Un-fair recovery charge

[Dumachi]

Basically, woke up the other morning and my car has dissappeared.. i reported the car stolen right away, they found the car and took it to a local lockup, i rang them today and they said its £200 pound recovery charge to have my car back. how can i fight this?

[Sidewinder]

Surely this is a matter for your insurer?

 

I had similar with a recovery and my insurer just dealt with the police direct.

[Dumachi]

Wont the fact i have high voluntary excess make that impossible? I was never given the option to recover it and police forced me to let them keep it. I dont understand how im liable for this...

[BankFodder]

S.15 - Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 says that in a contract for srvices has not been agreed, then a reasonable price will be implied.

 

Start off by getting the car back - or else they will start adding storage fees which will make life even more complicated.

 

Do some research and get quotes for a comparable recovery by 2 or 3 other recovery firms.

If you find that the £200 is over the odds then you can consider bringing a small claim under SGSA 1982 with a good chance of success.

 

To amuse yourself, you could submit an FOI request to the police asking about the names and addresses of other contractors used, a copy of the contract they have with them and details of any commission or fee paid by the contractors to the police - along with figures to show haw many recoveries were requested by the police in the last 3 years and to which contractors those requests were made.

Let us know what you get.