Car sold off without my consent

**Kati** · 17th February 2016, 19:32:PM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

[MENTION=7]Tools[/MENTION] [MENTION=6]Amethyst[/MENTION] [MENTION=39710]des8[/MENTION]???

**R0b** · 17th February 2016, 20:11:PM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

Have you consulted the terms and conditions of your insurance? There may be a clause in there which gives the right for them to sell the vehicle on or provide you an alternative equivalent to the price of the vehicle at the time or give you cash value.

If there is nothing in there then they may have acted outside of their powers and you could have a claim against them.

Who are your insurers?

**icrina53** · 17th February 2016, 20:20:PM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

Hello,
I did read their terms today , can't find anything close to my case but under the total loss sectionthey mention that as soon as their offer is accepted the car becomes their property. I haven't received an offer or a payment ? 1st central is the company . I received the letter of valuation onthe 27th and the car was collected by the salvage on the 28th . So even if it is something in their terms surely they should give me more than few hours notice at least to collect my personal belongins from the car?

**des8** · 17th February 2016, 21:27:PM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

Could you please clarify who has done what?
This was a non fault incident on your side.
Did you claim against your insurance? or directly against the party who caused the accident?
Who instructed the "independent engineer"?
Was he a loss adjuster?
Where was the vehicle stored prior to collection by the salvage company?
Were you not able to collect your personal belongings from the vehicle?
Was the "valuation" from your insurers or the third parties'?
Was the valuation an offer o indemnity?
How satisfied are you with the valuation?

I shall be busy over the next day or so, therefore I might not be online much.

**icrina53** · 17th February 2016, 21:50:PM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

It was a three car accident I was the first in line stationary , the lady behind saw me stopped a tad too late and she attempted an emergency stop but the van behind her was too close , it hit her and pushed her into the rear of my car.
I called the insurance and the next day as they told me I took my car to their approved garage. I was given some log in details to track my repair online, since then it shows as a potential write off on their website.
On the 27th i received an email from a company saying that the car has been valued at £4700 and is a write off. I spoke with the engineer and he advised that an offer will be made by the insurance.
I spoke with the insurance on 3rd of Feb they told me all I can do is wait for their phone call .
Today I phone them again to see what is happening and told me that the car has been collected by the salvage and they gave me the name of the company. I went on their website to get their phone number to see where is my car . On their website my car shows as sold by auction on 12th of Feb.
I would have been able to collect my belongins if I knew that the car will be collected and taken away but nobody told me that .
I phone the garage that I took my car to and they told me that the cat was collected the day after I received the valuation email,28th . The valuation states it is a valuation and not an offer thing that was confirmed by the engineer .

**icrina53** · 17th February 2016, 22:01:PM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

I am a bit shocked to be honest , I was under the impression my car is still at the garage . I spoke on the phone with my insurance at least three times since my car was collected by the salvage and nobody told me anything . I have not received not even one piece of paper or a phone call from my insurance since the day I reported the accident and now I go onto a website only to see my car was sold weeks ago without my knowledge. I thought I was meant to receive an offer for it or given the option to buy my car back etc but nothing . I phone the total loss today and they confirmed that they acted as they were instructed by my insurance company .
I still have all the paperwork/key etc for the car , still paying road tax and breakdown cover .
I had few things in my car that when I took it to the garage did not take out as initially was told it will be fixed.
I am driving a hire car for a month ,provided by my insurance .

**R0b** · 17th February 2016, 22:42:PM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

Well from what you have said so far, it sounds like they are in breach of the terms of the agreement. Do you remember what sort of belongings were in the car and are you able to calculate how much they were worth? Have they told you how the vehicle has been calculated and if it was the correct valuation for the car? sometimes insurers might undervalue the car in order to pay out less.

Sounds like the next step should be to write to the insurers as soon as possible and inform them that they are in breach of the terms of the insurance. They have sold the vehicle without your permission, failed to give you an offer of the vehicle and merely a valuation and at no point have you accepted any amount offered. You have had no chance to collect your belongings and/or get an independent valuation to ensure that the vehicle has been correctly valued.

By sending them a letter or email before they cna give you an offer will put them on notice that you consider they are in breach of contract. What sort of outcome are you looking for?

**icrina53** · 17th February 2016, 23:10:PM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

The valuation was done by what the garage has told the engineer , he hasn't actually seen the car .they quoted autotrader , whatcar etc .I thought is a bit low but to be honest didn't make a big fuss about it .
I had my hands free , some chargers cd's , my husband locking wheelnut for his car and other bits and bobs of my daughters. I also had a full tank of petrol in there as the accident happened after I stopped at the petrol station .I will phone the salvage maybe they still have the things .
With regards to the outcome I am not sure ,do I have any options? I've been involved in couple of accidets along the years that ended in write offs but never came accross this sort of behaviour from an insurance company .
I will write them tomorrow , is there a certain letter format I need to use? or just a general complaint?

**des8** · 18th February 2016, 08:46:AM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

Are you sure the vehicle has been sold?
Have the salvage yard confirmed this?

I ask because it is normal practice for insurers to instruct salvage operators to collect cars that are damaged beyond economical repair and to store them securely whilst the claim is settled.
The salvage operators charges for storage are less than garages.
The salvage yard will expect to buy the vehicle from the insurers and then sell it on or break it for parts.
It is not unusual for the yard to start advertising the vehicle at this stage.
Interested parties leave details and are then contacted when the vehicle is cleared for disposal by the insurers.
Sometimes it will even be "sold" subject to clearance.

Any purchaser of your car is going to have difficulties when they come to put it back on the road as you retain the documentation.

Certainly write to your insurers as R0b suggests.

**icrina53** · 18th February 2016, 09:08:AM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

It was def sold by auction and collected by the winning bidder on the 12th of Feb . I did sent them an email last night , I will phone them today just to make sure they've received it.

**des8** · 18th February 2016, 18:50:PM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

Here's how the financial ombudsman's service ruled in a similar case:
Mr G's 1999 Daewoo was damaged in an accident in July 2006. When he contacted the insurer to make a claim, he stressed that even though the car was badly damaged, he wanted the insurer to return it to him in due course, so he could get it repaired.
However, after deciding that the car was a total loss, the insurer immediately sold it on for salvage. The insurer then offered Mr G £2,125 - representing what it said was the car's pre-accident market value.
Mr G was extremely unhappy to discover that the insurer had disposed of his car, even though he had specifically asked it not to do this. He also complained that the amount he was offered did not accurately reflect the car's value.
The insurer refused to comment on its sale of the car, and it would not reconsider its offer, so Mr G referred the complaint to us.
complaint upheld
Mr G pointed out that the car had benefited from the liquid petroleum gas (LPG) conversion he had carried out just over two years earlier, at a cost of £2,000. He was firmly of the view that the car could have been repaired, allowing him to retain the benefit of the LPG conversion. He said that the insurer had not only prevented him from attempting a repair, it had also failed to take the LPG conversion into account when it valued the car.
We agreed with Mr G that the insurer had not valued the car correctly. And the insurer did not dispute that Mr G had made it very clear, when he reported the accident, that he wished to have the car repaired.
The car had been regarded as a Category "C" in the "Code of Practice for the disposal of motor vehicle Salvage". This meant that although it was uneconomical for the insurer to repair the car, the car was repairable.
We said that the insurer had clearly acted incorrectly. Mr G was still the owner of the car at the time the insurer disposed of it. And he had asked the insurer to return the car to him, so that he could arrange a repair.
We told the insurer it should pay Mr G £4,125. This was £2,000 more than the amount it had offered him, and would enable him to buy a car with LPG conversion, to replace the vehicle the insurer had disposed of. We said the insurer should also pay Mr G £400 for the distress and inconvenience it had caused him.

**icrina53** · 20th February 2016, 13:46:PM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

Today funnily enough I received a cheque for the salvage value of my car for few hundreds pounds , what is that about?
The offer for my car from the insurance I still haven't received .Confused

**des8** · 20th February 2016, 21:36:PM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

Something not adding up here.
Can you confirm the insurers who arranged the removal by the salvage operators are your insurers, and that you have full comprehensive cover?

If it was your insurance company:
Normally insurers arrange for crashed "written off" vehicles to be taken into secure storage until the claim is settled.
When the claim is settled the vehicle belongs to the insurance company, who will sell it to the salvage operators, (or allow its retention by the insured).
The storage is most often in a secure compound run by the salvage operators, who purchase the car from insurers.
When the claim is settled the salvage operators will dispose of the car.
If it is sold at auction the purchase money goes to the salvage operator.

If it was the third party insurers:
They should not touch the vehicle without your agreement!!

**icrina53** · 20th February 2016, 22:04:PM

Re: Car sold off without my consent

Hi Des,
The independent company that was instructed by my own insurance to do the valuation has asked the salvage people to take my car away, I'm not sure if to sell it or just keep it until the claim is settled but someone messed up along the line. I spoke with them and they confirmed that they acted on my insurance instructions. It is my insurance and yes I had comprehensive cover .
I knew the same thing you are saying, plus I was hoping to buy my vehicle back but that won't be possible now.
The cheque I got today doesn't make sense at all unless is their way to accept the fact that they messed up.

Car sold off without my consent

Car sold off without my consent

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