What if tags are stolen?

[Vombil]

Hypothetical - If you're tags are stolen from your sandman they cannot be replaced. This impacts greatly on the value of your vehicle but from your insurers point of view the tags have no value in their own right or on another car. It leaves you with a vehicle that is worth considerably less $$.

Has anyone had this happen or know of a scenario this has occurred and what the insurer has done to remedy?

[wbute]

Real problem for sure. I had the opposite. Car stolen and tags left behind but that's not the same. I wonder if you engraved the chassis number or similar on all the tags it would make them of no theft value? Engraving may spoil the originality of the tags but not near as much as losing them altogether.

[Vombil]

i just posed the question to shannons. apparently in 10 years no one has asked the consultant that question. he referred it to one of the head assessors and i'm awaiting a response. Could be quite interesting but in all reality I think they may run and hide and suggest it's not an 'insured event'. I said - well what if correct date stamped wheels were stolen? He said - oh we would cash settle you. He went on to say tags were worth 50 cents or something like that. Not looking positive. There needs to be a provision for this in contracts. ie them to cover depreciated value after a malicious act. would become very subjective but surely there are cars that have sold without tags that could be comparable model and condition to those that still have them? 'matching numbers' is so important imo

[Taily]

Real problem for sure. I had the opposite. Car stolen and tags left behind but that's not the same. I wonder if you engraved the chassis number or similar on all the tags it would make them of no theft value? Engraving may spoil the originality of the tags but not near as much as losing them altogether.

That is a good point, though I wonder if the Plod etc would get their panties in a twist about modifying (defacing?) the tags. You could argue that the identifying information isn't being changed, only extra ID info being entered.

Good question!

[Valencia]

Tags are not aloud to be modified at all

- - - Updated - - -

Rebirthing comes to mind even if the info is relevent

[wbute]

It's not the identity of the car. You don't even need them for rego. If you fiddle with the engine or chassis number that's a different story.
Yes they identify the options and that is important to the value and that's the reason they are important. But they are not the vehicles identity.

[Valencia]

It's not the identity of the car. You don't even need them for rego. If you fiddle with the engine or chassis number that's a different story.
Yes they identify the options and that is important to the value and that's the reason they are important. But they are not the vehicles identity.

Tell that to the XU1 boys the tags mean a lot on Toranas

[wbute]

Tell that to the XU1 boys the tags mean a lot on Toranas

Maybe so but you only get the engine number and chassis number checked for a brown slip. Cant say I know too much about what floats a Tirana persons boat but the tags can't even prove a Holden van or ute was ever a Sandman 50% of the time.
I still reckon there must be a way to permanently connect them to the chassis number and therefore the car.

[Big Rob]

I do registration inspections for club rego in my car club and I get to check out a lot of different cars and motorbikes of a wide range of ages.
The one thing in common with every rego is that the vehicle must have a chassis number and an engine number, there is no need for tags to be present to register it. If I can identify a chassis number, then do the same for an engine number, that's all that needs to be done. Tags are helpful for sorting out info about the build date and model type/options, but the chassis number dictates the vehicles identity in the eyes of the RTA.
I've also found that when insuring cars of mine the insurance company only asks for the same info, nobody has ever asked about tags.

[Vombil]

Gday Rob. to try and make my point...what % less would you have paid for your maderia red van if it had no tags? or would have kept scrolling altogether regardless of price?
I know what identifiers are needed for rego but that's getting off track.
This is new territory for discussion. Insurers are so accustomed to covering accident damage and total loss from accident, fire or theft but tags being stolen (granted it's not as likely as an accident) represents a huge reduction/loss in resale value to the insured.
Let's face it. We are only custodians until our vehicles are on-sold or gifted to the next custodian or we die and they are inherited or on-sold. This event could greatly impact anyone with an original numbers matching car. There was a bloke here in WA who lost 1x tag on his sandman to some punk at a car show - he had that van on the market for years trying to sell it with 2 tags!
Should the insurer cover the loss in value if they cover the 'car'?