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I bought February 2019 a expensive vehicle > £25K as private sale. I carried out a full HPI check, seller has V5 in name and address matching his drivers license. MOT present and VIN checked against paperwork. All good. Cat-S car bought from CoPart and repaired. He had images of the original damage and the repair. He also showed me the Copart invoice, although thinking retrospectively it didn’t have a name and address on it, only a members number. Quick sale claimed due to COVID lockdown business concerns. I tested the car the insured it and paid via BACS and a cash amount. Took the new keepers slip, taxed it online and happy days. V5 came through a few days later as you’d expect.
18 months later prices are sky high so I decided to sell the car. 4:30
am October 2021 two Spanish gentlemen turn up on my doorstep and claim the vehicle is theirs. They won’t go away and eventually I call the police.
Police arrive. Spanish gentle man has proof that they bought the car from copart repaired it and then gave it to third party know as ‘Jhon’ whom was tasked to return the repaired vehicle to the UK and MOT the vehicle and return the vehicle to them in Spain. They stated this was necessary to import the vehicle. I suspect they had no V5 either for import purposes.
’Jhon’ either with my seller or is my seller then seems to have registered the vehicle in his name, MOT it and sold it. Either with or without the ‘owners’ permission. They failed to report the details to the UK police. I believe they eventually reported the situation to the Spanish police long after the vehicle had been sold to myself.
Police eventually have seized the vehicle. They are still investigating any ‘criminal’ case but equally have informed me that there won’t be a criminal case and it will be a civil matter between myself and the Spanish ‘owner’ to settle the dispute either privately or in court.
My seller has ‘disappeared’ so that recourse seems unlikely.
As far as I have read the original owners claim would be covered under the sales of goods act. Except it seems possible that ‘Jhon’ may well had ‘voidable title’ over the vehicle? IE they wanted him to sell the car on their behalf but he took the money. Or they shared the money and the saw an opportunity when they saw the vehicle for sale again.
If not then their seems a strong case for estoppel due to negligence. They took no action to register or insure the vehicle. They passed the vehicle to a third party with no paperwork, invoice or receipts to protect their property. They then failed to inform the police until I was forced to call them 18 months later.
I have broached the previous owner on a 50% settlement either way. But he won’t accept my offer and counter offered me a 33% cash offer with the vehicle going to him which I feel is a very bad option.
I’m desperately looking for a clear way forward. Should I accept his low offer as the best of a bad job. Or is it worth going to court?
18 months later prices are sky high so I decided to sell the car. 4:30
am October 2021 two Spanish gentlemen turn up on my doorstep and claim the vehicle is theirs. They won’t go away and eventually I call the police.
Police arrive. Spanish gentle man has proof that they bought the car from copart repaired it and then gave it to third party know as ‘Jhon’ whom was tasked to return the repaired vehicle to the UK and MOT the vehicle and return the vehicle to them in Spain. They stated this was necessary to import the vehicle. I suspect they had no V5 either for import purposes.
’Jhon’ either with my seller or is my seller then seems to have registered the vehicle in his name, MOT it and sold it. Either with or without the ‘owners’ permission. They failed to report the details to the UK police. I believe they eventually reported the situation to the Spanish police long after the vehicle had been sold to myself.
Police eventually have seized the vehicle. They are still investigating any ‘criminal’ case but equally have informed me that there won’t be a criminal case and it will be a civil matter between myself and the Spanish ‘owner’ to settle the dispute either privately or in court.
My seller has ‘disappeared’ so that recourse seems unlikely.
As far as I have read the original owners claim would be covered under the sales of goods act. Except it seems possible that ‘Jhon’ may well had ‘voidable title’ over the vehicle? IE they wanted him to sell the car on their behalf but he took the money. Or they shared the money and the saw an opportunity when they saw the vehicle for sale again.
If not then their seems a strong case for estoppel due to negligence. They took no action to register or insure the vehicle. They passed the vehicle to a third party with no paperwork, invoice or receipts to protect their property. They then failed to inform the police until I was forced to call them 18 months later.
I have broached the previous owner on a 50% settlement either way. But he won’t accept my offer and counter offered me a 33% cash offer with the vehicle going to him which I feel is a very bad option.
I’m desperately looking for a clear way forward. Should I accept his low offer as the best of a bad job. Or is it worth going to court?
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