Stolen boat recovered - who pays?

[oldharry]

One for you legal types: I bought a 16ft cabin fishing boat from the Harbour authority, who had seized it as an unclaimed derelict after it had broken free and been abandoned by its owners. Alhtough very untidy it was basically sound. I moved it to the yard where I started cleaning it up for refit.

Along comes Jo Toerag and helps himself to it while I was away on holiday. Reported to the Police, who linked it to a report of a damaged boat trailer abandoned in a car park, and asked me to see if it was mine. No sign of the trailer when I got there, but walking around to see if it had been moved - there was my little boat in somebodies back garden. I should have gone and borrowed the Yard lads to back me up to recover it, but I did it the 'proper' way, and called the Police back.

Next thing I know they have made an arrest etc, and moved the boat to a compound, and I can collect the boat when I like.

The problem? The Police employed a contracter to remove it, and he wants £325 before he will release it. As the hull is only wort around £100 anyway (I paid a lot less!), it is simply not worth my while to recover it. It was not insured (who insures £50 worth of derelict?) or the bill would go to the insurance company.

So who pays? The boat was found only a couple of miles from the Yard, and would only have taken half an hour for me to recover - its now 15 miles away, and the trailer is too damaged to be safe for that distance.

So what do I do now? Who is actually liable for the bill the Police ran up?

 

[Evadne]

I believe the usual route in this case is to embarass the police in public, in the hope that they'll relent. The local TV and newspapers love this sort of story.

 

[duncan]

[ QUOTE ]
Who is actually liable for the bill the Police ran up

[/ QUOTE ] the person who stole the boat.

you might ask the police if they are prepared to release the boat to you and pursue the individual themselves for the money..........

alternatively you could leave it where it is and go to the SCC to try to recover the money to enable you to recover the boat........

personally I think I would talk to a reasonably senior policeman about ie situation as a whole and take my steer from him/her - which may mean walking away but be careful you don't end with liabilities for the storage of 'your goods' etc.

 

[tillergirl]

The procedures the police use are generally arranged on the basis it is passed onto an insurance company. For items of this size officers will not remove the property themselves but use contractors The fact that they have made an arrest will also have prompted them to use a contractor rather than to ask you to recover the hull (so there is no potential meeting between you and the thief.

So I would write to the local Chief Superintendent telling him/her that because of the low value of the craft it was not insured, that the charge was incurred by them in the course of making an arrest and that you believe that they should settled the account. Point out that so far their actions have not resulted in the craft being returned to you - you are now just in the situation of another person depriving you of your property at no fault of your own.

Be nice and thankful for their excellent work in making an arrest and ensure you direct you letter (personally would be best) to the Chief Superintendent. The officers dealing with the case won't have the authority to take the necessary action. But I think an important point here is that the property has been recovered during the making of an arrest.

If that fails there is the formal complaint procedure which is not really for these sorts of situations but you could use it to your advantage. More on that if necessary.

 

[fireball]

Theft is where the person taking the item intends to perminantly deprive the owner of said item.
It would appear the police are holding the item to ransom - we've got it and you can't have it back until you pay us £xxx ... I'd report them to another police force!!

 

[duncan]

I read it that the contractor is holding it - maybe report him for theft?

 

[ParaHandy]

you have my sympathy .. last year my son's scooter was stolen and subsequently found, general condition unknown but reported as driveable, somewhere in N London. The police "recovered" it to South Mimms and, when we came to collect it, found it a wreck. It cost about what you were asked for collection, storage and scrapping which required surrendering the registration documents, duly noted as written off. One of the many nasty smells about this operation was that some months later the DVLA wrote to him asking what he could tell them about an application to re-license the same vehicle.

 

[[3889]]

Had exactly this problem with a car the police impounded for fingerprinting then expected me to pay storage charges. A quick chat with an inspector and she agreed Police would foot the bill.

 

[chuckaduck]

I would tell them to keep it !

Oh and HAPPY SAILING

after all you didnt ask them to move it !!

 

[oldharry]

Some useful ideas there, so thanks everybody. I must say I rather feel that the Police have now 'nicked' my boat in both senses of the word. At the end of the day I accept I may have to cut my losses, as I have no confidence in SCC actually recovering anything I pay out at this stage.

I guess my next line will be to follow Tillergirls advice and see if that gets me anywhere - thanks Tillergirl!

 

[Guest]

Years ago ... involved in accident

I was taken to Hospital while Scooter was left in middle of road.
Police had Scooter recovered and taken to storage for checks / storage etc.
I rec'd bill and letter informing me to remove item from storage within so many days etc.
I called them and then went to the Station to discuss matter. Few days later Police delivered the Scooter to my house with cancelled bill.

Firm but "nice" dilaogue on my part won the day. They in the end - as the PC who brought it back said - "We got fed up with it being in the yard !!"