None of us like hearing about stolen Porsche 911s, so I was sad to get an email from Michele last week sharing news of the theft of his Porsche 911 SC from outside his London home.

It has now been over a week since the car went missing and Michele has heard nothing since that awful discovery. “Unfortunately, there have been no new no leads. Most people seem to think that it will be either abroad already or hiding in a container. Still keeping fingers crossed but it is not looking good.” The worst news of all is that the theft of this 911 will probably not be covered by the insurers.

Stolen Porsche 911 not insured

Most owners state that their cars are garaged at home, and Michele was no exception. This statement effects a policy condition which requires the car to be garaged every night, usually from 10pm to 6am when parked within 500 metres of the home address. Michele’s car was parked on the driveway, as it was leaving on a road trip early the next morning. You can imagine the rest.

The small print covering the garaging condition differs between insurers, but essentially this is the gist of it and fellow bikers will be very aware of what it says. Motorbike forums are full of people who have had their bikes stolen from the back garden or shed in the wee small hours of the morning, when they should have been inside a locked garage to satisfy the terms of their policy. Theft from outside the garage during curfew hours means that the bike is uninsured.

To steal the most sought after motorcycles, bike thieves will sometimes go so far as to remove roof tiles from a garage to drop in through the roof and open the garage from inside, often using tools found in the garage to cut through any security and get the bike out. A stolen bike is worth several thousand pounds, but a stolen Porsche is worth even more, with strong demand for the parts.

Michele’s car was an early SC, so the engine, gearbox, chrome trim, interior, Fuchs wheels, mechanical parts and bodyshell all have a significant value. Replacing the car would cost at least £30k and I would probably have valued it higher for insurance. None of this matters to Michele, who would be happy just to get his car back, but you can see how all Porsches are targets.

Put yourself in his place: impossible to imagine the pain this would cause. I couldn’t afford to get back into a 911 if my car was stolen and the insurance did not pay out, so what can we do to prevent the same thing happening to us? I do a few things to protect my cars and motorcycles, including:

• No keys kept at home address
• My older cars not stored at home as my address is pretty public
• 924 is at home but wheels are stored elsewhere!
• I rarely expose my cars & bikes during the day
• One other car always blocking the garage, 24/7
• Steered wheels are locked hard left or right on all cars
• 911 always wears a Disklok when parked, plus a trailer wheel lock when in storage
• I have a very noisy Jack Russell who barks at anyone who breathes over the back gate
• Lots of security lights
• Garage door is locked to a post concreted into the ground
• I don’t declare my motorcycles as garaged – there is no great difference in premium

Nothing is ever totally secure, which is why having an agreed insurance valuation on your cherished classic car or bike is just so important nowadays. I have been providing this service for all classic car and bike models in the UK for more than a decade. But, by making things less attractive for thieves when they come to scope out your property ahead of trying to steal the car or bike, you are reducing the risk of being targeted and of having to claim.

What are your anti-theft devices? I would be interested to hear about your solutions. Any information you might have on the stolen Porsche 911 SC, registration number FUS 656S, would be appreciated by all concerned. No questions asked.