My Ducati Desmo 907 was stolen from outside my house a month ago and I have been having a real battle with my insurance company as they refuse to pay out. The police completed their report on the theft but haven’t a clue who nicked it.

 

I usually keep the bike in my locked garage but this time I got a bit lazy as I was only leaving it for one night (under a cover) before going out again. The insurer is claiming that it is a term of my insurance policy that the bike should have been kept in my locked garage overnight. I did not know this. Can they do this – I am thousands out of pocket.

 

Andreas Munstermann, Golders Green

 

 

The moral of this sad story is that you should always carefully consider the terms of an insurance policy very carefully before entering into the contract. It is quite normal that one states that a vehicle will be parked on a drive, on the street or in a garage overnight and this will alter the premium according to risk.

 

Clearly your insurer understood and it appears you agreed to keeping the bike in a locked garage every night. If this is not the case then you should raise a complaint with them and if it is not settled to your satisfaction consider a breach of contract claim against them. One argument could be that it is overly onerous to insist on this every night. However such a claim is unlikely to succeed if the policy wording refers to term governing the overnight garaging.

 

It is perhaps too late to assist you but other readers should really consider where they are realistically likely to be parking their bikes overnight and make sure the insurance policy reflects this. If insurers can get away without paying they will.