunkers

Hi all,

I was chatting to a flickr contact about the recent thieft of my camera bag with all my kit in it and she mentioned it might be no harm to post details here in case any of you come across any of the items for sale at low prices or by dodgy people!! I know I have seen the last of the lot but i will try anything to give the scumbags that took it a harder time move it on!

In the bag (a lowpro slingshot aw200) A canon rebel xti (400D) kit 18-55 lens, a canon ixus 95, sigma 10-20mm, canon 50mm, canon 55-250mm, canon 100mm macro, canon 28-135mm, spare battery and remote release, spare memory card also in the bag.

Needless to say I am gutted and am almost sure I will not see a cent from the insurance as the bag was behind the drivers seat and not in the boot!! There was no sign of forced entry but the car was locked as I checked it myself before going into the house! Foolish to leave the bag in the car i hear you say but it is easy to forget once in a while!!! My mum's golf clubs were taken the following night from her car (another part of town) which was also locked with no sign of forced entry! Anyone shine any light on how this is possible? It seems to have happened a lot here over Christmas.

Anyway, please just be on the look out for any photography gear on sale in suspicious circumstances!

Thanks

Greg

Tallon

Any seriel numbers Greg?

Sorry to hear it

T-rev

That is crap man. They might turn up. Strange that they could get in without a key. My partners van was done in Oct and took thousands worth of tools. They cut the central double lock cable. Dont ask me how tho.

Slightly Bunkers

Tallon - I have the serial no of the camera from exif details but have not checked if the serial no's of the lens come up.

T-Rev - It is strange and i would doubt myself only for it has happened to too many people for it to be pure coincidence!

Nforce

T-rev wrote: »

That is crap man. They might turn up. Strange that they could get in without a key. My partners van was done in Oct and took thousands worth of tools. They cut the central double lock cable. Dont ask me how tho.

Blade in between door and wing...cut through the cables and the central locking disengages apparently. Another way of entry is to force the top of the door frame open allowing entry (doesn't work is the vehicle has deadlocks,however).*

*disclaimer: haven't any personal experience of either!!!!


Serial numbers of the lens might be in the exif too, worth checking.

Hecklar

thats rough man, sorry to hear it but ya never know, some people get lucky in these circumstances.

Have a look around the sill of your doors where the glass comes up from. A commonly used way of getting in unnoticed is to bend the door back from the top at the roof, enough to get an arm in, then open the door as usual, rob you blind and lock the door afterwards as if nothing happened. You'll sometimes notice small dents or cracks in the paint where they've done this.

daycent

A location may help.... Even to narrow it down to a county maybe?

Dublin is it??

magicbastarder

Slightly Bunkers wrote: »

Needless to say I am gutted and am almost sure I will not see a cent from the insurance as the bag was behind the drivers seat and not in the boot!!

how strict are the insurance companies about this?

T-rev

It's a weird one alright. Hope ya contacted the gardai. They might know the recent tricks of the latest theives.

What car do you have?

Slightly Bunkers

The car is a SAAB, the place Mayo and meeting the insurance assessor in a few minutes.

My Mums clubs were stolen from her car the nightafter my camera from a different address and they were recovered by the gardaí a couple of days ago. her insurers wouldn't cover them as they were on the back seat. She went out and bought a new set as she thought she would never see the old set again!!! So typical! The Gardai were calling to a house on an unrelated matter when they found the clubs discarded near the house. They are charging the guy they called to for that but had no warrent to search the house so nothing else recovered!! How frustrating! These guys will toss everything else now I guess so bye bye camera!


Update.....Just met with the assessor and he seems to think that I may be able to claim something back! he says I have adequate cover but needs to check company policy on items not in boot or glove box.

Fingers crossed!

baby and crumble

Well my first set of gear was stolen from my Gfs car about 18 months ago, apparently there is a device that has some sort of magnet in it that you can put over the keyhole in a central locking car which over-rides or shorts something out. Same as you I was really shocked, because I remember her unlocking the door before we got in!

Really hope you get sorted, especially with that amount of gear. Keep an eye on gumtree, adverts, ebay...

Scamp-

Tallon wrote: »

Any seriel numbers Greg?

Sorry to hear it

Can you track a stolen camera with serial numbers?

Tallon

Scamp- wrote: »

Can you track a stolen camera with serial numbers?

If I see one for sale, I can ask to see the serial numbers.

And if they match...

jesmed

It is my experience that its better to never leave anything in the car.....ever.

Slightly Bunkers

As a rule I don't! It happens sometimes!:(

Effects

zoegh wrote: »

Well my first set of gear was stolen from my Gfs car about 18 months ago, apparently there is a device that has some sort of magnet in it that you can put over the keyhole in a central locking car which over-rides or shorts something out. Same as you I was really shocked, because I remember her unlocking the door before we got in!

Really hope you get sorted, especially with that amount of gear. Keep an eye on gumtree, adverts, ebay...

No, there isn't.

jackie1974

That's absolutely terrible :mad: If your car insurance doesn't cover it maybe your home insurance will ?? I specifically asked for mine to be covered but it's worth checking out. I'm guilty of leaving stuff in the car too, it's not always convienient to take everything with you, ya know. I hope you get some sort of compensation.

Slightly Bunkers

Thanks Jackie.

It is the house insurance I am claiming on. I haven't tried the car insurance yet! I am still waiting to hear from the insurance people! In the meantime I am buying a second hand Film slr so I can keep up the hobby!! Can't afford to start replacing the digital stuff!

ei1429

No worried will keep the ears open, Livin in Mayo.

Bren

djd80

Slightly Bunkers wrote: »

Needless to say I am gutted and am almost sure I will not see a cent from the insurance as the bag was behind the drivers seat and not in the boot!!

Sorry to hear about your gear, I would not be a happy camper.

Can I just ask though, if you thought there may be an issue claiming if the gear was not in your boot, why didn't you just tell the assessor it was in the boot? If there is no sign of forced entry how are they to know?

LeoB

djd80 wrote: »

Can I just ask though, if you thought there may be an issue claiming if the gear was not in your boot, why didn't you just tell the assessor it was in the boot? If there is no sign of forced entry how are they to know?

Ya Devil Ya;)


If I remember correctly this is the 3rd or 4th time someone has been on here posting about their stolen gear and reall WE SHOULD ALL GET OUR GEAR PUT ON HOUSE INSURANCE. It cost me €55 extra to get my gear put on house insurance with a limit of €2,500.

One lad recently had his gear stolen at Bull Island, the lad who does be on the Mooney goes wild show, cant think of his name but he is a birdwatcher and regular on Mooney, there was a spate of these robberies from around September last year.

Hope you get sorted and are back snapping soon.

Slightly Bunkers

Leo B I have the camera on the house insurance and I have more than enough cover according to the assessor he was jus unsure if the fact the gear was not in the boot whether it would be covered!

djd80 - If I knew all that I know now when this all happened I would have said it was in the boot!! I told the Gardai the truth as I didn't think there would be an issue with insurance!! Its not as if the camera was left in plain sight! It was in a bag behind the drivers seat. The thief had to rummage through the car to get it! If it was in the boot he would have got it anyway!!!

Most annoying part of this tale is that the Gardai know who did it and the have been arrested on another crime and one other car break in but there is no proof linking them to my camera as it was not recovered!

Thanks everyone for their inputs and just be over cautious about bringing your camera gear into the house! One lapse in my rooutine and I pay dearly!!

I am buying a SLR film camera second hand at the end of the month to keep the photography hobby going so there will be lots more questions coming up!!!!

LeoB

I actually phoned my Insurance company after reading your post and specified cover outside my home. I mentioned the car and and asked did it matter if it was not in the boot or footwell and I was told NO.

Dont rely on the accessor, check your policy thouroughly and get advice if needed from an independent insurance brooker.

Hope all works out for you

Fográ, Is there anyway you could make discreet enquiries to this thug who took your gear? Mind you it does not have to be discreet!!

Slightly Bunkers

LeoB wrote: »

I actually phoned my Insurance company after reading your post and specified cover outside my home. I mentioned the car and and asked did it matter if it was not in the boot or footwell and I was told NO.

Dont rely on the accessor, check your policy thouroughly and get advice if needed from an independent insurance brooker.

Hope all works out for you

Fográ, Is there anyway you could make discreet enquiries to this thug who took your gear? Mind you it does not have to be discreet!!

Do you mind me asking who u are insured with? If I don't get a result I am switching home insurers!

magicbastarder

does the loss assessor not work on behalf of the claimant, and the loss adjuster on behalf of the insurance company?
anyway, you can hire an independent loss assessor who will know the ins and outs much better than you will, and will often be able to get more from the insurance company than you might have on your own - whether that will justify his or her fees is another matter.

LeoB

Slightly Bunkers wrote: »

Do you mind me asking who u are insured with? If I don't get a result I am switching home insurers!

One direct.

Its a difficult situation. We should all be able to park our car without fear or worring about our gear. If you lock it in your car its reasonable to expect you are covered.

Oh your man from the Mooney show who had his gear stolen was Eric Dempsey

hmboards

LeoB wrote: »

If you lock it in your car its reasonable to expect you are covered.

The policies I've had state that the goods must be locked in the boot. Presumably because a potential thief can look through the window to see if there is anything behind the seats which might be worth breaking in for. My current policy goes further than that and states that the parcel shelf must be a hard fixed type.

Balfey1972

LeoB wrote: »

I actually phoned my Insurance company after reading your post and specified cover outside my home. I mentioned the car and and asked did it matter if it was not in the boot or footwell and I was told NO.

Dont rely on the accessor, check your policy thouroughly and get advice if needed from an independent insurance brooker.

Hope all works out for you

Fográ, Is there anyway you could make discreet enquiries to this thug who took your gear? Mind you it does not have to be discreet!!

Leo, make sure you get that in writing. Even if it doesn't mention that the gear should be in a locked boot or glove compartment that could still refuse the claim on the basis of undue care if you have it in the footwell.