'The insurance companies were right': Man loses $17,000 after Kia is stolen in just 6 minutes, insurance refuses to cover

A Washington man was told by his insurance company that he would not receive coverage for his stolen Kia Sorento, continuing the trend of insurers refusing to provide comprehensive coverage of certain automobiles.

Tony of Tacoma, Washington, filed a police report after he was able to obtain security footage of thieves stealing his Kia, KING 5 reported. It took the criminals just six minutes to steal the car, which is part of the reason he was unable to obtain adequate insurance on the vehicle.

"I thought it would never happen to me so, here I am," Tony, who declined to provide his last name, said. "I just got dressed and I came out, when I went and came here my car was gone."

"Obviously, I didn't do enough research when I bought the car," he continued. "I just transferred my insurance. Progressive was cool about it. When it came time for renewal last month, they said they wouldn't renew it," he added.

Having purchased the car in March 2023, the man is now at a $17,000 loss after losing the vehicle.

Reports poured in at the beginning of 2023 about insurers refusing to provide coverage for some South Korean vehicles, such as certain models of Kia or Hyundai.

The point of contention is that specific models do not contain an engine immobilizer. The system pairs the vehicle's key fob to the car's internal computer system, and if the key in the ignition does not match the car, it does not start. In some cases, the steering wheel would also reportedly lock.

The debacle resulted in the city of Chicago announcing a lawsuit against the same car manufacturers, blaming them for an ease of theft that resulted in over 8,800 stolen vehicles in 2022.

The number represented 41% of the city's car thefts that year despite Kia and Hyundai only making up 7% of cars in the city, Forbes reported.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said the failure to include immobilizers in the vehicles was an act of “sheer negligence” and said it “disproportionately impacts low-income Chicago residents.”

"Offenders have used stolen Kia and Hyundai vehicles to commit other crimes, including reckless driving, armed robbery, and murder," he claimed.

As of September 2023, the cars continue to be stolen at record rates.

"I called some other places to try and get some coverage for it but I was basically denied," car theft victim Tony explained. "Ultimately, the insurance companies were right, the car did get stolen."

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