Stolen but Not Stolen Insurance and Car Selling Nightmare

[stargazer30]

I am the owner/reg keeper of a 2011 Fiesta. It used to be my sons car. It was stolen in 2024, we bought him a new car but then unexpectedly, 3 weeks later it shows up dumped and unharmed. At the time my son contacted the insurance, told them the car had been recovered and cancelled the claim. I re-insured it my name, took over the log book etc.. and have used it since for stuff I don't want to do in my "good" car.

Its getting expensive to keep on the road and I don't really need it, I want to WBAC it or worst case scrap it. However it turns out, his micky mouse ins co (begins with an M and you roast them over a fire) has left the stolen marker on the cars reg and VIN. I'm told I can neither scrap or sell the car whilst its on the HPI report as technically I don't own it?! The problem is, said micky mouse ins co cannot be called, they only have online chat which they simply ignore. My own insurance company have happily let me pay for insurance on it for 2 years, which I expect would be void if I tried to claim

Anyone have any ideas on how I can get the ins DB updated and the marker removed? I can put a complaint in to the original ins co but they have 8 weeks to reply and no doubt they will ignore that too.

[surveyor]

tell them if they ignore you that you will refer the complaint to the financial ombudsman.

[pits]

stargazer30 said:

I am the owner/reg keeper of a 2011 Fiesta. It used to be my sons car. It was stolen in 2024, we bought him a new car but then unexpectedly, 3 weeks later it shows up dumped and unharmed. At the time my son contacted the insurance, told them the car had been recovered and cancelled the claim. I re-insured it my name, took over the log book etc.. and have used it since for stuff I don't want to do in my "good" car.

Its getting expensive to keep on the road and I don't really need it, I want to WBAC it or worst case scrap it. However it turns out, his micky mouse ins co (begins with an M and you roast them over a fire) has left the stolen marker on the cars reg and VIN. I'm told I can neither scrap or sell the car whilst its on the HPI report as technically I don't own it?! The problem is, said micky mouse ins co cannot be called, they only have online chat which they simply ignore. My own insurance company have happily let me pay for insurance on it for 2 years, which I expect would be void if I tried to claim

Anyone have any ideas on how I can get the ins DB updated and the marker removed? I can put a complaint in to the original ins co but they have 8 weeks to reply and no doubt they will ignore that too.

Holy st!! Just been reading their reviews, what possessed him to use them in the first place? Try the ombudsman? Or just whack it on Facebook Marketplace for WBAC money and let some Herbert buy it?

[Oceanrower]

stargazer30 said:

(begins with an M and you roast them over a fire)

fk me. Bit harsh on a poor, unassuming meerkat!

[Robertb]

Oceanrower said:

stargazer30 said:

(begins with an M and you roast them over a fire)

fk me. Bit harsh on a poor, unassuming meerkat!

I was envisioning how you’d roast marmalade.

To the question, I agree the best thing is to raise a complaint.

However presumably it’s the DVLA that have the market on the car, can they amend it?

[Alex Z]

pits said:

Holy st!! Just been reading their reviews, what possessed him to use them in the first place? Try the ombudsman? Or just whack it on Facebook Marketplace for WBAC money and let some Herbert buy it?

Wow, that’s quite impressive.

[BertBert]

Google seems to think that the marker sits on the PNC and the police put it there when the car is reported stolen. Then they update it to stolen-recovered when it's recovered.

[alscar]

M have always had a good reputation for cheap pricing ( year 1 ) but an absolutely horrendous reputation for general customer service and claims payout time lines.
If you already emailed their complaints dept ( how long ago ?) then send one more email to that address but this time cc their CEO /MD with a request they pass that on to their Executive team to deal with.
I would not expect to wait 8 weeks for their complaints dept to respond.
Until their complaints has both responded and looked into your complaint and responded accordingly you cannot go to the IO.

[CMTMB]

It's a good reminder to not buy insurance solely on price.

[alscar]

Try this -he is co CEO.

[e-mail]

[stargazer30]

BertBert said:

Google seems to think that the marker sits on the PNC and the police put it there when the car is reported stolen. Then they update it to stolen-recovered when it's recovered.

I rang plod first thing. They were very good, rang me back within the hour to confirm the PNC marker had been cleared when my son rang them in 2024. The marker is against the insurance database.

[stargazer30]

Update: I rang my current insurer to see if they can help. As expected they can't do anything about the marker, but were able to confirm if I had to claim it won't void my insurance as long as I am the registered keeper. I must admit I am a bit skeptical about that.

I have started the complaint process with M too.

Edited by stargazer30 on Thursday 12th February 09:55

[Durzel]

Dirt cheap insurer is useless when anything even slightly deviates from the norm. News at 11.

People seek out the absolute cheapest premium they can find, disregard reviews until after the fact (or don't even look) because "it won't happen to them", when it happens to them they complain about them being useless or having non-existant customer service, because - shock horror - that's part of why it's so dirt cheap.

Sorry OP, not a dig at you as such, more an abstract whine about how many people are singularly focused on how cheap the premium can be at the exclusion of absolutely everything else. Hope you get it sorted - sounds like it is and will continue to be a ballache.

[Craigyp79]

stargazer30 said:

Update: I rang my current insurer to see if they can help. As expected they can't do anything about the marker, but were able to confirm if I had to claim it won't void my insurance as long as I am the registered keeper. I must admit I am a bit skeptical about that.

I have started the complaint process with M too.

Edited by stargazer30 on Thursday 12th February 09:55

I was wondering if there was a new insurance company called Mestnuts

[pits]

Alex Z said:

pits said:

Holy st!! Just been reading their reviews, what possessed him to use them in the first place? Try the ombudsman? Or just whack it on Facebook Marketplace for WBAC money and let some Herbert buy it?

Wow, that s quite impressive.

I was quite baffled by the guy who was paying £450 instalments on a £2995 policy whilst having 15 years NCD, how? What position was he in to use them and justify that? I mean an expensive car I could understand a premium like that, but if you have an expensive car, why are you using, what appears to be, the sttest insurance company ever?

[Red Devil]

Yet they have a 4.2 rating on Trustpilot. Makes you wonder just who is providing those reviews.