by griffonmark » Sat May 13, 2006 5:40 pm
Hi Sad Edd
What a pity I wasn't a member earlier or I could have given your son some advice on his stolen Nova. I have a copy of a court case somewhere (Frizzell Insurance V some police recovery yard) which went to appeal. The upshot of this case was that if the police instruct collection of a stolen vehicle then they are responsible for the cost of recovery unless the owner wants the car back or his insurers become involved. If your son, like most youngsters, didn't want to claim on his insurance to protect his NCB and didn't want the car back, he should not have had to pay. If he has paid and didn't get his car back he may be entitled to a refund, particularly if the recovery yard told him he was legally responsible. He wasn't. There is a grey area over collecting items out of the vehicle though. I think you should be able to recover personal belongings, but not items attached to the car, like alloy wheels, spoilers, radio etc.. Its a miserable situation because a lot of kids are forced into making a claim purely because they cannot afford the recovery/storage charges which are often inflated. Another example of the Police messing around with motorists money to suit their own ends. Regards Mark