Low Life Scumbags.

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Dave Hoatson

New Member
Posts
79
This is not Land Rover related but this could happen to anyone regardless of vehicle make.
My daughter had her car nicked some time early on Wednesday morning by a scrote who was caught by the police but who was still so ****ed at 1100 hours Thursday morning that he was considered unfit to be interviewed. He wasn't too ****ed to break into my daughters car, smash the steering lock, cut all the cables from the ignition switch and hot wire the car. What has really ****ed me off is that the police had the car recovered to their contracted garage in order that a forensic investigation could be carried out which has incurred a charge to my daughter of £150.00. The car was about 115 meters from my daughters house when it was recovered, in fact she could actually see it from her front door. To make matters worse the police released the car at 1200 hours on Friday but my daughter was not informed untill around 1600 hours that afternoon. The contractor then starts charging storage 24 hours after the release time. This meant that charges would commence at 1200 hours on the Saturday. I rang the garage at 1620 on Friday afernoon to find out how badly damaged the car was and to ascertain what recovery equipment I would need to bring down. At first they would not speak to me quoting the data protection act. When finally common sense prevailed they told me it was too late to collect that afternoon as their last collection time was at 1630 hours. I said OK I will collect it on Saturday morning only to be told that they were not open at the weekend but that they would still be charging £25.00 per day for the Saturday and Sunday even though they were denying me access to the vehicle. This is a contract between a private business and Devon and Cornwall Police. Whe the f**k writes these contracts? This is little more than legalised extortion. I finally had them agree to a 'special' appointment on Saturday morning and was able to collect the car. The situation is a complete joke. As a footnote I have written to our local rag, the Plymouth Herald with a copy to my local MP and have had responses from both. The Herald wants to do a story and the MP wants to chase it up. Watch this space.:mad:
 
This sort of thing is outrageous.

When my mate was ill with cancer, he was out driving one night and suddenly started going down big time. Had to park up and got taken off in an ambulance. His car got taken into storage, and he passed away the next day. The family then got informed about the car by police, we went to pick it up and had to pay £100. Last thing you need...
 
Dave Hoatson said:
This is not Land Rover related but this could happen to anyone regardless of vehicle make.
My daughter had her car nicked some time early on Wednesday morning by a scrote who was caught by the police but who was still so ****ed at 1100 hours Thursday morning that he was considered unfit to be interviewed. He wasn't too ****ed to break into my daughters car, smash the steering lock, cut all the cables from the ignition switch and hot wire the car. What has really ****ed me off is that the police had the car recovered to their contracted garage in order that a forensic investigation could be carried out which has incurred a charge to my daughter of £150.00. The car was about 115 meters from my daughters house when it was recovered, in fact she could actually see it from her front door. To make matters worse the police released the car at 1200 hours on Friday but my daughter was not informed untill around 1600 hours that afternoon. The contractor then starts charging storage 24 hours after the release time. This meant that charges would commence at 1200 hours on the Saturday. I rang the garage at 1620 on Friday afernoon to find out how badly damaged the car was and to ascertain what recovery equipment I would need to bring down. At first they would not speak to me quoting the data protection act. When finally common sense prevailed they told me it was too late to collect that afternoon as their last collection time was at 1630 hours. I said OK I will collect it on Saturday morning only to be told that they were not open at the weekend but that they would still be charging £25.00 per day for the Saturday and Sunday even though they were denying me access to the vehicle. This is a contract between a private business and Devon and Cornwall Police. Whe the f**k writes these contracts? This is little more than legalised extortion. I finally had them agree to a 'special' appointment on Saturday morning and was able to collect the car. The situation is a complete joke. As a footnote I have written to our local rag, the Plymouth Herald with a copy to my local MP and have had responses from both. The Herald wants to do a story and the MP wants to chase it up. Watch this space.:mad:
Click to expand...

I still think that those who are party to the contracts are on a serioius backhander. We know that a lot of local councillors made out of the agreements with the clampers and lost out when that was featured... maybe the same will happen here!
 
Dave Hoatson said:
This is not Land Rover related but this could happen to anyone regardless of vehicle make.
My daughter had her car nicked some time early on Wednesday morning by a scrote who was caught by the police but who was still so ****ed at 1100 hours Thursday morning that he was considered unfit to be interviewed. He wasn't too ****ed to break into my daughters car, smash the steering lock, cut all the cables from the ignition switch and hot wire the car. What has really ****ed me off is that the police had the car recovered to their contracted garage in order that a forensic investigation could be carried out which has incurred a charge to my daughter of £150.00. The car was about 115 meters from my daughters house when it was recovered, in fact she could actually see it from her front door. To make matters worse the police released the car at 1200 hours on Friday but my daughter was not informed untill around 1600 hours that afternoon. The contractor then starts charging storage 24 hours after the release time. This meant that charges would commence at 1200 hours on the Saturday. I rang the garage at 1620 on Friday afernoon to find out how badly damaged the car was and to ascertain what recovery equipment I would need to bring down. At first they would not speak to me quoting the data protection act. When finally common sense prevailed they told me it was too late to collect that afternoon as their last collection time was at 1630 hours. I said OK I will collect it on Saturday morning only to be told that they were not open at the weekend but that they would still be charging £25.00 per day for the Saturday and Sunday even though they were denying me access to the vehicle. This is a contract between a private business and Devon and Cornwall Police. Whe the f**k writes these contracts? This is little more than legalised extortion. I finally had them agree to a 'special' appointment on Saturday morning and was able to collect the car. The situation is a complete joke. As a footnote I have written to our local rag, the Plymouth Herald with a copy to my local MP and have had responses from both. The Herald wants to do a story and the MP wants to chase it up. Watch this space.:mad:
Click to expand...

From the point of view of someone like yourself that wants to recover the car from the roadside themselves and has the ability to do it within 30 minutes I can understand your frustration. The whole time the vehicle is sat there awaiting recovery there are 2 police officers and one police car off the road. In days gone by the police used to call the owner of the vehicle and inform them of its whereabouts in order for it to be collected. The owner would then take their time resulting in the police having to chase the same vehicles over and over or people being run over by a vehicle that the owner took their time in getting collected.

As much as you may hate paying £150 it is the better of the 2 evils.
 
ratty said:
In days gone by the police used to call the owner of the vehicle and inform them of its whereabouts in order for it to be collected. .
Click to expand...

my brothers car was stolen and the police found it within 2 hours.
they called him and told him where it was, by the time he got to the location the car had been stolen again.....oh how he laughed.
 
Good luck with that Dave..
It really should not be up to the victim to pay out for anything like that.. They should be compensated, not charged..
I know it can all be claimed back in the courts, but who wants to go through all that hassle, only to find the low life scum has no money anyway, and you end up losing time as well as money..
 
i had this happen to me
little trick i found out if the police want it
then the police have to pay for it
recovery firms dont tell you this
but had to lie to them and said i was talking to the sun and they backed down
 
landrover109uk said:
i had this happen to me
little trick i found out if the police want it
then the police have to pay for it
recovery firms dont tell you this
but had to lie to them and said i was talking to the sun and they backed down
Click to expand...

Problem with that is, admitting you read The Sun. Not something I'd want to do, unless of course it means I get my car back...
 
a few years ago a friend got his mk2 escort nicked police reported that they had found it in XXX street we jumped over to locate it it had been stripped of parts Luckily we had a non runner sitting so toddled off to get the bits to enable getting it home Arrived back at car started fitting things like Battery to give us light 2 wheels seat then Blue lights bl;azing 4 cops 2 cars handcuffed checked out and insurance on my car checked ect ect mate responded that if they had jumped like that when it was reported they would have caught wee scrotes
As for the £150 YOU did not ask for car to be recovered the police did hence its up to them to pay as they are closed Sat Sun they cant charge IMO there are 2 types of Scrotes the illegal ones ( they steal cars) the legal ones ( they extort money from the victims)
The one where charge was made when guy had been taken to hospital and passed away should have been dropped on the grounds of common decency FFS
 
toxictoes said:
a few years ago a friend got his mk2 escort nicked police reported that they had found it in XXX street we jumped over to locate it it had been stripped of parts Luckily we had a non runner sitting so toddled off to get the bits to enable getting it home Arrived back at car started fitting things like Battery to give us light 2 wheels seat then Blue lights bl;azing 4 cops 2 cars handcuffed checked out and insurance on my car checked ect ect mate responded that if they had jumped like that when it was reported they would have caught wee scrotes
As for the £150 YOU did not ask for car to be recovered the police did hence its up to them to pay as they are closed Sat Sun they cant charge IMO there are 2 types of Scrotes the illegal ones ( they steal cars) the legal ones ( they extort money from the victims)
The one where charge was made when guy had been taken to hospital and passed away should have been dropped on the grounds of common decency FFS
Click to expand...

What about the victims who have been knocked down because vehicle owners didn't pick up their cars and they were re-stolen.

I'm one of those nasty people that recover stolen vehicles. So does that make me a a legal theiving scrote?
 
No Ratty it doesnt make you a thief but if the vehicle is recovered on behalf of the police then they should pay for its recovery and storage up to a reasonable time. If you write to the Chief Constable and appeal the costs they may reimburse you. This happened to a guy I know with his sons motorbike and the police paid the bill. Does insurance not cover this?
 
ratty said:
What about the victims who have been knocked down because vehicle owners didn't pick up their cars and they were re-stolen.

I'm one of those nasty people that recover stolen vehicles. So does that make me a a legal theiving scrote?
Click to expand...
Not realy BUT time should be given for owner to recover vehicle and the owner shouldnt be charged ( although Im sure insurance would pick up the tab for this hence the reasoning behind charging )
 
I've used the old "I never contracted with you to recover my vehicle" line when a friend broke down in Wales on the A55 car was on the verge. completely off the road. and Plod got recovery to move it because it was "distracting drivers" FFS they didn't like it. But when I pointed out that refusing to release the vehicle, was illegal. They gave up and returned the vehicle to me.
 
crashbox said:
No Ratty it doesnt make you a thief but if the vehicle is recovered on behalf of the police then they should pay for its recovery and storage up to a reasonable time. If you write to the Chief Constable and appeal the costs they may reimburse you. This happened to a guy I know with his sons motorbike and the police paid the bill. Does insurance not cover this?
Click to expand...

Yes your insurance pays for it. The recovery charge is also capped. I have recovered vehicles from down cliffs and chines in the past for about a tenth of the price it should be charged at.

toxictoes said:
Not realy BUT time should be given for owner to recover vehicle and the owner shouldnt be charged ( although Im sure insurance would pick up the tab for this hence the reasoning behind charging )
Click to expand...

Most people don't have the equipment to recover the vehicles themselves.
 
ratty said:
What about the victims who have been knocked down because vehicle owners didn't pick up their cars and they were re-stolen.

I'm one of those nasty people that recover stolen vehicles. So does that make me a a legal theiving scrote?
Click to expand...

No it certainly doesn't. If you operate within your contract that's an end to it. My original comment was directed at the police who have agreed a contract with a supplier who fails to offer a complete service in so far as they are not open 7 days a week and who think it reasonable to deny access to the vehicle for the 2 days they are shut but still feel they can charge for the storage. It is bad enough when this situation happens and the extra hassle is not needed. I just had a call from my mechanic who tells me the car is ready but my daughter is £317.00 of our earth pounds worse off. A second hand complete steering column. Lots of wireing repairs and then just to cap it they found that the main supply to the fusebox was shorted out and burned. I know how I would like to deal with the scrote who nicked it and it certainly would not involve counciling.
Still, at least she retains her no claims bonus as dad has sorted it.
:D
 
toxictoes said:
Not realy BUT time should be given for owner to recover vehicle and the owner shouldnt be charged ( although Im sure insurance would pick up the tab for this hence the reasoning behind charging )
Click to expand...

The problem is that as far as the insurance copany is concerned the car is worthless and with my daughter having a £300.00 excess it was not worth involving them. Caught between a rock and a hard place is the expression that covers it, quite appropriate for Landies offroading on occasion as well I expect.
 
Dave Hoatson said:
No it certainly doesn't. If you operate within your contract that's an end to it. My original comment was directed at the police who have agreed a contract with a supplier who fails to offer a complete service in so far as they are not open 7 days a week and who think it reasonable to deny access to the vehicle for the 2 days they are shut but still feel they can charge for the storage. It is bad enough when this situation happens and the extra hassle is not needed. I just had a call from my mechanic who tells me the car is ready but my daughter is £317.00 of our earth pounds worse off. A second hand complete steering column. Lots of wireing repairs and then just to cap it they found that the main supply to the fusebox was shorted out and burned. I know how I would like to deal with the scrote who nicked it and it certainly would not involve counciling.
Still, at least she retains her no claims bonus as dad has sorted it.
:D
Click to expand...

The contract states pick up during 'office hours'.

we open until 1pm on sat but I don't know if that's part of the deal or just summit that we ourselves do. Not saying that it's summit that you want to happen again but some companies (ourselves included) will sometimes allow you to pay for your vehicle say on a friday afternoon andnot pick it up until the following day to save getting any more charges.

There is a complaints procedure if you wish to make a complaint and all complaints are looked into. phone 101 and ask to speak to the vehicle recovery police liason officer.
 
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