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car insurance - recovery of stolen car

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markcarlisle | 09:22 Thu 28th Feb 2008 | Insurance
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what is the legal position if my car is stolen and I am paid out by insurance but the car is later recovered? Is the position any different if the car is illegally removed without my knowledge, but I am advised by police it is recorded as stolen, I am paid out by insurance and it is later recovered?
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Would need more info as to what actually happened, but in general (and I'm reading between the lines a bit here!) this is the position -
If your car is stolen, your insurers would normally pay out on the proviso that should the vehicle be recovered in the future, then the car (or the salvage) becomes their property.
However, if you have with-held ANY information from the insurer regarding the circumstances of the theft (for example you knew that cowboy clampers were holding your car at their compound, but told your insurer that you parked your car went shopping and your car was gone when you returned) then your insurers would view this as a fraudulent claim, and could insist on repayment of the settlement. If you've any further details about this particular incident that you want to share, I'm happy to give you more specific info.
Question Author
JB - thankyou.
It is my daughter's situation, as below.

� On July 28th 2006 I discovered my vehicle was missing. I immediately contacted Tesco Insurers, TRACE and the Police to see if it had been removed by the council or towed. They had no record of this happening.
� I received a pay out from Tesco on the 1st of September. (�10,177)
� On the 6th September, I received a call from the police stating that my car had turned up at a firm of Bailiffs (JBW Enforcement). Bailiffs are supposed to notify the police immediately of any seizure but they apparently had not done so for many weeks.
� On contacting JBW they said they had removed the car and were holding it after receiving instruction from Haringey Council re an unpaid parking fine
� Haringey told me the parking fine had been cancelled several months earlier, so it was void and the car should not have been picked up
� JBW accepted this, but were unable return the vehicle to me as it was now the property of Tesco Insurance.
� I immediately called Tesco and made them aware of the situation.
� I then received a letter from Tesco saying that because I was in breach of the insurance agreement where the car is taken by bailiffs, I was liable for the repayment of the entire payout! I again referred them to JBW.
� In November 2007 received a letter from Tesco claiming that they been unable to get hold of JBW and as a result I am liable to return the pay out.
� I have always been transparent and helpful to the insurers and kept them advised
� I have now contacted JBW (Got through 1st time) and they told me that Tesco has been in touch with them several times and Tesco said they had �no financial interest in the vehicle� so it was sold at auction. They maintain they had been in full communication with Tesco throughout. But, in the letter I have just received from Tesco stating:
� �I have tried on numerous
Hi Mark - your post has been cut short, but I get the gist.
Your daughter really needs to speak to a claims manager rather than a handler. Seems fairly straightforward that she made a claim in good faith and Tesco accepted that the claim was genuine.
Had Tesco notified the relevant authorities (police, DVLA, MIAFTR) of their interest in the vehicle following the settlement, then they (and not your daughter) would have been notified when the vehicle was found. I can understand why questions have been raised as the circumstances are on the unusual side, but it seems to me that the whole claim is being dealt with by poor, over-worked, underpaid claims handlers who have targets to meet! Insist that the whole sorry situation is reviewed by a manager, insist that they treat it as a formal complaint and if they don't see sense, go to the Financial Services Ombudsman. The FSO view cases in the eyes of a 'layman' and in this case your daughter thought the car had been stolen, the police were happy that the car had been stolen and Tesco accepted that the car had been stolen - so where exactly is the breach? This is one for Tesco to sort out with JBW!
Good luck!
Question Author
JB - thank you! Extremely grateful for your help! My daughter will be able to respond to Tesco with a lot more confidence now.

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