Hi all,

looking for a bit of advice if you dont mind - serves me right for trying to help someone!

Last November, an acquaintance of mine was literally almost destitute.

No job, no car and on the verge of eviction because of late payments by DWP towards his rent.

He was offered a job but needed a car.

I had a spare car so I loaned it to him while he got back on his feet and offered to sell it to him at a later date for £200

- car is worth about a grand.

It was too late to stop the eviction but everything else worked out ok for him and subsequently he moved around my area between a couple of addresses.

This morning I got a PCN from Dart Charge regarding a crossing he made over the Dartford Tunnel.

Because it was a first offence,

they said if I pay it within the 28 days period they would only charge me the £2.50 fee

but if it happens again it will be £37.50 rising to £70

then rising further to £105 if not paid within certain time scales.

Ive paid the £2.50.

Now, I live in Yorkshire, as he did, but it now transpires that hes gone back to his family in London.

Thanks for letting me know eh?

I need to get my name off the logbook but I dont know any address for him

- I would rather lose the car than have him run irresponsibly around London racking charges up as he may seem fit.

It turns out that he owes money to a few people up here so that may be his reason for disappearing! (I know - hindsight is a wonderful thing!).

Does anyone know how I can do this?

I cant report it stolen because really it isnt

- I did, after all, lend him the car.

I know his name but not his address anymore.

I dont fancy ringing the DVLA and asking for advice as all they will be interested in are any fines that could be imposed.

So any advice?

Thanks all.

Despite you lending him this car,

he has now disappeared and left you in the lurch.

If you no longer have a contact address for him,

or a phone number then for all intents and purposes he has indeed stolen the car...

Hi disgruntled, thanks for the reply.

My wife has a number for his girlfriend ( sorry, forgot to mention this)

but whenever she rings her its either vague excuses or no answer.

If the car is now technically stolen then I should report it as such.

Going to be a pain in the backside travelling to London to pick it up and no doubt pay a fortune in impounding fees!

Looking at if s crime has been committed:

Was it TWOC’d (taken without owner’s consent).

Certainly not at the outset ...

Has the friend received a direct and unambiguous notification that the owner no longer consents?.

If everything has been by an intermediary then no (all the friend need do is say “I was never told”!).

Similarly, it isn’t stolen. It may be “misappropriation”.

Stolen doesn’t depend on what the owner now says, but in what the friend now knows.

For it to be stolen / the offence of theft they’d have to be dishonest intent to permanently deprive, and that depends on the knowledge/ intent of the friend ....

So, unless you can demonstrate the friend knows permission has been withdrawn, “stolen” in terms of a criminal conviction is a non-starter.

You might get a message to the friend (ex-friend?) by reporting it as stolen to the police,

but to avoid putting yourself at risk of making a false report,

I’d make sure you explain the situation fully while going so!.

The police may well say “this is a civil matter” (and until the friend unequivocally knows they no longer have permission, it is a civil rather than criminal matter!)

Despite you lending him this car, he has now disappeared and left you in the lurch. If you no longer have a contact address for him, or a phone number the for all intents and purposes he has indeed stolen the car...

Only if the term of loan of the car has expired.

If the term was “I loaned it to him while he got back on his feet and offered to sell it to him at a later date for £200”, all he need do is say “well, I’m not back on my feet yet, it is still on loan” until the OP gets a chance to make it clear it is no longer on loan!

Maybe write to the DVLA to inform them that the friend has disappeared with the car. Keep records of everything you are doing so that you can prove you were at a certain place when the incident occurred. A PITA but it may be beneficial in the long run especially if the friend decides to sell the car and someone else racks up tickets. Not sure if you can ask the police to make a note of it just in case?

You can certainly go to your local police station and make them aware. Even if they won't take a stolen report (it's a very grey area) a marker could be placed on PNC (the DVLA also have access to this as it's applied to the vehicle record) to note that there are suspicious circumstances with the vehicle.

If you can get them to apply a "stop and account" marker, your "mate" may decide that he wants to give the car back just so the police will leave him alone.

Once an S&A marker is placed, details of the driver ie name and address, will also be added to the PNC (and that's every single time that the vehicle is stopped). Once the police have this information, other avenues for investigation may present themselves.

Once an S&A marker is placed, details of the driver ie name and address, will also be added to the PNC (and that's every single time that the vehicle is stopped). Once the police have this information, other avenues for investigation may present themselves.

If the driver has failed to insure the vehicle, then he is at greater risk of prosecution once stopped when the marker is in place.

If the driver has failed to insure the vehicle, then he is at greater risk of prosecution once stopped when the marker is in place.

I too would be very worried about whether your friend has insured the vehicle - or have you maintained insurance with your friend as a ND? What about tax?

If uninsured and the vehicle is stopped you could also face charges for allowing your vehicle to be driven without insurance. Check with MID if unsure

Hi guys. thanks for the replies.

Actually I am still paying for the tax and fully comp insurance in my name although I do know he insured it in his name too.

It was very quickly after I loaned him the car that I was told about his previous antics with other people so I decided against cancelling either of them.

Ive sent him a text saying I now want the car back, that was last night and I havent had a reply.

The last known address I have for him is a local pub.

He knew the landlord who gave him and his girlfriend a room above the pub to also "help him out".

I went to see the landlord last night and we swapped a few stories.

the landlords daughter was glad I had turned up,

she said she had an idea there was something not quite right about both of them

- youre telling me!

The landlord and I now have each others phone numbers just in case he turns up back here.

As you have now contacted him by the only means open to you and informed him that you want the vehicle back. Though you do have to allow him time to reply to you, let's say 7 days (to be fair), after that, I would say that the vehicle becomes a stolen vehicle as he no longer has it with your consent.

On the 8th day you should contact the police to report your vehicle as stolen.

The police will then stop the vehicle (once seen), the driver will be arrested (Theft Act 1968. Section 12) and the car seized.

You will need to be prepared to press charges. But as it sounds like he's done you (and others) up like a kipper, I personally think he deserves what's coming. You reap what you sow.

At that point, you have the option of travelling to where ever the car is to collect it or, and to be honest, this is probably the cheaper option, to disown the vehicle so that it either sold (depending on what it is) or crushed.

At least you'd be saving yourself the money of travelling to collect it and paying VEL & insurance on it, and you'd know that no one was up to anything in a vehicle that you're responsible for.

Just a long shot, but use a third party phone to call / text girlfriend saying car has been reported to police as stolen---see what happens from there.

Thanks again for the advice people, much appreciate it.

This morning (saturday) I have now received a Parking Charge Notice from Parking Eye for an overstay in an Aldi car park in Canterbury.

Ok this one might be easy to bat away,

Ill send them his name and last known address up here,

and Ill send it Recorded Delivery,

its just damned annoying that I have to give him a grace period before I report the car as stolen!

God knows what else he might do in that time.

irrelevant and unnecessary posts removed

dx

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