Car Insurance - how do I know my rights?

SplashingAroundForever

Long story short - my car got stolen end of August.  Insurance company being utterly disgraceful over paying me out.  Now car has been found - VIN ground out and got a new identity.  If insurance ever decide to act honorably - is it normal practice for them to take a car recovered in this condition or am I obliged to take it back?  Will this effect the value of the car?  Can I sell the car at some point in the future?  What complications can this cause in the future?  Is it normal practice to re-stamp a VIN? I need to fully understand my rights and not sure where to turn....Really appreciate any help and advice.

Mark_d

Yes you get the car back and the insurer should pay to restore it to at least the condition it was in before it was stolen. The car was not seriously damaged in an accident so it will be fully restored and the value won't be affected.  Of course you can sell the car in future.  It will be just as if it was never stolen

DullGreyGuy

SplashingAroundForever said:

Long story short - my car got stolen end of August.  Insurance company being utterly disgraceful over paying me out.  Now car has been found - VIN ground out and got a new identity.  If insurance ever decide to act honorably - is it normal practice for them to take a car recovered in this condition or am I obliged to take it back?  Will this effect the value of the car?  Can I sell the car at some point in the future?  What complications can this cause in the future?  Is it normal practice to re-stamp a VIN? I need to fully understand my rights and not sure where to turn....Really appreciate any help and advice.

Have they actually paid you out? If they have then the car is theirs and it's up to them what they do with it. 

If the claim isn't settled yet then they will need to inspect the vehicle and decide if it's economical to repair or not. Assuming it is, you've no choice they are entitled to repair and return it. If it's beyond economical repair then typically they'd retain it and give you its pre loss value less excess but you can have a discussion about retaining the vehicle so reduce the settlement by the salvage value if you do want to keep it.