Mercedes C43 stolen and recovered - Help needed!

Mercedes C43 stolen and recovered - Help needed!

Author
Discussion

deepyheade

Original Poster:

2 posts

21 months

Friday 12th August 2022
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Hey,

My C43 AMG (2018) was stolen from my driveway (Thu 03:00) and then recovered at Epping Station (Thu 11:00). There's no damage apart from in the boot where they removed panels to access cabling. There's no actual cable damage so just aesthetics but it's going to the insurers (Admiral) who will fix the paneling and change the locks in case keys were cloned.

So great result? Well no. The thing is I was literally about to sell it and now I'm worried about the valuation. I spoke to Mercedes Chelmsford and they said it will definitely impact the valuation if it shows us as stolen / recovered on the HPI checks but to take it in for an appraisal when it's returned. So I called the copper that had been dealing with it and also the insurers. I was told that as soon as the car was registered stolen with the police that it would have gone on their PNC database as stolen and then it would be updated as recovered. As for Admiral, because my case handler hasn't started work on it yet it will just go on their MIAFTR database as recovered damaged (internal) and then once repaired this entry will be updated. So it will never go on as stolen.

What I'm trying to find out is how the HPI check works and will it show as stolen and ultimately how many thousands am I going to lose because of some thieving ****. They also took £1500k of golf clubs from the boot which aren't covered on house insurance and I can only get £150 on my car insurance so this could cost me a fortune and that's without insurance excess and future premiums.

Any help is really appreciated.

Thanks

Ben Lowden

6,063 posts

178 months

PH Marketing Bloke

Monday 15th August 2022
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Thread moved to SP&L for you where you might get a better response.

joropug

2,590 posts

190 months

Monday 15th August 2022
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From my stint at an insurers, I believe that it will go on HPI as stolen recovered if an insurer pays out for the car, takes possession then sells on.

It is unlikely to go on HPI as stolen recovered however there are other checks such as V Check which also scours salvage yards for records so yes it may appear on there.

SmoothCriminal

5,070 posts

200 months

Monday 15th August 2022
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I thought it only went on the register if the car is recorded as a total loss.

So as you haven't been paid out by your insurance for a total loss it should be hpi clear.

Just like if you have a crash and they repair it the car doesn't get a cat marker.

Chamon_Lee

3,801 posts

148 months

Monday 15th August 2022
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SmoothCriminal said:
I thought it only went on the register if the car is recorded as a total loss.

So as you haven't been paid out by your insurance for a total loss it should be hpi clear.

Just like if you have a crash and they repair it the car doesn't get a cat marker.
This is my understanding too. If its stolen and recovered with no/minimal damage then it doesnt get logged.

Usually these cars are stolen and parked up a few miles away to see if it has a tracker fitted. so its not abused in any real way.

CarCrazyDad

4,280 posts

36 months

Monday 15th August 2022
quotequote all
deepyheade said:
Hey,

My C43 AMG (2018) was stolen from my driveway (Thu 03:00) and then recovered at Epping Station (Thu 11:00). There's no damage apart from in the boot where they removed panels to access cabling. There's no actual cable damage so just aesthetics but it's going to the insurers (Admiral) who will fix the paneling and change the locks in case keys were cloned.

So great result? Well no. The thing is I was literally about to sell it and now I'm worried about the valuation. I spoke to Mercedes Chelmsford and they said it will definitely impact the valuation if it shows us as stolen / recovered on the HPI checks but to take it in for an appraisal when it's returned. So I called the copper that had been dealing with it and also the insurers. I was told that as soon as the car was registered stolen with the police that it would have gone on their PNC database as stolen and then it would be updated as recovered. As for Admiral, because my case handler hasn't started work on it yet it will just go on their MIAFTR database as recovered damaged (internal) and then once repaired this entry will be updated. So it will never go on as stolen.

What I'm trying to find out is how the HPI check works and will it show as stolen and ultimately how many thousands am I going to lose because of some thieving ****. They also took £1500k of golf clubs from the boot which aren't covered on house insurance and I can only get £150 on my car insurance so this could cost me a fortune and that's without insurance excess and future premiums.

Any help is really appreciated.

Thanks
I don't think it would show as Stolen and Recovered if you've gotten the car back - usually that the S&R marker is applied once the car is paid out to the ex-owner and then subsequently found later.


Ussrcossack

520 posts

43 months

Monday 15th August 2022
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If you can, take photographs of the damage for any future buyer

blueacid

448 posts

142 months

Monday 15th August 2022
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I previously worked at CDL, the company behind MyCarCheck, so I think I might be able to offer some insight; although this was several years ago so the situation has potentially changed since!

There were two places where "stolen and recovered" could be recorded. One was on the Police National Computer, where a vehicle could be marked as Stolen Outstanding, but then later this state might be changed to "Recovered" if the vehicle is recovered & the search is concluded.
Of course, there were loads of vehicles which had been marked as Stolen & that was the end of their story as far as the data went; this is the fate of those cars which might have been stripped for parts, or popped into a container and hurried down to the docks for the journey to their exciting new life in some faraway land.

Note that the police don't mark the condition. Recovered can mean "We found it parked on a side street", "The car chase it was in finished in a cul-de-sac before the thief made off on foot", or "it was found burned out". No comment really given as to the state of the vehicle there. Note, what I can't remember is what happens to vehicles where the owner calls the police reporting it stolen, only to sheepishly phone back half an hour later to explain that they've been a bit thick & forgotten that they parked on the next road over: false alarm. I'm pretty sure nothing goes on the database in that case. I suspect there's a way for the vehicle to be removed from that datasheet when its state was "It was reported Stolen but this turned out to be not the case", however in the situation the OP describes, that vehicle was definitely Stolen and so that won't apply to them.


The other database which matters is the insurer write-off database, MIAFTR. We can all understand a vehicle in a big crash might be written-off, and recorded as such. The insurer will also write-off a vehicle if it's stolen and not later recovered (or if it's stolen, but upon recovery it's so knackered that it gets written off anyway). Sounds like this vehicle here is stolen, recovered, and repairable: therefore while there'll be an insurance claim to repair the vehicle, this won't be a write-off on MIAFTR.


HPI, Experian, CDL, and the other data providers in this space would therefore be reporting the OP's vehicle as Stolen and Recovered based just on the data from the PNC. They'd probably not want to take that data off; it's a valid piece of information about the car. It indeed did get stolen, and it has been recovered, so it's part of that vehicle's history. If it was for sale, priced identically to a vehicle which hadn't been S&R, you'd want the one which hadn't been pinched, wouldn't you? (all other things being equal).

mattyprice4004

1,327 posts

175 months

Monday 15th August 2022
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From what you've said, I also don't think this will be recorded as stolen and recovered.

Griff74

144 posts

62 months

Monday 15th August 2022
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When my Polo GTi was stolen and then recovered (one the same day) it wasn’t recorded, just needed new locks, checking over etc, I got rid of it a few months later (to a main dealer) and nothing was flagged on it.

centralscot

65 posts

51 months

Monday 15th August 2022
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Never have I saw a stolen and recovered car being recorded in this way,its only if it was payed out a loss and then recovered later (even then it sometimes isn't recorded.

poo at Paul's

14,153 posts

176 months

Monday 15th August 2022
quotequote all
It will only be "stolen and recovered" if they pay out as such, in which case it wont be your car anymore if you take the full payment. if you do a deal to take the recovered car and some cash, then it will be then shown as such and recorded. It sounds like they will just fix it, and it will show nowhere, so as long as it is fixed proper, it should not matter.

Dog Star

16,145 posts

169 months

Monday 15th August 2022
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Ussrcossack said:
If you can, take photographs of the damage for any future buyer
I wouldn't even mention it to a future buyer. Why would you?

Stolen/recovered from an HPI perspective is for when an insurer has paid out for a total loss. This hasn't happened. Would you tell a future buyer that you've replaced a mirror because it got smashed?

Of course if you want to tell a buyer something irrelevant that might make the more nervous have doubts then sure, knock yourself out.

Dog Star

16,145 posts

169 months

Monday 15th August 2022
quotequote all
blueacid said:
I previously worked at CDL, the company behind MyCarCheck
He, so did I, about 18 years ago. Strata.

Ussrcossack

520 posts

43 months

Monday 15th August 2022
quotequote all
Dog Star said:
Ussrcossack said:
If you can, take photographs of the damage for any future buyer
I wouldn't even mention it to a future buyer. Why would you?

Stolen/recovered from an HPI perspective is for when an insurer has paid out for a total loss. This hasn't happened. Would you tell a future buyer that you've replaced a mirror because it got smashed?

Of course if you want to tell a buyer something irrelevant that might make the more nervous have doubts then sure, knock yourself out.
Edit:
Should the buyer ask a specific question regarding this issue

blueacid

448 posts

142 months

Monday 15th August 2022
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Dog Star said:
He, so did I, about 18 years ago. Strata.
Classic all the way!

jwo

984 posts

250 months

Monday 15th August 2022
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No, you’ll be fine. No marker etc. had a car nicked many years ago, tracker recovered it later that morning - damaged but fixed. No marker etc.