Creightons Disposed of my car

[Robin1987]

Hi folks, first of many posts here

My wife was driving without insurance in my car, a whole cockup on my part, had the car 2 months and never had the registration documents from the previous owner, but had insurance, was switching from AXA to HUGHES and forgot to say don't drive the car, police wanted the insurance and registration documents...

I contacted the police and asked could we get some kind of extension on the 7 days to produce the documents as we sent off for a new registration document, they said that wouldn't be a problem and don't worry abou the car, it takes 2 months before the car is desposed of by creightons, this was the 02/12/14, contacted creightons on the 11/01/15 to ask for the price to get the car released during the week and was told the car is still there but I would need to call in the morning for the price, I called them today (14/01/15) to be told the car has now been desposed of and I should have known that from the paperwork the police gave me, I was only told it would happen within 7 days and that was if I didn't contact anyone, I questioned them saying I was told the car was there on Sunday, and after putting me on hold the told me it has been sent to the auction house.

What do I do, I contacted the police and they are currently onto creightons and the auction house, but we're do I stand with paying for the car? I reported the car stolen a couple hours ago because at that stage the police and creightons didn't know where it was, don't know if this was wise,

Sorry for the long post just not sure what I can do.

 

[BarryPort]

Do you mind me asking the what the value of the car is ?

 

[Wild Thing]

You left your car lying for 5 weeks!!

 

[Stu Beck]

I think it was seized by the cops for no insurance. And couldnt get it back until they had the insurance sorted.

 

[chris_b]

Welcome to RMS !

So just to clarify, your wife was assumably stopped whilst driving without insurance and this resulted in the car being seized ?
You had no registration documents and were waiting to receive them ?

Whilst this was going on you were communicating with the PSNI throughout but Creightons disposed of the car as per their term ?

Why could you not simply collect the car straight away ?

 

[Paddy_R]

By the sounds of it his wife after having the car sized was also given a producer asking for her licence and her v5 but at the same time to get the car back she needed to produce proof of ownership of said car. I think the issue here is that having just bought the car she had no v5 in her name (or her husbands) and thought that the v5 was proof of ownership, it's not and says so the front of the v5. So as she was waiting for a v5 to arrive they let the car sit in storage racking up over £650 in fees (at a guess) and that having sat there for a full month more than required the recovery company wanting their money for the job they did have shipped the car off to be sold as is their right and as stated on the form that would have been given when the vehicle was seized.

Why you were told it would be OK to leave it 2 months is a mystery as it clearly states on the form that it will be disposed of after 7 days, whether that be by crushing it or selling it for cars worth a certain value. To get the car back a receipt would have been enough for proof of ownership along with the other required documents.

 

[Jethro]

Count yourself lucky that she never hit or killed anyone when there was no insurance on it

 

[Robin1987]

We knew we had no proof of ownership, but was just waiting to get a new one from DVLA, the car was there for so long because we were waiting for the v5, all of this was explained to the police and was reassured that nothing would happen to the vehicle. The vehicle was valued at £4,300, to which we have now been informed that the vehicle has been de-polluted and stripped on the 17th dec 2014 and all of our personal property within the car is gone?

 

[chris_b]

We knew we had no proof of ownership, but was just waiting to get a new one from DVLA, the car was there for so long because we were waiting for the v5, all of this was explained to the police and was reassured that nothing would happen to the vehicle. The vehicle was valued at £4,300, to which we have now been informed that the vehicle has been de-polluted and stripped on the 17th dec 2014 and all of our personal property within the car is gone?

Ok that explains things a little more. It sounds like there has been a major break down in communication between the PSNI & Creightons, not unlike the recent similar thing a member had with a car being disposed of after an accident despite having arranged to buy it back.
It sounds to me like creightons have jumped the gun in terms of getting rid of the car. I'm guessing they are now well aware of their mistake and I would be pushing the fact that they rectify this as quickly as possible. If you can you need to get whomever it is from the PSNI on your side as that will hold some weight with the relationship between them and creightons.
Also do you know if the car has actually gone through auction yet? If not you should get onto the auction house asap and inform them they have a car for which you have legal ownership on their property without your consent and inform them of the dispute. This will be enough hopefully for them to at least not put the car though the ring

 

[Robin1987]

Hi Chris, the PSNI contacted creightons and asked were the car was so they said the car was no longer there, the police then contacted the auction house and he was told the car was no longer there. We were told to contact the liaison office to get phone records of us talking to them, and that he is adamant the either us (PSNI) or creightons is at fault and we would have a case.

 

[Stu Beck]

......

 

[dannydnn]

Down to your solicitor tomorrow morning, she's going to be getting done for no insurance anyway. No point taking a £4k hit too if you have proof you were insured on the car and had been in touch within 7 days.

 

[chris_b]

Something seems very off all round this. You said in your first post you contacted creightons on Sunday 11/1/15 and the car was still there. Between then and now, three days the car has disappeared completely ? Theres no way that could have happened that quickly and no one know where it is or what was done with it.
It still sounds to me that creightons are hugely at fault here based purely on what you have described. Have you spoken with a senior member of staff in Creightons ? I would be curious as to how they are going to try and justify their actions.

 

[stevieturbo]

Count yourself lucky that she never hit or killed anyone when there was no insurance on it

Insurance brings people back from the dead ? Wow...must be a new thing.

I've underestimated insurance even more all these years !!

 

[Mrt20]

What type of car is it? Would I be right in saying its £20 per day storage with Creighton's ? Therefore £700 at least in storage charges. On another does it not say on the impound notice that they will dispose of it in 28 days?

 

[Robin1987]

it was an alfa Romeo GT, its 14 days before they despose of it, but the police said not to worry they won't do anything for 2 months.

£120 pickup fee
£16 for first 14 days
£25 every day after the 14 days.

We had the money ready to pay, but now have to use it to buy another car tomorrow,

my wife was wondering why she wasnt contacted to say "we're getting rid of your car come down and get your stuff out of it" or did she loose the rights to the property once the car was siezed? She was literary abandoned on the side of the road with our two sons (who are 2 and 1) with no way to retrieve the property at that time, so we lost 2 car seats, changing bag, a lot of clothes and some work gear of my own, bear in mind she is also 3 months pregnant :-s

 

[chris_b]

^ thats totally unfair no matter what the circumstances.

So did creightons lift the car at the side of the road whilst they and I assume the Police abandoned your pregnant wife & two young children on 2/12/14 ?

 

[Robin1987]

No she was told "you can go now" by the police while creightons were coming to pick the car up,

to be honest my wife doesn't have a lot of confidence and when she came home (2 mile walk) she was just mumbling and walking around like she lost something which she did, was really heartbreaking, as she has a lot of health issues.

 

[Mrt20]

Not trying to be cheeky but your wife was driving with out insurance. Your wife will have signed that impound notice that said the car will be disposed of in 14 days. Hate to be blunt but I don't think you have a leg to stand on.

 

[Robin1987]

She says she signed it over to the police, and wasn't told it was going to creightons until she called the police regarding the V5, its all up the left.

 

[chris_b]

@Robin1987 thats a tough break fella, really sorry to hear this. A little disappointed in the police who have a duty of care left a pregnant woman and two toddlers at the side of the road.

As the guys have said ultimately the fact she was driving without insurance is a huge problem in itself both for you and her. You should probably expect point at least for both of you.

Setting that aside, like I mentioned it seems all this arises from a lack of communication between the PSNI officer you had been speaking too and Creightons themselves. One that is causing you no end of grief.
I don't know what you should do but you need to act quickly. Was I correct in saying this all happened 2/12/14 ?

 

[Robin1987]

Yes Chris it happened on the 2nd December, we know we gonna have to throw our hands up and take it in the chin with the insurance, but we expected to get the car back after we gave them all the documents, we have had insurance from last month with no car.

Gonna talk to solicitor tomorrow so will keep you all updated, and again thank you for all the replays/info I really appreciate it

 

[Coog]

Good luck robin, sounds like a bit of a disaster

 

[Wild Thing]

Was the car insured eventually? If so you may have some hope of a legal loophole, again best move you make will be in the morning at solicitors

 

[ace275]

That's wild, we had a similar issue recently with a car that was involved in an accident being sold without out consent but came good in the end. Hope it goes OK for yous.