A COUPLE who had their car stolen after they left the key inside have pleaded with their insurance company to show compassion after they were denied a payout.

Rose and Chris Wilkin, from Brompton-on-Swale, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, left their Mazda 6 Estate at the rear of their farm with the key in the ignition, after a mix-up about who was going to use it.

The couple rely on the car to take Mrs Wilkin’s sister, Violet, 67, who is severely disabled after she contracted polio as a child, to care sessions.

The car was left for about 90 minutes.

The car has never been recovered and the couple’s insurance company, NIG, has refused to pay compensation, saying it was Mr and Mrs Wilkin’s fault for leaving the key in the car.

Mrs Wilkin, 66, said she accepts that she and her husband made a mistake, but was asking for the insurance company to meet them halfway.

She said: “We feel it is unjust that the insurance company will not pay out at all because it was a genuine mistake and it wasn’t left on the highway or on the drive – it was in a place we thought was safe and secure.

“It was set up to take my sister’s electric wheelchair so she could go to respite care, but now she either cannot go or we have to rely on someone else to take her.

“We have no way of affording a new car.”

Simon Henricks, from NIG Insurance, said he sympathised with the Wilkins, but said: “We understand their frustration over the theft of their vehicle. However, it is the responsibility of our customers to ensure their vehicle is secure at all times.

“While we sympathise, it has been confirmed by them that the keys were left in the vehicle, which remained unattended in this state for a considerable length of time.

“The vehicle was also visible from the road and left unsecured.

It was an easy target for thieves.”