Far Out Friday: The world’s longest test drive

A Melbourne man has been refused an insurance payout for his motorbike which was stolen from a prospective buyer who went on a test drive and never came back

Insurance News

By Jordan Lynn

A Melbourne man has been refused an insurance payout after a prospective buyer of his motorbike took the vehicle for a test drive and never came back.

Warren Harrison posted an advertisement on Gumtree to try and sell his $22,000 Ducati motorbike and met with a potential buyer, using the name Steve Williams at his home in Melbourne’s east, the Daily Mail reported.

Williams arrived in a stolen Nissan Pajero and agreed to take the bike for a test run after signing a waiver as he told Harrison he had left his ID at home.

Within 20 minutes, Harrison received a text from Williams saying he had been pulled over by the police at a local petrol station and needed Harrison’s assistance.

Harrison arrived at the petrol station but Williams had already left with an accomplice sent back to Harrison’s home to collect the car.

“He sounded so genuine, it really suckered me in,” Harrison told Nine News.

Swann Insurance, Harrison’s insurance company according to Nine News, refused to pay the claim as they do not cover vehicles stolen whilst being tested by a prospective buyer, The Daily Mail report said.

“Their mindset is that because I handed the keys over, the bike is not stolen and because it is not stolen there is no claim,” Harrison told Nine News.

 “There's no use beating myself up about it,” Harrison continued. “He sounded so genuine.”
 


Related stories:
Far Out Friday: Insurer uses Facebook to bust fraud couple
NZ’s top 10 stolen cars
Far Out Friday: Driver of crashed flash car facing jail for insurance fraud
 

Keep up with the latest news and events

Join our mailing list, it’s free!