Vehicle theft is quite common in the Philippines and it is unlikely that a stolen vehicle shows up again. If the bike is insured the easiest is to get the necessary papers from the police and report the case to the insurance company. But there are this occasions where one would like to have a bike back, for example if it is a vintage bike or a collectors item. Then it might make sense to not push the theft case to hard at the police station but tell the officers instead that the bike was ‘lost’ and that you are prepared to pay a ‘finders fee’ to the one who found it. It is surprising how well the police sometimes can clear up cases. This will not always work though but if the bike was very unique and an eye catcher it is easier for the crook to collect the finders fee than to try to avoid public attention by trying to sell the bike or when driving it around town. The normal procedure for reporting theft and claiming the loss from the insurance is the following:
- Report the theft to the police and get the police report.
- Two months (60 days) are considered as recovery period of stolen vehicles. This is the Standard Operating Procedure implemented by the authorities and insurance companies since during this period most of the stolen vehicles are recovered.
- If your vehicle has not been recovered after 60 days the insurance company should officially recognise that the vehicle was stolen. After this period you can get a non-recovery certificate from the TMG and have your theft claim evaluated and ask for compensation of the loss.
- If the vehicle gets recovered after you already got compensated by the insurance company the recovered vehicle becomes property of the insurance company.
Documents required to claim compensation for a stolen vehicle
- Police Report or Letter of request from the verifier
- Identification Card of the police or the verifier
- Taxpayer’s Identification Number (TIN)
- Hier