Police won’t return stolen recovered car

Nikkidylan

Hi everyone, 

My car was stolen 6 weeks ago. 

Insurance were almost about to pay me out last week when they said the stolen marker had been removed. I’ve then rang the police who told me it had been recovered by them a few weeks ago. They wouldn’t tell me any information about the condition of the car or anything else. 

The recovery place where the car is have told both me and the insurance company that we can’t collect the car as it’s under a police hold and can’t be released. I’ve rang the police several times for find out when the car can be collected and keep getting told the officer in charge of the case will ring me but they never phone back. 

I have no car and nobody will tell me anything. It seems so unfair the police can be allowed to do this. Has anyone heard of this happening before or know what I can do? 

Keep_pedalling

It sounds like it was used to commit crime and is being held as evidence.

fimacdoodle

even if evidence - unless its a murder the car should be released to you. Go to the station dealing with it and ask to speak to a sensible cop who can make a decision on it. Personal is best.

in_my_wellies

This happened to my mum. Her car was used in a bank robbery. Although recovered the same afternoon they wouldn't release it until forensics had finished which was three days later. She was then charged three days storage fee in order to release it. The police said she should reclaim this from her insurance as part of the damage repairs but as the only damage was a cigarette burn to a rear seat which would have cost lees than the excess she was not happy. 
(her job was an upholsterer)

Nikkidylan

fimacdoodle said:

even if evidence - unless its a murder the car should be released to you. Go to the station dealing with it and ask to speak to a sensible cop who can make a decision on it. Personal is best.

Thats a good idea, thank you. I will go to my local station tomorrow as having no luck trying to contact them by phone or email. 

Nikkidylan

in_my_wellies said:

This happened to my mum. Her car was used in a bank robbery. Although recovered the same afternoon they wouldn't release it until forensics had finished which was three days later. She was then charged three days storage fee in order to release it. The police said she should reclaim this from her insurance as part of the damage repairs but as the only damage was a cigarette burn to a rear seat which would have cost lees than the excess she was not happy. 
(her job was an upholsterer)

That’s so wrong that they charge the storage fees 😩 they’ve had mine for weeks now so I hope I don’t get charged as well. i was thinking they might be keeping mine for forensics but if that only took three days it can’t be that. 

angrycrow

The other reason the car would be placed on hold is if it has been in an accident causing serious injury or death. If this is the case it won't be released until conclusion of any prosecution in case they need to reinspect the car at any point. If this is the case it could be years before it is released.

Nikkidylan

angrycrow said:

The other reason the car would be placed on hold is if it has been in an accident causing serious injury or death. If this is the case it won't be released until conclusion of any prosecution in case they need to reinspect the car at any point. If this is the case it could be years before it is released.

This is my worry… it just seems very unfair. At the very least the police should tell me what’s going on but they won’t tell me anything. The car was only a few years old, I’d only just finished paying the finance off and feel gutted tbh. 

daivid

If you are getting nowhere with the police try writing to your MP and/or police and crime commissioner requesting their assistance. A letter/email from them may get answers much sooner.

Nikkidylan

daivid said:

If you are getting nowhere with the police try writing to your MP and/or police and crime commissioner requesting their assistance. A letter/email from them may get answers much sooner.

Thank you. I’ve contacted the mp already but haven’t heard back yet. I will try the police and crime commissioner - will contact them today to see if they can help. 

TadleyBaggie

angrycrow said:

The other reason the car would be placed on hold is if it has been in an accident causing serious injury or death. If this is the case it won't be released until conclusion of any prosecution in case they need to reinspect the car at any point. If this is the case it could be years before it is released.

This happened to me. The police initially impounded the car until they had concluded their investigation, this took a couple of months. There was no prosecution.

The coroner then impounded the car until the inquest had been held, that took another 6 months.