Please please advise on what to do about my stolen car :(

Mark_Mark

DrGen wrote: »

Yeah unfortunately it actually seems this way.

The thought of my car just being destroyed by teenage idiots is better than the eventuality where I decide it isn't worth paying £150+ to have my car released, whereby then some police endorsed impound will flog off MY property for their profit (this is what actually happens if you don't / can't afford to claim it - they will not even allow you to retrieve your possessions from the vehicle!)

There's something wrong with national policy when I'm left hoping my car isn't recovered because the official process is so expensive, disappointing and stressful!

But your shed won't make anyone a profit.

I'm glad you've got a cheaper option for recovery but can yours be anywhere within 30 minutes at 3 am?

societys_child

Years ago I had an old mini stolen, police phoned a couple of days later and told me where it was parked (about 5 miles away) and left it me to go recover it. Does this not happen anymore?

KarlBristol

I think that some people appear to be a bit confused on the topic of police recovering stolen vehicles...

If your vehicle is stolen and later found the police generally have the vehicle recovered on your behalf.

It is recovered by a recovery agent such as Hintons and taken to their yard where it is secured held. The payment for recovery and impounding is charged from the recovery agent and has nothing to do with the Police. The vehicle is forensically searched and printed by CSI whilst in this compound. If you are fully comprehensive these costs are met by your insurance company.

Note - your vehicle doesn't have to be recovered by the Police on your behalf!!! You can call 101 and specifically request that it isn't recovered and that you recover it yourself. This comes with several caveats though - your reported theft will be nigh on impossible to solve as CSI won't be able to gain forensic evidence once you jump in your car and drive it off. Also the Police will take no responsibility if your vehicle has been dumped and is stolen again before you get there to collect it (yes it does happen!)

If you don't want the vehicle recovered by the police but it isn't drivable and you want to arrange your own recovery at your own cost generally you can. If you've got breakdown cover with someone like the AA they very often can come and tow your car to your house or local garage for no cost if it isn't drivable.

Just because you request that you can recover your own vehicle please understand that this can't always be done... If your vehicle is causing a hazard to someone or is blocking a road and causing an obstruction obviously the police have a duty if care to have the vehicle removed.

Hopefully that clears up some of the misconceptions and worries...
The police make no money from the recovery of vehicle and certainly aren't in cahoots with recovery agents.

KarlBristol

Oh and the police don't sell stolen cars for their own profit! That did make me laugh though!!!

The recovery agent impounds the vehicles. If no one picks up the vehicle after a set period of time (2weeks if memory serves correct) the vehicle is crushed by the recovery agent. It has nothing to do with the Police and the car certainly isn't sold! I believe that the recovery agents sell the crushed vehicles as scrap.

If your vehicle is worthless, you don't want it back and is recovered often the recovery firm with waive the recovery and impound fees if they get to keep the vehicle. They once again crush it and sell it off as scrap.

At no point do police officers stand around flogging stolen/recovered vehicles :rotfl:

Building_Surveyor

KarlBristol wrote: »

Oh and the police don't sell stolen cars for their own profit! That did make me laugh though!!!

The recovery agent impounds the vehicles. If no one picks up the vehicle after a set period of time (2weeks if memory serves correct) the vehicle is crushed by the recovery agent. It has nothing to do with the Police and the car certainly isn't sold! I believe that the recovery agents sell the crushed vehicles as scrap.

If your vehicle is worthless, you don't want it back and is recovered often the recovery firm with waive the recovery and impound fees if they get to keep the vehicle. They once again crush it and sell it off as scrap.

At no point do police officers stand around flogging stolen/recovered vehicles :rotfl:

They sell motorbikes, pedal bikes, quad bikes, jewellery and everything you can think of at police auctions though...

Stoke

Building_Surveyor wrote: »

They sell motorbikes, pedal bikes, quad bikes, jewellery and everything you can think of at police auctions though...

Well they've got to fund the Christmas Party somehow, haven't they?

According to (mainly) rumour, they actually sold the F424 NPE Range Rover at auction, albeit without any interior cloth, dash, seats etc. If that's actually true then christ what a macabre piece of British Crime History and why the hell would anyone want to cash in on it....

Johno100

KarlBristol wrote: »

Hopefully that clears up some of the misconceptions and worries...
The police make no money from the recovery of vehicle and certainly aren't in cahoots with recovery agents.

Well somebody gives the selected recovery agents these lucrative exclusive contracts. The details of which are, surprise surprise, commercially sensitive.

That's not too mention the 'management fee' the recovery agents pay the police when they tip them off to a broken down vehicle.

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2010/11/23/west-midlands-police-pay-out-1-3m-for-breakdown-tip-offs/

No doubt there is a similar arrangement in place for the boarding up of premises after a break.

DrGen

Mark_Mark wrote: »

But your shed won't make anyone a profit.

I'm glad you've got a cheaper option for recovery but can yours be anywhere within 30 minutes at 3 am?

Well not necessarily - but if in actuality my car is found safe in a side street at 4pm, why shouldn't I be able to recover it? It is the inflexibility which bothers me.

Also, the companies I have contacted include one which operates across the West Midlands 24/7. They said on some days they're busy and some days they aren't - and incidentally they are also sometimes used by the police. Except if they form a contract with the police instead of me, I'm charged an extra £70.

Also - you are wrong about if my vehicle is completely burned out or otherwise not useable. I believe most police services allow you to completely relinquish the vehicle and its contents (which I would do under those circumstances) and thus not have to pay. But the company holding the car is then allowed to make any profit they please from the car and its contents.

DrGen

KarlBristol wrote: »

Note - your vehicle doesn't have to be recovered by the Police on your behalf!!! You can call 101 and specifically request that it isn't recovered and that you recover it yourself.

Unfortunately this doesn't seem to be the case. I have both called and emailed the West Midlands Police and they have categorically stated I have no choice in the matter regardless of the circumstances.

Their official statement by email:

"Thank you for your email, unfortunately the policy laid down by the West Midlands Police does not allow for officers to carry out your wishes. As and when your car is recovered if it is within the West Midlands Police area it will be recovered and then examined. You will be required to pay the fee in order to recover your vehicle.
I am sorry but that is the policy and we can not deviate from it."


I have asked for reasoning, but "just because" is all I'm getting over and over again.

DrGen

KarlBristol wrote: »

The payment for recovery and impounding is charged from the recovery agent and has nothing to do with the Police.

If you don't want the vehicle recovered by the police but it isn't drivable and you want to arrange your own recovery at your own cost generally you can.

If you've got breakdown cover with someone like the AA they very often can come and tow your car to your house or local garage for no cost if it isn't drivable.

Hopefully that clears up some of the misconceptions and worries...
The police make no money from the recovery of vehicle and certainly aren't in cahoots with recovery agents.

Unfortunately, I know you are trying to help but I can only wish anything you were saying was true! It isn't.

The police are the ones telling me I have no choice but to use (and pay for) the recovery service they endorse. You can see from their official response that they are very much involved.

I am apparently not allowed to recover it myself under any circumstances, although no reason for this "rule" is given (I understand if it poses a danger or obstruction).

I am covered with RAC but they have confirmed they will not recover my vehicle if it is found, because it wouldn't count as a "break down".

And have you never been to a police auction or heard of one? I've witnessed them flogging stolen cars.