Legal Question in Insurance Law in Florida

Re: Car Insurance Coverage

Generally speaking, the insurance company and the police will wait awhile before formally considering the car stolen -- in the absence of some proof of theft other than just a report of a missing vehicle. This is because a decent number of reported "stolen" cars turn up as having been borrowed by a friend or mistakenly left by the owner in a parking lot.

The insurance company doesn't pay right away, as well, because even if the car was stolen, many cars turn up within a few weeks. If the insurance company paid, they would then need to worry about getting the money back or trying to sell your stolen car.

If the car does turn up before they pay, of course, there is no loss and no claim -- unless the car was damaged, then the claim is for the damage.

If you have rental coverage, that may cover you for another car during this hiatis period.

I think that the people to call after the two weeks is the polic e, again -- not the state's attorney. Tell them you want to file a formal report that the car was stolen. There shouldn't be a two week waiting period to do so, but if so, make some report that the car is missing and then follow up with the police when you can, that it was stolen, as they instruct.

Call your insurance company and file a formal claim under the policy. It should take a few weeks to a month for them to investigate and then to pay you. Start collecting information on what your car was worth (not necessarily what the "blue book" says -- check eBay and other sources of real sales in your area).

Good Luck!