Car stolen and recovered following police pursuit - do I have to accept repair and return?

ic

My car that I own outright and bought only two months ago was stolen, and subsequently recovered six hours later by the police following a pursuit.  The police stung all four tyres, and the offenders got away on foot.  From the maps provided by the insurance tracker on the car, it's clear the car has been joyridden, cruising local estates and belting along side streets throughout that time. 

I haven't seen the car as yet, the police on the night (looking at a dark coloured car in the dark) said it was OK bar the tyres.  However, even if there isn't bodywork damage, I'm concerned damage will extend beyond just replacement of the tyres and the locks - things like the alloys, and perhaps hidden damage that might not show immediately to components such as the suspension - costing me in future "wear-and-tear" repairs.

I expect the insurance company will want me to accept repair of the obvious stuff and get it back to me, however given the car has likely had several years' worth of wear-and-tear added to it due to the ragging its just had, am I required to accept this?  Could I insist on a payout instead, and fall back to my gap insurance policy to take me back to the invoice value I paid two months ago?  I presume if I can do that, it'd count as a total loss on claims in the future - is a "stolen and total loss" claim on my history that much worse than a "stolen and recovered" claim when it comes to shopping for future insurance policies?

Sandtree

You could request cash in lieu of repairs but that would be for the repair costs (possibly net of VAT) and not a total loss of the vehicle and you would still own the car. RTI insurance wouldn't be triggered as the vehicles not a total loss.

I think you need to be a little more realistic about the ability for 6 hours of hard driving to cause the same wear as 30,000 miles of driving normally (3 years x 10k per year). Clearly get the vehicle checked out by a mechanic on its recover any damage is submitted as part of the claim.

Total Loss, Stolen & Recovered etc makes no difference when buying future insurance as insurers dont ask these details. The former would, the later could, impact the value of the vehicle and so would impact any future total loss settlement.

How did they take the vehicle?

Grumpy_chap

The pragmatic thing for the OP to do would seem to be to accept the repair and return of the car under insurance.  If the OP is still unhappy with the car at that point, the OP can sell the car and start again.

While I have every sympathy with the OP's view, there could be a counter view that "car stolen, found after 6 hours, now I don't want it, please give me cash" could look suspicious.

The impact on future insurance premiums and possibly suspension damage probably fall under the "life is unfair" category.

If the suspension is damaged by the joy ride, it should be repaired by the insurance.  If it is not damaged then there is nothing to declare if selling the vehicle about the suspension - only declare "stolen, recovered, repaired in full"

Aretnap

It's the same position as if the car were damaged in an accident - the insurer has the right to decide whether to repair your car or write it off, and in practice will only write it off if the repair costs are going to be more than the car's value (or at least a very sizeable chunk of its value).

Obviously you have the right to insist that it's repaired to a good standard and if there are specific problems that you don't think have been put right you can complain to the insurer and ultimately to the Financial Ombudsman. If there's an identifiable problem with the suspension, say, then you can insist that it be put right, but I'm not sure that you can insist on new shock absorbers because of a slightly ill-defined concern that they might have a bit more wear and tear than they'd get on a normal day's driving. I'm also sceptical that one enthusiastic driving session adds up to several years worth of wear and tear.

ic

Cheers all.  Makes sense.

They broke into the house in broad-daylight whilst we were out, smashing a couple of doors, and specifically went looking for the car keys, ignoring other possessions that were easily grabble.  It's all well covered on cameras, and tracked by the insurance tracker.  Sadly the police missed them by only minutes.  I'm hopeful they didn't take the dashcam in their panic to get away, which could provide further evidence.

TELLIT01

Wait and see what the insurer says.  They will probably send out an assessor and provide a report to the insurer.  Ask for a copy of the report and, if you aren't happy, speak to them and possibly consider getting your own assessor to have a look.

Sandtree

TELLIT01 said:

Wait and see what the insurer says.  They will probably send out an assessor and provide a report to the insurer.  Ask for a copy of the report and, if you aren't happy, speak to them and possibly consider getting your own assessor to have a look.

Would be a rather traditional approach... more likely they will say they will take the car to one of their approved repairers who have some level of delegated authority and will submit photos/videos digitally to be reviewed and authorised remotely. Even over a decade ago when I was last dealing with Motor Claims for an insurer the idea of sending someone to site was long gone... matters are different when outsourcing is happening as then they can charge more for an onsite visit.