My Car Was Broken Into. What's Covered?

Short answer: the car yes, your belongings generally no. An auto policy insures the vehicle. The bag, the laptop, the tools and the stroller in the boot are personal property, and personal property is normally a homeowners or renters question rather than an auto one.

What your auto policy does cover

• The break-in damage itself — the smashed window, the prised door, the ripped trim. Comprehensive coverage normally handles that, subject to your deductible.
• The vehicle, if the whole car is taken.
• Parts that are permanently attached, such as a factory stereo. Aftermarket and custom equipment often needs to be declared separately — ask your carrier whether yours is.

What it generally does not

Anything that was simply sitting in the car. A phone, a laptop, a work bag, sports kit, sunglasses, tools, gifts. It is not a loophole; it is the boundary between two different kinds of insurance.

Renters and homeowners policies commonly extend to personal property away from the home, including from a vehicle, subject to their own deductible and limits. Whether yours does, and at what limit, is that carrier's answer — check the policy before you need it.

The deductible arithmetic

Here is the part worth thinking through calmly. You may be looking at two claims with two deductibles: comprehensive on the car for the window, and a contents claim for what was taken. For a broken window and a cheap bag, the honest answer is often that neither claim is worth filing.

Get a glass quote and a total for the contents first, compare both against the relevant deductibles, and then decide. Ask your carrier what a comprehensive claim does on your policy while you have them on the phone.

What to do the same morning

1. Do not clear up. Photograph the car as you found it, inside and out, before touching anything.
2. File a police report. It is needed for most contents claims and it is what makes a serial number search possible.
3. Write the list while it is fresh — what was taken, roughly what it cost, and any serial numbers you have.
4. Remotely lock or wipe any device that was taken, immediately.
5. Then call the carriers: the auto one for the car, the renters or homeowners one for the contents.

The uncomfortable practical advice

Nothing visible, ever. Not a charging cable, not an empty bag, not a jacket over something. Break-ins are overwhelmingly opportunistic, and the deterrent is an empty-looking interior rather than a good alarm. Take the boot's contents in with you at night; it is less effort than any of the steps above.

Child seats, wheelchairs and work tools

Three categories worth asking about specifically, because they are expensive, they live in vehicles, and their treatment is not uniform. A child seat involved in a collision is normally replaced rather than reused, and whether that sits with the auto claim is worth confirming. Mobility equipment may be covered under other policies with better limits. Tools of a trade are frequently excluded or capped under a household policy and may need their own cover. Ask about each by name rather than trusting the general answer about belongings.

Not sure whether your comprehensive coverage is even in place? Send us the declarations page and we will tell you what would and would not respond.