With the recent bad weather, Norwich Union has urged motorists not to leave their cars with the keys in the ignition when heating up their cars on a cold morning.
With the recent bad weather, Norwich Union has urged motorists not to leave their cars with the keys in the ignition when heating up their cars on a cold morning.
The warning follows a recent court of appeal ruling, which underlined the importance of insurance policy conditions requiring policyholders to take precautions in relation to their ignition keys, to reduce the risk of opportunist theft.
Peter Graham, director of technical claims said, "There's nothing worse than having to get into a freezing car and scrape ice off the windscreen. It is tempting just to start your vehicle and then nip in and finish off your breakfast.
"But thieves are on the lookout for just that kind of thing at this time of year. Don't make it easy on criminals - be vigilant and be careful with your car.
"There has been a growing trend of thefts of vehicles while they are parked in petrol stations, near ATMs or outside houses with keys still in them, and such claims are easily avoidable."
ENDS
Media contact:
Lucy Haughey - Norwich Union press office
Tel. 01603 682264
Notes to editors
- Norwich Union insures one in four cars in the UK.
- CGU plc and Norwich Union plc merged on 30 May 2000 to create CGNU plc, the UK's largest insurance group and one of the top-five insurers in Europe with substantial positions in other markets around the world, making it the world's sixth largest insurer based on gross worldwide premiums.
- CGNU's principal business activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwide premium income and retail investment sales from ongoing business of over Ł27 billion and assets under management of more than Ł210 billion.
- From October 2000, the combined life and pensions, general insurance and retail fund management businesses in the UK operate under the Norwich Union brand, while the institutional investment business operates under the Morley Fund Management brand.
- CGNU's news releases are available on the internet at www.cgnu-group.com