Compensation for stolen car??

Ihatecameron

Basically the scrap dealer stole your car so you need to tell the police what the value is and to find out the date of the court case, then go along on the day and ask the magistrate to award you compensation.

spiro

marcus01235oxon wrote: »

i've got tons of receipts of bits done to the car, do you reckon i could get all that back as well as compensation for the aggro / stress its caused?

One of the things that will not be in your favour when you come to claim compensation is that you did not think the car was worth enough to insure it. If they get a lawyer they will use that arguement against you which you can't dispute.

If you do get paid it will probably be little more than if an insurance company wrote the car off.

As for how soon it will be before you see any money, that could be weeks/months, they are always saying how busy the court system is so your case will end up on a CPS case pile for them to decide if they are going to prosecute, then get a court date set, then find them guilty and then for you to get your money at a rate the court feels the guilty party can afford to pay it.

MrRedundant

Legally you are entitled to be put back in the position you where (i.e the value of the car in that condition). It must have been fairly poor if someone stole it simply to scrap it as scrap might be premium prices but doesnt make it likely someone just scrapped a roadworthy decent car.

As for the parts etc. No. These simply made the car worth what it was and didnt inflate its value; expenses for looking for a replacement? Not unless its very rare.

I suspect there will be more to this story; either its been sitting for a while and someone thought it was abandoned and took it for scrap or a neighbour annoyed at the heap got it lifted.

At the end of day at best you can sue the scrap dealer for the car's market value.

marcus01235oxon

The car had failed the MOT on purchase, and rather than be ripped off by a garage to get the work done, my mate (who is a mechanic) and i decided to fix the car ourselves. The car did not look as if they was anything wrong with it. It was in great condition bodywork wise. It had been sat there a whle whilst it was being worked on. And the car was sat in an allocated parking spot. Its quite a regular thing for cars to be stolen and scrapped in the town i live in.

What makes it even more suspicious is the person believed to have taken it (not confirmed by the police yet) has left several flyers on the car offering scrappage service.

It was a decent road worthy car, which is the most annoying thing. As it would have passed the MOT easily, as all the essential stuff was done and 90% of the advisory. They had obviously eyed the car up frequently to see if it had moved from its parking spot. What they had failed to do is look at it on weekends when it was being worked on and tested. The unconfirmed company that took it are known for doing this sort of thing.

jaydeeuk1

marcus01235oxon wrote: »

The car had failed the MOT on purchase, and rather than be ripped off by a garage to get the work done, my mate (who is a mechanic) and i decided to fix the car ourselves. The car did not look as if they was anything wrong with it. It was in great condition bodywork wise. It had been sat there a whle whilst it was being worked on. And the car was sat in an allocated parking spot. Its quite a regular thing for cars to be stolen and scrapped in the town i live in.

MrRedundant wrote: »

I suspect there will be more to this story; either its been sitting for a while and someone thought it was abandoned and took it for scrap or a neighbour annoyed at the heap got it lifted.

JQ.

How much did you pay for the car?

I'd be interested in what the answer is to the OP's question. My thoughts, which should be taken with a pinch of salt, are that any true compensation is unlikely. If you get burgled, you're very unlikely to get compensation from the guilty party, that's why we all have home contents insurance. I don't see that this is much different other than the guilty party is a business person. I'm sure if found guilty, they could prove they have no assets and offer to pay off any fine at 10p per week for the next 100 years.

Ihatecameron

It must have been fairly poor if someone stole it simply to scrap it

New or old makes no difference to the thieves, they deal in scrap metal and any car parts of value will have been stripped before it is put in the crusher.

Lum

You have the MOT failure sheet, and receipts for all the parts you have bought to replace the things that it failed on. Yes?

You also had the car booked in, in writing, for an MOT on Friday. Yes?

To my mind, this combination of facts gives evidence that you could reasonably expect this car to pass it's MOT and therefore you should push to claim for the market value of whatever car it was with 12 months MOT and tax, minus 40 quid for the MOT minus the cost of 12 months tax.

Edit: Also keep receipts for all travel expenses after Friday and any other out of pocket expenses you incur while looking for a new car.

And yes, for future reference. Get "layup insurance".

wba31

Lum wrote: »

You have the MOT failure sheet, and receipts for all the parts you have bought to replace the things that it failed on. Yes?

You also had the car booked in, in writing, for an MOT on Friday. Yes?

To my mind, this combination of facts gives evidence that you could reasonably expect this car to pass it's MOT and therefore you should push to claim for the market value of whatever car it was with 12 months MOT and tax, minus 40 quid for the MOT minus the cost of 12 months tax.

Edit: Also keep receipts for all travel expenses after Friday and any other out of pocket expenses you incur while looking for a new car.

And yes, for future reference. Get "layup insurance".

That's great, but as someone has already said, payments will probably be set at £1 a month for 100 years...

Flyboy152

vikingaero wrote: »

If the Police are prosecuting the scrap merchant then ask them to submit to the CPS a claim for compensation and for any expenses incurred in the search for a new car. Otherwise if you miss this then you could ask them for the scrap merchants name and address so that you can claim compensation via the Courts. Whether it's worth it is another matter if the guy has no fixed abode or deals in cash and hides his dealings.

He'll still have assets though.