brought stolen cloned car really need some advice

[barmey30]

I desperately needed some advice.
I brought a car from Birmingham last month tried to register it with dvla and it flagged up as stolen the police have impounded it under police property act the insurers have paid out to the owners.
the police want to know if 1 disclaim the car or want to fight it through the courts against insurance company (police officer dealing with this hasn't had a case like this go to court yet).
by what I've researched the car by law belongs to the insurance company but there is a clause stating unless it was brought by deception :/ I'm not sure why we are being given this option when the law clearly states the insurance company own it but the police haven't given it to them or I.
currently waiting on insurance company to call to try and sort it out but they may not call

[R0b]

Re: brought stolen cloned car really need some advice

Hi Barney

Was the seller a dealer or private individual? I don't think it is even worth thinking about disputing it in court as you are unlikely to win and will be throwing good money after bad.

What is your end goal, are you wanting to purchase the car from the insurance company if possible?

I'll tag [MENTION=39710]des8[/MENTION] as he may have more knowledge on the cloning aspect.

[barmey30]

Re: brought stolen cloned car really need some advice

hi and thanks for getting back to me it was brought from a private seller :/ I would like to speak to the insurance company to try and resolve the issue but as I don't know who they are we are relent on the police who state they have email my contact details to insurance company.
I also don't understand the disclaimer how can I sign something when I'm not actually the owner it's been such a stressful time and haven't had any advice legally all to busy with it being christmas :/
thanks

[R0b]

Re: brought stolen cloned car really need some advice

As it was a private seller, there is probably little you can do unless you know the name of that person and their address - more likely than not they probably don't have any assets anyway to pursue a claim.

Did you have any paperwork like the V5C and MOT / service history?

I don't think you need to sign a disclaimer nor might it be in your best interests at this stage but as above, probably very little you can do. Maybe report the issue to Action Fraud but aside from that, a lesson learnt for next time and I would suggest you read the link below provided by the Government about checking the history of a car and making sure its not stolen before you purchase it.

https://www.gov.uk/checks-when-buying-a-used-car

[barmey30]

Re: brought stolen cloned car really need some advice

it had v5 and everything tallied up with the vins and everything was clear online cause it was a clone. turns out the v5 was a fake we wasn't to know this unfortunately. suspicion only arose when I couldn't tax it at the post office and contacted dvla and police but it was still coming back as clear 4 weeks it took for them to eventually cotton on that it was a cloned car :/

[des8]

Re: brought stolen cloned car really need some advice

Bit late to this and don't think there is anything useful to add.

The car you bought had been stolen and then given a false identity.
When you tried to register change of keeper it alerted DVLA that there were two cars with this identity.
The correct identity of the vehicle has been ascertained, and as it was reported stolen and the true owner paid by his insurers, the insurers are now the owners.
The insurance clause you refer to is found in insurance policies and aims to excludes theft claims in which possession is gained by deception.

The disclaimer will be required by the police to allow the vehicle to be returned to the insurers.
This is always required for goods which have come into police possession from a third party if they are to be returned to the rightful owners
If a disclaimer is not obtained, and there is a dispute about ownership, then property is disposed of by proceedings under the Police (Property ) Act 1897