http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1...rkey&topic_set

Last summer Emad Wassef walked out of a Target store in Orange County, California, to find a big space where his 2003 Lincoln Navigator had been. The 38-year-old truck driver and former reserve Los Angeles police officer did what anyone would do: He reported the theft to the cops and called his insurance company. Two weeks later, the black SUV turned up near the Mexico border, minus its stereo, airbags, DVD player, and door panels. Wassef assumed he had a straightforward claim for around $25,000. His insurer, Chicago-based Unitrin Direct, disagreed.

The insurance company sent a forensic examiner to check out the disemboweled SUV in an impound lot. The ignition lock, mounted on the steering column, had been forcibly rotated, probably with a screwdriver. The locking lug on the steering wheel, which keeps it from being turned when the truck is not in gear, had also been damaged. But the transponder system was intact. The car could have been shifted and steered, the investigator concluded, but the engine couldn’t have been turned on. “Since you reportedly can account for all the vehicle keys, the forensic information suggests that the loss did not occur as reported,” the company wrote to Wassef, denying his claim. The barely hidden subtext: Wassef was lying.

read the rest at the link provided

DH, is that stuff true about being able to override the immobilizer on Hondas?

 

That's Why I have PowerLock on all my cars, they can't be hotwired and driven away.

Those people should have been sold a better vehicle security system that is continually armed and that it disables the starting circuity.

WheelBrokerAng [sm=americanasmiley.gif]

 

Yeah, I just read that article the other day.

Quite a convenient way of dealing with people getting their vehicles stolen.

'Sure, the car that was stolen had $xx,xxx.xx amount of _________ in it. Sorry, we don't believe you.'

Although, it's understandable when there is an estimated $14 BILLION in fraud every year with auto thefts.

That's-a-lotta-money...

StevePhy

 

The brake code? We've used it a few times. It's specific to each car. We punch the vin number into the computer, proper id is required. Honda keeps track of when, where and who accesses a code. Before a year or so ago they weren't quite so strict.

 

well that settles it then, I wil install a device to make that impossible to do on my car

 

As far as I am concerned, all insurance companies jobs are to screw you as much as possible. I have yet to see otherwise.

Our water heater at the house rusted out and emptied itself all over my garage. The insurance looked at it (to replace the waterlogged walls) and said it was a multiple occurence and refused to pay. I use my garage a lot, I would have noticed. But they just accuse me of lying and keep their $$$.