Claiming Ownership of an abandoned car.

Pat_Mustard

I have found a car that i believe to be abandoned, center console ripped out, no tax discs, reg plates are still on it, and the keys were left in it. It loks fine except for some needed body work. And I'm wondering what the procedures are for me to claim ownership of it. It isn't on my land if that matters.

Seth Brundle

Contact the local authority and talk to the environmental dept IIRC.

Pat_Mustard

What does IIRC mean?

Seth Brundle

If I Remember Correctly

Pat_Mustard

Oh. Thanks. It's also registered in England *cringes in anticipation of complictaed legal mumbo jumbo*

NUTLEY BOY

How can you claim a good title to ownership of this vehicle ?

There is a concept in land law known as adverse possession. If you abandon your house and squatters take possession of it for something like 20 years they can get a good title.

However, I have never heard of that with a car. Suppose you take possession of it and spend money on renovation and the "previous" owner turns up. I think that he can demand his property back as of right.

Equally, if you renovate it and sell it on you might be guilty of "conversion" as you have effectively deprived the true owner of the rights in his property despite it being abandoned. That poses an additional range of problems.

You might get the details of the registered owner via the British registry at http://www.dvla.gov.uk/ and see if you can agree a proper transfer of title from the registered owner. That said, the last registered owner might not be the last legal owner e.g. a new owner has not registered it yet and you might actually buy from a chancer who no longer owns it ! Dodgy Dell Boy territory.

Hopefully, this abandonded car is not of interest to the Gardai, Customs, CAB, Interpol, the FBI, CIA..................

Pat_Mustard

I've contacted the Dept. of Environment and they say if it isn't claimed within two days, or they fail to contact the owner, it will be destroyed. Now, it's a vintage Daimler so I don't want to see that happen. I also brought it to the attention of the Gardai who say "So long as it isn't reported stolen, there is no crime should you take it." To them it's scrap. Also, I am considering taking it and housing it if only to protect it. Should the owner show up I will graciously hand him back the keys. If not, I know that if a vehicle is in the possession of a garage, for 366 days, they can petition the courts for ownership rights. So, have contacted the DVLA and am awaiting a email reply to my email which requested the owner's contact info, and, should that not be possible, for them to forward mine. So, if it's a thing a crime is reported, it will be seen that I made every attempt to contact the owner.

Any further advice will be appreciated.

JHMEG

A UK reg car reported to the council as abandoned will be taken away by them an crushed (speaking from personal experience). So, like the cops said, I'd say you're safe enough taking it.

Getting it into your own name tho I would say is near impossible. Maybe a solicitor could advise you.

Pat_Mustard

Hopfully. I just want to rescue it first.

Pat_Mustard

Stevie Wonder?

colm_mcm

Who abandons a Daimler?!

Pat_Mustard

Stevie Wonder?

Masada

just take it anyway before someone wrecks it., theres sites in the UK that you can use to do a reg check, i dont think they'll give you any personal info but it might help in getting more information on the car.,

Pat_Mustard

Well, at the moment I have no idea s to the year, I'm guessing it to be a MKII. Engine, no idea as the tax disc was missing and I didn't want to go poking around inside it (yet). I may just have to take it out of harms way.

DonJose

Post a photo so we can admire it.

Pat_Mustard

Will do, whenever it's in the garage. Now, does anyone know where I can trace a reg plate?

Ta me anseo

Try purchasing a HPI check from the UK. The AA or RAC will do it. There are various other websites you can use which may be cheaper than either. Just do a search for "HPI Check". The AA runs at about £25. The check will tell you everything that is associated with the car. Whether it has outstanding finance (!!!), if it's registered as off the road, if it's had any registration plate changes, how many owners, if it's stolen, etc, etc. Well worth the money IMHO.

http://www.theaa.com/car-data-checks/

http://www.rac.co.uk/web/vehiclechecks/status_checks/

Also, you can find out some basic details from here:

http://www.vehiclelicence.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/

Use the vehicle check link and enter the registration and make. It will then tell you when it was last taxed. Effectively, this will give you some idea of how long it has been off the road. The 'Date of Liability' is the date that the most recent tax disc expired. You should also get the engine size and year of manufacture from here.

Run_to_da_hills

My brother found a Citroen Ami abandoned in Dublin in the 80ies, He towed it away immediatialy because it was being vandalised and asked questions later. Ke knew If he asked the cops first they would tell him to leave it, No one ever claimed it back and eventually he got rights to it. It took several months.

Mr.Diagnostic

I went through this before with a UK car. There is a form available from the DVLA in the UK that you need to fill in. The DVLA will then attempt to contact the owner and if they fail, after a period of time they will register the car to you. I did this through a friend in the UK so I had a UK address to use.

Pat_Mustard

You don't remember the name of the form do you Mr. Diagnostic?

cormac_byrne

try here http://www.dvla.gov.uk/forms/onlineforms.aspx

might be V62 then do V756
or you might get away with just v756

MercMad

I understood that if you paid the DVLA a small sum, £10, they will give you the details of the current registered owner. At the moment the DVLA and the Irish Authorities are in sync as far as newer cars go, once owners fill in forms correctly, if the V5 has been filled out it should still be possible to trace the current owner.

If the car has no plates attached and it is not on private property it is considered abandoned. If you take it and the owner shows up you could possible charge him for storage !

I would take it

CPG

JHMEG wrote: »

A UK reg car reported to the council as abandoned will be taken away by them an crushed (speaking from personal experience). So, like the cops said, I'd say you're safe enough taking it.

Getting it into your own name tho I would say is near impossible. Maybe a solicitor could advise you.

Contact the vehicle registration office, they can give you plenty of advice.

Pat_Mustard

Well, thanks to a great deal of work from the Dept. of Enviroment, I have learnt that it is owned by a local garage owner. I met with him today and he is willing to sell it for a grand. But here's the kicker, I rang him soon after meeting with him as I forgot to ask one question: When it was taken out of the Warehouse it was stored in, was it driven or pushed?

So, tonight I'm going to go back to it with a set of flood lights and give it a thorough going over. I don't mind paying the money as, considering I am 18, it'd be cheap to run (bar petrol costs) tax and insurance will be relatively cheap.

Vikings

Pat_Mustard wrote: »

it'd be cheap to run (bar petrol costs) tax and insurance will be relatively cheap.

Actually... its quite the opposite. You are more than likely not going to be able to get insured on it at all.

And if it's a classic car then you won't legally be allowed near the wheel of it until you are 25 either!

Pat_Mustard

What you talking about Willis? Surely if I register it to either parent, and am then down as a named driver I can?

dollydishmop

Unlikely they'll accept you as a named driver until you're 25

Check the insurance implications out thoroughly before you part with any cash

Earth Worm Jim

Pat_Mustard wrote: »

What you talking about Willis? Surely if I register it to either parent, and am then down as a named driver I can?

You can not insure a car on classic insurance if your under 25 and I think that includes as a named driver

The easiest way would be to apply for a duplicate log book in YOUR name through an english address, works 9 out of 10 times, if its abandoned and not stolen it should be no bother.

Pat_Mustard

Can I be insured under an English company?

cormac_byrne

No you can't insure it in the UK unless you live there and are only visiting.
The UK insurance would have to be in your name and noone else could ever drive the car. If anything ever happened and the insurance determine you're not a UK resident they would come down on you like a ton of bricks.

Classic car policies are generally second car policies (i.e you already have a regular policy on another car), these policies as has been pointed out have various restrictions, e.g. age and ability to add named drivers.

It should be possible for you dad to insure it on a regular rather than a classic policy. Such a policy would be more likely to allow you be added as a named driver (for occasional use)

First Ireland offer such policies (many insurers won't even quote for any car over 15 years)

If the car isn't over 30 years old there will be VRT payable.

Also if it was worth €1,000 why was he abandoning it?

Might be worth having a chat with someone from the Jag/Daimler club

Irish Jaguar & Daimler Club
Mr Ken Cleary
Kenby
34 Monastery Rise
Dublin 22
086 382 5577
Website: www.irishjagclub.ie
Email: kenc@imagine.ie

Seth Brundle

Are you sure about the insurance situation Cormac?
I was under the belief that once they were registered with any EU state's financial regulator they could trade right across the EU.
However, most insurnace companys don't want Irish business!