Car stolen 6 weeks ago and now recovered - now what?

[HonestIago]

Almost 6 weeks ago our immaculate MY11 Discovery HSE was stolen off our driveway (with keys) after our house was broken into. The thieves also made off with c.£10k of jewelry, electronics, clothing etc.

It has been a very stressful time for my parents however we were relieved when last week the insurance company agreed to pay out fairly well for the car. We had submitted invoices for professional detailing to show its condition prior to the theft, which maybe swung things in our favour. The insurance company have ALL the car documents and now legally own the car as far as we are aware.

BUT, just a couple of days ago the police recovered the vehicle hidden up a farm track somewhere circa 60 miles north of us. It was sighted in the same area around 3 weeks ago. We have no idea of the condition of it whatsoever. The insurance company, having learned this, are cancelling our payout and going to re-evaluate if we will have to take the car back instead.

As you can imagine this is an incredibly galling prospect. Not only is it almost certainly in cosmetically (if not mechanically) worse condition but we are landed with a car which is on record as stolen and thus worth a lot less come resale. Less objectively, we also hate the idea that some toe-rag has been ripping around in it for a month and a half yet now we might have to take it back.

Anyone been in a similar position? Do we have a leg to stand on with the insurance company?

Thanks.

Edited by HonestIago on Monday 14th July 15:52

[kambites]

I don't see how it can be recorded as stolen without you having been paid? If they try to give the car back to you, it wont get written off so it wont be recorded.

[OGR4M]

You say that the insurance company has all of the documents, and therefore you have none - you can't own the car anymore, Shirley?

you need to confirm with the company as to the next course of action, because for all they know, you could have spent to payout on a replacement vehicle - how can they cancel what doesn't exist?

I've no experience with this sort of tragedy, and hopefully never will, but if I were you, I would expect what you said - the car is VERY unlikely to be in the condition in which it left you, and presuming you're fully comp you should be [lawyer mode]finally placed in a position no worse than before the incident took place, financially or otherwise[/lawyer mode]

That 11 reg Disco you once had (big fan) is no longer yours, as far as I would say, and is therefore not your problem.

I hereby await correction by someone with experience...

[Heaveho]

If the insurance company don't pay out on the car because it's been recovered in one piece, it won't be on any publicly accessible record as having been stolen, therefore the value won't be affected come resale time. If, after it's recovered, it becomes apparent that it has suffered damage that is beyond economical repair, they'll dispose of it via a salvage yard, and offer you a figure as settlement. You may be given the opportunity to purchase the vehicle from them at reduced cost after settlement, but the car will be " categorised ", and this will be obvious to anyone who does an HPI check.

If it has suffered minor damage, they'll pay to have it repaired, and you'll be expected to resume ownership of it, but it won't be registered as having been stolen and recovered.

They may be in possession of the documents, but if you have not received financial settlement, in my opinion, you will be possibly expected to accept the vehicle back, if it can be repaired economically to a condition similar to how it was prior to the theft.

Edited by Heaveho on Monday 14th July 16:11

[P-Jay]

I believe the point when and insurance company will write-off a car varies, but there is a maximum. AFAIK once it's been written off, it's written off - if the car is recovered later it belongs to the insurance company and they'll usually auction it.

It's possible, as the vehicle was recovered reasonably close to home, seemingly untouched for weeks they might want to make 'further enquiries' before paying out.

As for getting a Cat D marker, I would assume that if they choose to repair and return it - then it can't be written off.

[J4CKO]

I wonder what the case is if its done an extra few thousand miles in the meantime, perhaps used in conjunction with national tarmac laying activities ?

[andymc]

J4CKO said:

I wonder what the case is if its done an extra few thousand miles in the meantime, perhaps used in conjunction with national tarmac laying activities ?

or gardening and topiary work

[JaymzDead]

We were in a similar situation when Mrs Dead's Peugeot was stolen in similar circumstances a few years ago. We had even put the deposit on a new car when the car was recovered having been driven round East London for a month (the car even still had SWMBO's cds in it, mixed in with the scumbags!!!). We had the cheque for the pay out but the insurance company and the garage refunded our deposit on the new car when we explained the situation as we are regular customers. To be honest, the only damage to the car was that the plates had been changed and it had been debadged both of which were remedied in a day by a local bodyshop. We still have the car and have had no problems with it.

[ZOLLAR]

If the insurance company haven't paid you then you still own the car.

Think about it, if you simply hand me all the documents of your car to me do I immediately own it?
No I don't.

Until they pay out you're still the owner.
If the car is recovered it'll be marked Stolen and recovered.
if it is not a total loss then the stolen and recovered marker DOES NOT appear on HPI.

[POORCARDEALER]

Insurance companies can bend the rules when it suits them...I bought a supercar that wasnt on any register from a salvage dealer, car had no damage and had never had any...I bought the car, having spoken to the previous owner who told me the car was stolen from his house with they keys (they had broken in)...car was found 2 years later, it had been stored away...in order to get more money from the salvage dealer the insurance company had it erased from Hpi, so it showed clear....VERY naughty in my view.

[ZOLLAR]

POORCARDEALER said:

Insurance companies can bend the rules when it suits them...I bought a supercar that wasnt on any register from a salvage dealer, car had no damage and had never had any...I bought the car, having spoken to the previous owner who told me the car was stolen from his house with they keys (they had broken in)...car was found 2 years later, it had been stored away...in order to get more money from the salvage dealer the insurance company had it erased from Hpi, so it showed clear....VERY naughty in my view.

As per my post above if it's stolen recovered and not a CAT A,B,C,D then it won't be on the HPI history, it'll still have a marker on MIAFTR.

[POORCARDEALER]

ZOLLAR said:

POORCARDEALER said:

Insurance companies can bend the rules when it suits them...I bought a supercar that wasnt on any register from a salvage dealer, car had no damage and had never had any...I bought the car, having spoken to the previous owner who told me the car was stolen from his house with they keys (they had broken in)...car was found 2 years later, it had been stored away...in order to get more money from the salvage dealer the insurance company had it erased from Hpi, so it showed clear....VERY naughty in my view.

As per my post above if it's stolen recovered and not a CAT A,B,C,D then it won't be on the HPI history, it'll still have a marker on MIAFTR.

Usually recorded under the theft section on hpi with date stolen though ???

[J4CKO]

Have they provided a car in the meantime ?

Its a strange one as several weeks have passed, car is now older, probably with more miles and may have more wear and tear or damage ?

Can see why you wouldnt want it back.

[ZOLLAR]

POORCARDEALER said:

ZOLLAR said:

POORCARDEALER said:

Insurance companies can bend the rules when it suits them...I bought a supercar that wasnt on any register from a salvage dealer, car had no damage and had never had any...I bought the car, having spoken to the previous owner who told me the car was stolen from his house with they keys (they had broken in)...car was found 2 years later, it had been stored away...in order to get more money from the salvage dealer the insurance company had it erased from Hpi, so it showed clear....VERY naughty in my view.

As per my post above if it's stolen recovered and not a CAT A,B,C,D then it won't be on the HPI history, it'll still have a marker on MIAFTR.

Usually recorded under the theft section on hpi with date stolen though ???

Nope, the theft section on HPI checks (depending how it's laid out on your terminal) is where the police marker is.
The insurance marker is under the "High risk" section
If a car is stolen and recovered it won't be on HPI and do remember that's HPIs decision not the insurers.
The insurance company just puts the information on MIAFTR (administered by HPI), it's up to HPI what they disclose.

[POORCARDEALER]

ZOLLAR said:

POORCARDEALER said:

ZOLLAR said:

POORCARDEALER said:

Insurance companies can bend the rules when it suits them...I bought a supercar that wasnt on any register from a salvage dealer, car had no damage and had never had any...I bought the car, having spoken to the previous owner who told me the car was stolen from his house with they keys (they had broken in)...car was found 2 years later, it had been stored away...in order to get more money from the salvage dealer the insurance company had it erased from Hpi, so it showed clear....VERY naughty in my view.

As per my post above if it's stolen recovered and not a CAT A,B,C,D then it won't be on the HPI history, it'll still have a marker on MIAFTR.

Usually recorded under the theft section on hpi with date stolen though ???

Nope, the theft section on HPI checks (depending how it's laid out on your terminal) is where the police marker is.
The insurance marker is under the "High risk" section
If a car is stolen and recovered it won't be on HPI and do remember that's HPIs decision not the insurers.
The insurance company just puts the information on MIAFTR (administered by HPI), it's up to HPI what they disclose.

Interesting and worrying.

[ZOLLAR]

POORCARDEALER said:

Interesting and worrying.

Well yes, I've always thought it strange.
I can see it from boths sides, i.e. a car dealer wanting to know the full history, purchaser wanting to know the full history but then someone who has had their car recovered with no damage is worried about resale costs.
Financially it's not feasible for insurers to simply pay out on the claims, the costs would be high of which would be passed onto the consumer.

Plenty of high value Range Rovers (new theft targets, BMW X5's are so last year it seems to thieves) are being recovered with no damage so why should they have a visible marker.

[POORCARDEALER]

ZOLLAR said:

POORCARDEALER said:

Interesting and worrying.

Well yes, I've always thought it strange.
I can see it from boths sides, i.e. a car dealer wanting to know the full history, purchaser wanting to know the full history but then someone who has had their car recovered with no damage is worried about resale costs.
Financially it's not feasible for insurers to simply pay out on the claims, the costs would be high of which would be passed onto the consumer.

Plenty of high value Range Rovers (new theft targets, BMW X5's are so last year it seems to thieves) are being recovered with no damage so why should they have a visible marker.

Can see both sides of the coin and I agree with your thoughts

[Gareth79]

It's possible that the full stolen vehicle recordset (ie. a historical list) might be released as open data sometime soon, so whether something is recorded at HPI or not might become a moot point, it should be interesting:

http://data.gov.uk/sites/default/files/20130829%20...

[ZOLLAR]

Gareth79 said:

It's possible that the full stolen vehicle recordset might be released as open data sometime soon, so whether something is recorded at HPI might become a moot point, it should be interesting:

http://data.gov.uk/sites/default/files/20130829%20...

Ah but that relates to vehicles with an active stolen marker, once the car is recovered the police delete the marker.
(Unless they propose to leave a new marker advising recovered)

[HonestIago]

Thanks for the replies. We have not had a car in the meantime. We have an email from the insurer saying our payment had been approved and would be paid in x many days etc, this was just prior to the car being recovered.

There is also the small matter of a £1k deposit we have just paid on a new vehicle which we will lose if we back out now.