Car was unauthorisedly crushed!!!!

reece240692

Hi Guys,

Long story short we kicked my OH's stepdad out a few months ago and he took a car that belongs to my OH's late mum's estate, we have contacted the police because he's effectively stolen that car and the police have done nothing about it, but in the meantime the car has been crushed!!!

As far as I'm concerned, he now owes my OH for the value of the car he crushed, could I possibly chase this through the Small Claims Court?

OlliesDad

reece240692 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Long story short we kicked my OH's stepdad out a few months ago and he took a car that belongs to my OH's late mum's estate, we have contacted the police because he's effectively stolen that car and the police have done nothing about it, but in the meantime the car has been crushed!!!

As far as I'm concerned, he now owes my OH for the value of the car he crushed, could I possibly chase this through the Small Claims Court?

As long as you have an address for the stepdad then you can take him to court. Who had ownership of the vehicle? Can you prove that you should have the vehicle instead.

To make a claim you can fill out the form on the below link:

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

reece240692

The car was in my OH's mum's name, we know where he's living and we have proof of who should have been in possession of that vehicle, we also would like to make him Bankrupt if possible

Mojisola

reece240692 wrote: »

Long story short we kicked my OH's stepdad out a few months ago and he took a car that belongs to my OH's late mum's estate, we have contacted the police because he's effectively stolen that car and the police have done nothing about it, but in the meantime the car has been crushed!!!

As far as I'm concerned, he now owes my OH for the value of the car he crushed, could I possibly chase this through the Small Claims Court?

reece240692 wrote: »

The car was in my OH's mum's name, we know where he's living and we have proof of who should have been in possession of that vehicle, we also would like to make him Bankrupt if possible

Is the vendetta against him worth the time, energy and money?

Why not just cut him out of your life and move on?

OlliesDad

reece240692 wrote: »

The car was in my OH's mum's name, we know where he's living and we have proof of who should have been in possession of that vehicle, we also would like to make him Bankrupt if possible

The registered keeper is not the same as the owner of the car. It is quite possible that he owned the car but as his wife used the car she was the registered keeper. What is the proof of rightful owner of the car do you have?

What is the reason that the car was crushed?

InsideInsurance

reece240692 wrote: »

As far as I'm concerned, he now owes my OH for the value of the car he crushed, could I possibly chase this through the Small Claims Court?

No you couldnt as you dont own the vehicle and so have not been financially disadvantaged. Your mother in law however could assuming she can prove she is the owner, though realistically does he have the means to pay? You dont want to throw good money after bad.

When did you report the car stolen? When it first was taken or only after you discovered it had been crushed? What was the gap between these two dates?

Where was the car crushed? In an authorised scrap dealer? May be worth looking into what rules they are supposed to follow to ensure the vehicle isnt stolen etc before buying the cars and disposing them. If the motivation is financial rather than vindictive then they are probably more able to afford to settle a claim if there is a possibility of pursuing them

OlliesDad

InsideInsurance wrote: »

. Your mother in law however could assuming she can prove she is the owner, though realistically does he have the means to pay?

reece240692 wrote: »

he took a car that belongs to my OH's late mum's estate,

I think the mother in law may struggle to take action.

InsideInsurance

OlliesDad wrote: »

I think the mother in law may struggle to take action.

Then the estate has to issue proceedings which the executor would do on it's behalf.

Obv also worth checking the will too just to ensure that he wasnt the beneficiary of it

As others have said, ownership is separate to registered keeper and you'd really need to find the purchase invoice to show she bought it or if he bought it and "gave" it to her then evidence of the gift.

shaun_from_Africa

I know that it shouldn't matter, but in reality it will make a difference as to the possible action taken, but what sort of car and value are you talking about?

If it was a 15 year old Focus with 120k miles on the clock it's probably not worth getting too stressed over where as if it was a 1 year old motor with 5k, go for it.

Gavin83

reece240692 wrote: »

we also would like to make him Bankrupt if possible

Why?

I'm also curious as to why the estate didn't pass to him anyway. I was under the impression that in the event of death the estate passes to the surviving spouse.

shaun_from_Africa

Gavin83 wrote: »

I was under the impression that in the event of death the estate passes to the surviving spouse.

Unless of course, a will states differently.
Even if there wasn't a will problem, any goods and finances left by the deceased still have to go through probate and the surviving spouse can't just grab what they like in the assumption that they now own everything.