QuestionQUESTION: My car was recently collected by a salvage company apon the instrutions from the police impound. It sustained damage either during the collection of the car by the company or at the storage place.They is no proof of damage while the car was with the police , so how could i go about it to claim money back from the salvage company as the insurance company would like to write it off. Many Thanks
ANSWER: Your question is slightly too vague for me to assist. Here's the best I can do with what you provided:
1. Write a letter to the salvage company demanding payment for your damages, or collaborate with your insurance carrier to make a formal demand on the salvage company. Your case seems to be a case of "bailee for hire", but I can't tell for sure because of the limited information you provided. Why was the vehicle towed and why did the police have it? Did you have to pay for the towing and storage of the vehicle? Did you authorize the tow or did the police do it without your consent? You can see there are many questions in order to determine the correct course of action.
2. Simply put, whoever damaged it owes to have it repaired. Your job (or that of your insurance company's recovery department) is to provide evidence that someone is responsible for the damages (they had the vehicle in their possession and it was under their control when it was damaged), and to provide evidence of the amount of damages (an estimate at least).
I hope this helps!
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QUESTION: Thanks for your swift response. Sorry for the briefness for the previous quesion but here are further details as you requested:
The vehicle was towed away as the keys were stolen and the car was obstructing the road and the police asked to tow the car to their pound.
The insurance company paid for the towing and storage as this came nder 'theft/stolen keys' of the policy.
THe police did it with the consent of owner. But the pound which it was taken to has sent us pictures showingh the vehicle in a good condition while they had it under their possession.
So currently we have made a claim with the insurance for loss of keys which is being dealt with. THis is a new claim what is our stance?
ANSWER: Okay, so I am lost. What type of damage does the vehicle have? Where is the vehicle now? It seems to me if you have coverage on the vehicle, then your insurance company will pay for damages, but if you just have coverage for liability then you'll likely have to pay to get your vehicle back, and then you'll have to figure out who damaged it and demand payment for damages from them.
Without a copy of the policy that is covering this loss, I am afraid I can't offer much more. I hope this helps.
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QUESTION: I really appreciate the help.
I have the vehicle with me. The damage done to it is over the passenger wheel the panel has a huge dent and had a flat tyre which was changed.
When the police tow truck took the car there was no damage but when it was returrned to us it came back damaged. The police tow truck company sent pictures showing that the damage was not caused by them so the damage must have been caused at the salvage company.
We have a third party fire and theft cover
AnswerI don't buy the photo evidence unless I can determine exactly when the photos were taken. In order for a photo of an undamaged vehicle to be good evidence that one didn't damage it, it would have to closely correspond to reflect that the photos was taken at or after the time that the individual/tow company transferred control of the vehicle. I hope that makes sense, it is sort of hard to explain. Point is, how do we know the vehicle wasn't damaged by the tow company after the photo was taken?
Who owns the salvage company? Is it a city owned impound or privately owned salvage yard?
If you have coverage for theft and fire, then you should have no problem just presenting all of the information you have to your insurance company, recovering for your damages (less any applicable deductible) and then letting them worry about who caused the damages by initiating a subrogation investigation. We do subrogation for insurance companies and self insured companies all the time, your insurance company must pay due to the policy contract, but either the tow company or the salvage yard damaged your vehicle, so one of them owes for the damages. It will take a skilled recovery specialist to build a good case and get paid from the city, the salvage company or tow company.
I hope this helps.
