No money or car from recovery company

cureforsanity

Afternoon,

It's been a while since I posted on here and I'm asking for advice for a friend.

She bought an used Renault Clio about 6 weeks ago and long story short it was stolen off her driveway then found about 6 miles away in a written off state.

She'd only had it 9 days and it wasn't worth claiming off the insurance as she'd have ended up owing them.

So she was recommended a local lad to recover it for her which he duly did, and when she went to see it it was a right mess. He said a 'mate' of his would give her £500 scrap for it if that was ok with her. Obviously she accepted and he asked for the log book.

Anyway, here she is 6 weeks later and there's no car or cash. She's been trying to get in touch via 'phone and facebook but he's ignoring her. Whenever she goes around to his house he won't answer the door.

He doesn't look like the type to respond to strongarm tactics or debt collectors and the police aren't concerned even though I'd class it as theft.

She's been onto the DVLA and they say it's still registered in her name. She has an inkling of where he took the car but doesn't know what to do next.

Any ideas?

maninthestreet

Name and shame him? Contact a local newspaper, see if they are interested in running a story abour it??

AdrianC

So she gave the keys and V5C to some random dodgy bloke who said a mate of his would give her money...

...and she's surprised that it's all gone a bit quiet?

It isn't theft of the car - she voluntarily gave him the keys and V5C and asked him to recover it.
It isn't theft of the money - she never had the money in the first place.
What it is is a civil debt. No more, no less.

Any bets on a counter-claim for recovery costs and a month's storage?

Nobbie1967

Have they told their current insurer? They'll still need to mention this 'loss' when they next take out insurance, irrespective of not claiming.

Car_54

Nobbie1967 wrote: »

Have they told their current insurer? They'll still need to mention this 'loss' when they next take out insurance, irrespective of not claiming.

They also need to cancel the policy ASAP.

AdrianC

Car_54 wrote: »

They also need to cancel the policy ASAP.

I suspect that's a very large part of the "It'd end up costing money..."

Silver-Surfer_2

AdrianC wrote: »

So she gave the keys and V5C to some random dodgy bloke who said a mate of his would give her money...

...and she's surprised that it's all gone a bit quiet?

It isn't theft of the car - she voluntarily gave him the keys and V5C and asked him to recover it.So are you saying the offence of fraud doesn't exist?
It isn't theft of the money - she never had the money in the first place.It could still be theft.
What it is is a civil debt. No more, no less.Maybe, but someone has lost property and someone else has acted dishonestly. That's boardering on theft.

Any bets on a counter-claim for recovery costs and a month's storage?

So what's your advice, roll over and take it?

AdrianC

Silver-Surfer wrote: »

So what's your advice, roll over and take it?

For the sake of £500, it's simply unrealistic to do anything else, given the police are taking no interest.

OK, let's say you do track this guy down. He says that he recovered the car, and that the deal was between your friend and somebody else. Let's say you do manage to track him down. He says he's been trying to get in contact with her - and that she must've misunderstood the deal, which was to sell it (he estimated it would fetch £500) after paying the recovery and storage bills - which come to £x, but the sale fetched less than that, so here's the bill for the remainder.

He-said-she-said.

Let's face it - the cost of recovery and storage are not zero, but the scrap value of a nicked and crashed Clio is pretty damn close.

cureforsanity

She contacted the insurance - they wanted payment of the policy in full before they'd pay out, then less excesses and the fact that then they said they'd cancel the policy so it was cheaper to cancel rather than claim.

Now she's already said she'd pay him the recovery cost and seeing as he was supposed to be a 'friend of a friend' she relied on her recommendation. I doubt if he'd charge storage as it's disappeared to another garage which isn't his....

I fear his mate has paid him the money then he's spent it.

She wouldn't be so bothered if he hadn't offered her the money for it in the first place.

Tbh she asked my advice about the car in the first place and I told her to run away from it but hey ho, folks ask for advice then don't heed it.

I was enquiring if there was any other way.

Don't really want to employ strong arm tactics as it could escalate very quickly.....

forgotmyname

She gave him the V5C or the new keepers slip? Did she send her part off?

If not expect more hassles, they need to contact the DVLA and say they sold it and the buyer took the documents. If not expect some nice bills from the DVLA for failing to tax/insure/SORN/notify change of keeper etc etc..