We Bought A Stolen Motorhome (1 Viewer)

[Just smiffy]

Well after having our new to us motorhome for a month, the police have taken it away..! We had to get disabled controls on it (£2000) before it could be driven and then went to the Norfolk broads.
The following Monday from the weekend we got back we had the knock on the door... The bloke that sold it to us was the culprit... He has a small company selling caravans but the police told us that he had a side line of selling dodgy motorhomes ...

Now the thing is that the policeman dealing with the case at first told us that we stand a good chance of getting the van back or the money as he is being taken to court and he has lots of money that the police have seized.... Now after another conversation the officer has said that the original insurer is taking the van back (what I suspected would happen) and that the culprit has now no assets and no money ??

This officer is now saying that the insurer would probably let us have the van back for a couple of grand as we had adaptions fitted..??
It just seems that he is trying to placate us for some reason.? The insurer paid out 22k..!
I was not under the illusion on getting anything back from this robbing ****** and knew that all was gone but this copper is not helping.
Sorry to go on but this motorhome was going to be our life..! And took everything ... Any thoughts as to what this officer is about..? Is he concerned we get legal advice about "good title" or taking the robbing git to court to get something back and messing up the coppers case..???

Regards...

 

[The Dudess]

I can't answer your question but I feel so very, very sorry for you. What a totally dreadful thing to happen. I sincerely hope you manage to get something sorted out of this mess.

 

[Lenny HB]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, shows how important it is to do a careful checks when buying S/H.

Did you buy from his company or as a private sale, as different rules apply. Privately you loose the van , but I thought if from a trader they couldn't take the van back.
You really need to get some legal advice if you don't want to throw more money away start with Citizens Advice Bureau.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[FJmike]

My sympathies go out to you it must be heart breaking. I was always under the impression that if you had bought something and had a proper receipt then the powers that be could not take it from you. I may be mistaken on this but I think it well worth getting proper legal advice. In my experience coppers will tell you anything that will benefit them with little or no thought to how it affects others.

 

[magicsurfbus]

What a bloody awful situation. I'd personally go straight for legal advice - it's got to be worth the initial consultation fee compared to what you stand to lose.

 

[Judge Mental]

Thats awful!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[lorger]

Sorry to hear about the MH, did you pay cash or use credit card even as part payment or even a loan of so they may help you recover losses.

 

[Forestboy]

So sorry
That's terrible you need to get some professional advice asap.

 

[Just smiffy]

Paid transfer into his own account.....
Done hpi check all ok done gov. Mot status and checked the motorhome really well..... Cops say he was good... He changed plates, all vins no's and re- vin all windows and goods in side..
They only found out as they were looking at a stolen car and happened to come across a shelled Peugeot boxer with our plates...! Cops said we could have been driving it for many years if not for ever if they had not found the other donor van..! Just my luck

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[jollyrodger]

In case others may have bought from him is it worth naming names ?
Also have you legal cover on your insurance ?
Best of luck for what it's worth

 

[SOS]

I really sympathise. We had a similar experience years ago when we bought a car. All thoroughly checked and the guy that sold it to us had ID that stacked up with the log book etc etc. well the reason he had the same name was that he had the same name as his Dad! He had fraudently sold it to us while his Dad was on holiday. We were told that if we continued to drive it that our insurance was invalid. We took advice and were told that if we had put anything on the car then we could take it off. As tempting as it was to take all the tyres off we didn't bother but did get reimbursed from the insurance company for seat belts and a water pump! This was however many years ago and things may have changed. No consolation at all to you I know and I feel fury on your behalf! Hope you get something back and hope he rots in hell!

 

[Beacons]

Sorry to hear of your troubles can't add anything as others have already posted
good advice just wanted to say what a rotten thing to happen best wishes and
hope you get sorted out soon.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[The Wino]

If you paid for an hpi check it might cover the loss worth asking

 

[trophychap]

I was under the impression from watching HPI's TV adverts that if they got it wrong you were able to claim back your losses from them.

Have you contacted them? it may be worth while!

Edit to say almost a duplicate of above post.

 

[iandsm]

If the police are still in possession of the stolen motorhome and there is a dispute as to who they should return it to after the scoundrel is dealt with there could be a hearing under the police property act where a court will decide who it should go to.That is because you bought it for value in good faith and have legal title to it, BUT the original owner, if he was paid by his insurers passes title to them. In effect, one piece of property had two people with lawful title its a matter of who's is the strongest. If the person who sold the stolen item to you has no assets you won't be getting compensation from him.

Better, if you can to make an arrangement with the original insurer to whom I suspect it will be returned as they have paid out the person it was stolen from. They don't want to spend more money taking out the conversion you put in and would only get basic value from a dealer should they try to sell it to a dealer, better they sell it to you and you might be surprised at what they would accept.

I would take advice from a qualified solicitor and not mess around with CAB. No criticism if them but this is job for professionals.

A horrible situation and I really do wish you the best of luck and hope its resolved in an acceptable manner.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[laird of Dunstan]

so sorry to hear about your misfortune , I have no idea how you stand legally , I hope that you get something back

 

[andy63]

That is heartbreaking for you...and don't know how you will be able to recover your loss..
I know of a vehicle which was owned for 6 months and then discovered to be a ringer... All sensible checks were done including an HPI check...before a private purchase.
If you go to the police you loose the vehicle...If you sell it on you saddle someone else and if you confront the seller he just denies knowing and you then leave yourself open as been aware of the situation. ..
The owner decided to keep it and keep quiet...fortunately he had the vehicle 16 more years but the first few were stressful. ..
It's an impossible situation in some cases. .
Hope you can recover your money...
Andy

 

[DBK]

As advised get proper legal advice. As a general rule if you buy something stolen then you won't be able to keep it and it will be returned to the owner, which might be an insurance company.

However, there have been cases where the person buying the vehicle was allowed to keep it and this was because they had taken all the right measures to ensure the item was not stolen, but these cases are not common and the default position is you lose it. Hence, you need to act quickly and see a solicitor, it will at least ensure you get the right advice.

I would politely ignore the policeman, I fear it is now a civil matter.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[sdc77]

If the police are still in possession of the stolen motorhome and there is a dispute as to who they should return it to after the scoundrel is dealt with there could be a hearing under the police property act where a court will decide who it should go to.That is because you bought it for value in good faith and have legal title to it, BUT the original owner, if he was paid by his insurers passes title to them. In effect, one piece of property had two people with lawful title its a matter of who's is the strongest. If the person who sold the stolen item to you has no assets you won't be getting compensation from him.

Better, if you can to make an arrangement with the original insurer to whom I suspect it will be returned as they have paid out the person it was stolen from. They don't want to spend more money taking out the conversion you put in and would only get basic value from a dealer should they try to sell it to a dealer, better they sell it to you and you might be surprised at what they would accept.

I would take advice from a qualified solicitor and not mess around with CAB. No criticism if them but this is job for professionals.

A horrible situation and I really do wish you the best of luck and hope its resolved in an acceptable manner.

+1.. Best advice

 

[Cat53]

What a bloody mess. My heart goes out to you, you must be absolutely gutted. I really hope this gets sorted out. Good luck.

 

[Wildman]

Sorry to hear of your problems ~Time to name the dealer, you have nothing to gain by not doing so.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[sedge]

We-e-e-ell .... the original motorhome as insured by the original owner had an original VIN Plate with a number on it, and a registration number. THAT is the vehicle which the insurer paid out on.

The vehicle which you purchased had the VIN number and registration number of a Peugeot Boxer van.

With whom does the title of the Boxer van rest? Was it actually scrapped - or did an Insurer pay out on that too when it was stolen?

Because the van you bought, now in the custody of the Police - does not match the vehicle the insurer paid out on - do they actually have a proper legal claim to it?

See what I'm getting at? Nobody can actually sell that vehicle as it stands - legally - to you or anyone else, can they? Surely Peugeot would need to issue a new VIN, and change the VIN number on their records - as would eg Chausson, or Swift, or whoever bought the chassis from Peugeot and converted it to a MoHo, to make it all legal again? And that could be long winded, complicated and most likely, expensive ..........

Beyond my knowledge of the Law I'm afraid.

 

[DBK]

This will be depressing reading I fear, so if you can come to some sort of agreement with the insurance company it could be the cheapest option.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/c...its-description/the-car-you-bought-is-stolen/

 

[Carol]

It is awful the way these things mess up people's dreams so sorry to read this I wonder what @Chris thinks of this. Hope you can get some recourse.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Robert Clark]

Very sorry to learn what has happened
Hope you manage to get some kind of resolution

 

[Lenny HB]

Just had a look through HPI's Guarantee terms & conditions, looks like you should be able to claim from them providing you did everything to comply with their normal T&C. The only mention of cloned vehicles is they won't pay out for vehicles over £300o if payed in cash as you paid via bank transfer should be OK.

HPI T&C.

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

As I understand it, HPI gave clearance albeit on what appears to be a clone and I would have thought you would be covered for clear title and compensation even on a clone.

Police comments about vin numbers on windows etc sounds a load of rubbish same as they seized loads of cash etc

Peter

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Bobby22]

Just had a look through HPI's Guarantee terms & conditions, looks like you should be able to claim from them providing you did everything to comply with their normal T&C. The only mention of cloned vehicles is they won't pay out for vehicles over £300o if payed in cash as you paid via bank transfer should be OK.

HPI T&C.

Will HPI pay out on a stolen vehicle that was different from the one the op described?.......how are they to know that the vehicle had the identity changed?

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Suggest you contact HPI and make a claim

Peter

 

[TheBig1]

I hope to god that you took out the extra legal cover on your insurance? As said get legal advice, as you have legal title to the "shelled peugeot boxer" not the motorhome commonly referred to as a ringer. it happens all the time sadly

I have bought such stolen recovered vehicles from insurers before. They are always keen to get shot of them. An offer of a couple of thousand has to be considered by the insurer as the officer implied, but make the offer via a solicitor. If accepted, you need to get a letter from the insurer relinquishing any claim

as for recovering losses from the thief, not a chance in reality. it would cost to take him to court, but these people know the game and have no tangible assets. the wife, the dog or anyone else who is in cahoots with him will have title to everything
sorry its not what you want to hear, but best be realistic about what you are up against

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}