Innocent purchase of a stolen vehicle

houseofwon

7 months ago I bought a vehicle(car for personal use) from a reputable garage for which I paid cash using my debit card. Due to the size and nature of the payment the payment was authorised by a phone call from my local banks branch. Before purchase I carried out a vehicle registration check and it showed a clean bill of health.

I received the V5 in my name several weeks after purchase of the vehicle. I was pulled over at the side of the road by police when driving the vehicle home after the purchase of the vehicle and again several weeks later for a routine check. I produced all the necessary documentation and everything was fine for several months. However, 4 months after ownership I was told told by the police that the vehicle had been previously stolen so they recovered the vehicle for the person claiming ownership and it has since been returned to that person.

I would like to know if my bank would cover a purchase like this? I've tried to make contact with a solicitor capable of taking a case like this if I need to take the garage to court to recover my money, but so far have only met with Civil Litigation generalists and would prefer to instruct a solicitor with specific experience of something like this- does anyone have any suggestions? you can inbox me, please.

I spent a significant amount of money on travel to collect the vehicle- flight + overnight hotel stay as I bought the vehicle from a garage some 400 miles from my home. Additionally I spent a significant amount on diesel to get the vehicle home. If I did end up in court to recover my money would I be reimbursed for these costs? would the other party- garage- be liable to pay my legal fees if I am successful in court. Are there template letters I can issue to the garage in a bid to recover my money?

Any advice would be welcome.

scheming_gypsy

houseofwon wrote: »

Before purchase I carried out a vehicle registration check and it showed a clean bill of health.

did that come with any insurance? i'm sure some of them do cover you incase they're wrong.

I spent a significant amount of money on travel to collect the vehicle- flight + overnight hotel stay as I bought the vehicle from a garage some 400 miles from my home. Additionally I spent a significant amount on diesel to get the vehicle home. If I did end up in court to recover my money would I be reimbursed for these costs? .

were you reimbursed for these before you found out the car was stolen? you still had to pay for those whether you got a stolen car or not.

vax2002

A formal complaint to the police would be a good first start.
Next : report the vehicle as stolen yourself, you have receipts to prove your ownership and I presume a registration certificate, only use copies do not allow anyone to touch the originals , this will get the cat amongst the pigeons and may make the police actually investigate it.

Woody._2

vax2002 wrote: »

A formal complaint to the police would be a good first start.
Next : report the vehicle as stolen yourself, you have receipts to prove your ownership and I presume a registration certificate, only use copies do not allow anyone to touch the originals , this will get the cat amongst the pigeons and may make the police actually investigate it.

If the police have decided the OP has no legal entitlement to the car there is no theft to report.

cardinalbiggles

If you bought it from a dealer/business it sounds to me like its 100% their problem not yours. Thats certainly the case with outstanding finance had that been on the car.

As a consumer you should not have to check if a vehicle is stolen before buying it from a car garage.

Woody._2

vax2002 wrote: »

A formal complaint to the police would be a good first start.

Against which force and for what?

The force that recoved a vehicle reported stolen have done nothing wrong.

Woody._2

cardinalbiggles wrote: »

If you bought it from a dealer/business it sounds to me like its 100% their problem not yours. Thats certainly the case with outstanding finance had that been on the car.

As a consumer you should not have to check if a vehicle is stolen before buying it from a car garage.

You shouldn't but then it's often the consumer who loses out.

bris

vax2002 wrote: »

A formal complaint to the police would be a good first start.
Next : report the vehicle as stolen yourself, you have receipts to prove your ownership and I presume a registration certificate, only use copies do not allow anyone to touch the originals , this will get the cat amongst the pigeons and may make the police actually investigate it.

Why would the OP report it as stolen, it wasn't stolen the police have recovered it. The documentation is false and the police have done nothing wrong, and certainly nothing to investigate.

OP the garage had no right to sell the car to you, even if they are a innocent party like you, you can still recover the losses you have suffered from them. They in turn would have to take similar action against the person they bought it off.

Stolen cars
If you buy a stolen car, the police can take it from you to return it to the original owner or the insurance company. You will not get any compensation even though you bought the car in good faith. You can sue the seller for your losses, but this might be difficult if you bought privately and the seller has disappeared.

Also, if you bought the car on credit, you may still have to pay off the loan - it depends on the type of agreement you have.

It can be hard to tell whether a car is stolen. Its identity may have been changed. For example, the identity number and number plate of a legitimate car may be transferred to a stolen one. Vehicle registration documents can be forged or obtained by fraud.

The bold part doesn't apply to you as you know exactly who you bought it from.

single_lonely

that should be one advantage to buying from a garage.

THEY should check its not stolen etc.
its different when its personal seller,YOU have to check its history

IMHO

vax2002

Why would the OP report it as stolen, [/QUOTE]
He believes himself to be the registered keeper + the police can not "return" stolen property without a court order establishing it was stolen.
We may only have half the tale, but they should have impounded it and the question of ownership decided by a judge.

colino

Nothing to do with Police or Bank, it's the dealer you should be chasing. I wonder why your check (and presumeably theirs) came back clean though.