abandoned cars on private land

[mogatron]

Hi team, i was wondering if anyone has ever claimed a abandoned car from private land?
I've found a sunbeam alpine thats sitting in someones back yard. mogatron's almost back on road after a crash and looking for the next project. i left a note and the tennant said that it wasn't theirs, it's a council house and they were ment to be removing it. so i went to the agency that deals with the house who said its nowt to do with them and to take it up with the tennant. so i went back and asked if they would mine me taking it but they not comptable about it as not theirs to give away. its not been taxed since 1997 and looks like it's been abandoned there since then by the lack of sills on her.

any ideas about what to do next would be helpful. i know you could aply for v5 but that wouldn't make me the owner so where do i go from here?
cheers ben

[mach2]

you can ask the DVLA for the previous owners details, if you have a reasonable cause, but i think it costs money(£5 i think). if you get the owners details then you can go from there or im sure that if you apply for a V5 then they send a letter to the previous registered owner and if they dont get a reply then you get the V5. im sure somebody will correct me if im wrong. hope this helps. was going to do this to a VW camper that had been dumped on my but then someone set fire to it

[bmcecosse]

It will be a nightmare to get it back on the road....... but if you are ready willing and able - as above, apply for the V5 and see what happens. I think it may cost you £25 though.......

[StaffsMoggie]

I wouldn't touch it. If you apply for a V5 the DVLA will contact the person last listed as the registered keeper and ask them if the request for a new V5 is correct. They may well still want the car and advise DVLA accordingly. If DVLA get no response from the registered keeper and do issue a new V5 in your name there is nothing to stop the previous keeper producing proof of ownership of the car at any time in the future and claiming the car back. They may have a bill of sale for example. Imagine if that happens after you have spent time and money restoring it.

Remember the V5 is not proof of ownership.

[Dean]

I'd have no reason to doubt if you went through the correct channels via the DVLA you'd have nothing to worry about.

There is a form the DVLA issue for the claiming of abandoned vehicles.

I would check with the DVLA though that no other car is using it's identity before spending money. You wouldn't want an inspection to find yours is the fake one...

[rayofleamington]

The normal process for this is that the council have the car towed and scrapped, and charge the owner a fine.

The process to claim an abandoned car is relatively painless - I know someone who did this with a Landcrab (Austin 1800) and it only topok 2 phone calls and one form.

As you have checked with the tennant and the landlord (council) and both have said that the vehicle is abandoned on the property without permission, then just get the tennant to sign a note saying you have "removed it from their rented property for storage". That should not give them any worries and if it is left in place the council could give them grief. If it turns out they do own it and just wanted to dodge the trouble of having a wreck on their property, then at this point you'll probably find out!

As soon as you have it, apply for the V5 and in parrallel ask the police to see if it is recorded as stolen (which is not likely) - provided this goes without a problem, you will get the documents in about 8 to 10 weeks. If the previous owner does get in touch during that time, then they can be charged for removal and storage as they had left the vehicle on private property without permission (illegally). However, if they do still want it, I'd just give it to them.
It is extremely unlikely that the previous owner will claim the vehicle as 1) it's a wreck and 2) they won't want to pay all the bills for removal, SORN fines etc..

If it's not claimed through the DVLa process, and you have the paperwork to say where you got it from and you have a V5C, then it becomes yours. If the previous owner tries to claim it later, you can prove that you have meade sufficient reaonable efforts to locate the owner (DVLA contacted previous recorded keeper) and that the car was illegally abandoned on private property.