How to get away with it!

Cyclops

Cyclops

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4 February 2009
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Our lovely horsebox was stolen in 2009! Heartbreak all round - lost tack, rugs, clothing, bits and bobs,....memories!!!! BUT guess what WE FOUND IT - yes against all the odds -it was an unusual conversion - on an Isuzu - not common and a fab - a bit different - build within the living. So we knew it was ours - just looked at the pictures and ooh that's our lorry - Anyway the upshot is - If you want to steal a horsebox - just put it on another chassis and the police, insurance company etc. won't be interested - never mind that you have lost your property, insurance excess, my sister's near nervous breakdown following the theft in broad daylight - also our huge amount of work in tracing the stolen vehicle, bringing it to the attention of the powers that be, chasing them up to investigate - afterall it is a matter of selling on stolen property and several other horseboxes were stolen from the same area at the same time.. Surely they want to stop the gang who are doing this to us????

The only reason we found our box (although it now seems as if the police can't be bothered or know who it is and don't want to get involved) is because it was an unusual build on an Isuzu and the vendor made the mistake of wanting to meet potential buyers in supermarket carparks having mentioned in the ad that it was built by Davenports who only ever built on two Isuzu Chassis - one of which was stolen - OURS!!!! SO NOW YOU KNOW HOW TO GET AWAY WITH IT!!!

Where do we go now to recover our property - - ok the insurance paid out - but not full value and we had to pay an excess on the vehicle and another on our property that was stolen so are well in excess of £1,000 out of pocket!

Comments would be appreciated!
 
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I feel your frustration, as someone who knows what it's like to have something stolen, know exactly where it is and not be able to do anything about it. :mad:

I also know someone who bought a Landrover, discovered it was stolen when they tried to register it... so, as with your vehicle, they simply bought a new chassis and Bob's your father's brother; the Landrover was legal.

Makes you sick. :mad:
 
It's not like its something serious like speeding or not wearing a seat belt , !!
yes just typical and the reason rural theft is rife very little deternt and little chance of jail if caught , barstuards !!! sorry guess there is little you can do apart from move on for the good of your health and sanity..
 
totally agree - they steal over £25,000 of your property - you get paid out about £18,000 for the lorry and a couple of thousand for the stuff on goard but have paid the excesses and forgotten various silly bits and pieces - but they all add up - so you end up being about £5k worse off (this is between my sister and myself - we both had loads of kit on board including my beloved Patey hat) BUT the insurance company have written it off in 2009 accounts so couldn't really care less - BUT if they looked at the bigger picture THESE GUYS ARE STILL STEALING HORSE BOXES so there will be more claims etc etc etc - If they followed up on the leads from this one they may get to the bottom of them i.e. tracing where the new chassis came from and went to - but I guess friends of the "Essex lot" are involved so the police just don't want to get involved- BUT THAT STILL LEAVES US OUT O F POCKET WITH PREMIUMS INCREASING
 
Cyclops said:
totally agree - they steal over £25,000 of your property - you get paid out about £18,000 for the lorry and a couple of thousand for the stuff on goard but have paid the excesses and forgotten various silly bits and pieces - but they all add up - so you end up being about £5k worse off (this is between my sister and myself - we both had loads of kit on board including my beloved Patey hat) BUT the insurance company have written it off in 2009 accounts so couldn't really care less - BUT if they looked at the bigger picture THESE GUYS ARE STILL STEALING HORSE BOXES so there will be more claims etc etc etc - If they followed up on the leads from this one they may get to the bottom of them i.e. tracing where the new chassis came from and went to - but I guess friends of the "Essex lot" are involved so the police just don't want to get involved- BUT THAT STILL LEAVES US OUT O F POCKET WITH PREMIUMS INCREASING
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They dont give a **** it's too easy for them to pass it on to the lawabiding in the form of ever increasing premiums, makes me realy angry to be honest... but what can we do?? the do gooders see the crims as victims and thefts as that's what you have insurance for!!!
 
I've been the victim of several thefts, and over the years there've been at least 5 trailers which have gone missing, along with materials running into thousands, and the insurance company doing everything possible to avoid making payment, this time the NFU, but they're all as bad as each other.

The Police gave me a blank stare when I asked if they'd made any progress with their enquiries. They did find a load of fence posts of mine, which had been stolen, uninsured, as there was no forced entry, took them away as evidence, stored them, and when the court case was over, I was told that I'd have to pay for the haulage AND the storage costs of the posts, if I wanted them back. £3k in material value, and I had to pay £1200 if I wanted MY OWN property returned! ;)

I hate to say this, but I suspect that your horse box is now the property of the insurance company. You will have been deemed as having agreed to a transfer of ownership, upon the payout, no matter how derisory the offer.

Another point for you, if the chassis has been changed, then neither you nor the insurance company can claim ownership of the vehicle. You own a part of it, or would do, if there had been no insurance payout. It's possible that the insurance company could approach the court and ask that they could have the vehicle reinstated into their possession, I suppose.

You'll agree with me, I'm sure, there's little justice these days.

Alec.
 
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Frustrating, I know. I used to examine these as part of my job and can assure you that in some cases there were prosecutions. The difficulty arises because you cannot prove the person now in possession was the original thief, so you then have to provide some indication of guilty knowledge (enough to satisfy the CPS that a case could be successful) to prove a charge of handling stolen goods.

Knowing something, and being able to prove it in a court are often very far apart!
 
I don't know where you are, but I would arrange to go and meet them to view the lorry (pretending to buy a genuine buyer) and send some of the 'especially friendly chaps' that most cities have if you ask in the right places. You might not get your lorry back but you will feel a hell of a lot better that the scummy ***** won't be driving it around for a while.
 
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