'Whatever happened to my stolen car?'

It's a question more than three million victims of motor theft in the UK have asked since 2000.

For around 1.35million of these drivers, the answer is that it was tracked down by police and eventually recovered. 

However, fewer than a fifth of owners at the time it went missing are told about it being retrieved.

That's according to vehicle crime consultant Dr Ken German, who has revealed to This is Money how intricacies in the insurance processing system, human error and information being wiped from police databases means many motorists are never informed when their car has been located at a later date.

As such, some owners have stumbled across their vehicles being driven by new keepers who live less than a mile away, Ken, the former head of technology at the Met Police's stolen car squad, explains.

'A favourite speculation is that most stolen vehicles will either be stripped down and sold for spare parts, cloned onto the identity of another similar car or simply bundled into a shipping container and sent to darkest Africa where they will likely never be seen again. 

'But this isn't always the case,' he says. 

Stolen vehicle data held by the police, Home Office, ONS and insurance providers suggests an average of 120,000 motors have been stolen per year since the turn of the millennium, with an average recovery rate of just 45 per cent, Ken says.

The insurer industry suggests that fewer than one in five victims are aware that their stolen vehicles had at some time been recovered.

Ken, who has a PhD in International Vehicle Crime, has provided three instances he's investigated to explain some of the different reasons for why you are unlikely to hear that your stolen car is no longer in the hands of criminals.

Your insurer will be told if your car has been found - not you

The first example Ken tells us about is Mr A, the owner of a Mercedes estate car that was stolen from his driveway overnight.

Having called the police to report the theft, much to his annoyance, he was not visited by an officer to discuss what had happened or to look at the scene of the crime.

Instead, he was simply issued a crime book reference number which he duly forwarded to his insurance company and from whom, some weeks later, he received an agreed compensation payment. 

'Since that time, over four years ago, he has simply heard nothing from the police or indeed anyone about the incident,' Ken says.

Such lack of communication is a common thread in a number of cases Ken has investigated, he tells us.

'I discovered that our victim's car was in fact recovered just 10 weeks after it had been reported stolen. 

'On this occasion, it was found parked unattended in the street and there had been no police investigation nor were any suspects involved.'

In fact, having been found, the car was collected by the insurance company, who had legally become its new owner after paying out the compensation.

'Our victim, Mr A, had not been informed of the car's recovery by his insurance company because, at the time it was recovered, they had become the new owners on payment to Mr A and had accordingly notified the DVLA of that fact, which incidentally is standard practice with most insurance companies.

'In essence, at the time of its recovery, Mr A no longer owned it.'

Shortly after it was found, the Mercedes was sold to a new keeper, who enjoyed ownership for 18 months before selling it to another driver. 

The reason the insurer failed to contact the original keeper is because they had failed to enter a mutual arrangements that he, the owner, wished to be informed when and if his vehicle was, if ever, recovered. 

'In hindsight, he wrongly assumed that this would be the case,' Ken says.

Your car might not be listed as stolen if it hasn't been confirmed by police

Another incident related to a young man, Mr B, who reported the theft of his Mazda MX-5 roadster to the police in March 2024. 

The officer who took details from him over the telephone, he remembers, expressed sympathy, gave him a crime book reference number for his insurance company and implied that someone would be 'in touch'.

After receiving the crime book reference details, no more communication was received by Mr B from the police.

Having heard nothing more about it for seven weeks, Mr B was told by friends that his car had been spotted on the road in a nearby village.

'When he contacted the police about this sighting, they informed him that his car was not in fact shown as stolen.

'His insurance company had also discovered this fact and initially refused to consider any compensation payment.'

This was because Mr B had failed to confirm the theft of his car to the police within six weeks, which is the legal requirement.

This was partly the fault of the officer allocated to investigate his crime who had failed to contact Mr B to enquire if his car was still stolen and it had not in the meantime been recovered. 

'Due to these errors, Mr B's theft report had been erroneously weeded off the Police National Computer (PNC) after the six-week period,' Ken found.

'Eventually the police detained and interviewed the driver about his questionable ownership of the car and released. 

'He was found to be innocent and after undisclosed negotiations, the Mazda was eventually returned to Mr B.'

Missing for so long that your car is wiped from the police database 

The third case Ken discussed with us is in regard to the owner of a Jaguar XJS - referred to as Mr C - whose car was taken in November 2016 after thieves had broken into his West London garage and removed it. 

'Mr C had been pleased with the police response at the time. While photographs and fingerprints were taken at the scene, he had simply heard nothing from anyone in nearly eight years,' Ken explains.

'My enquiries revealed, however, that his Jaguar had in fact been discovered in a poor condition under a tarpaulin in a Devon barn some seven years after it had been reported stolen.

'The finder described the car being in need of restoration when he found it and suggested it had not turned a wheel in a long time. 

'Keen to be its new owner, the finder did his due diligence to find the car's history and discovered that it had not been taxed, MOT'd or insured for some years. 

'He also enquired with the local police who reported that the car was not recorded as stolen on their Police National Computer (PNC).'

Having undertaken these checks, the finder of the Jaguar then spent money restoring it with the intention of selling the car.

When it was advertised, the original owner spotted it and queried the new owner's possession.

'My enquiries revealed that the original stolen marker on the PNC had been 'weeded off' due to inaction after six years, which is standard practice for all stolen vehicles,' Ken said.

How your stolen car is processed by police 

Ken German explains: After discovering how volatile the process of reporting a vehicle stolen appeared to be, I queried the process with a couple of the UK's 43 police constabularies and - in general, notwithstanding certain minor parochial differences - this is what should happen when a victim reports their vehicle stolen.

When a victim reports the theft of a vehicle to the police a 'fast-time' Lost or Stolen (LOS) vehicle report is created on the Police National Computer (PNC) by the local force control room.

At this stage the theft report is initially investigated and unless there is an additional crime or other police reference, the theft remains unconfirmed with a six-week shelf life. National police policy dictates that an unconfirmed report remains on the system for six weeks.

It is important that a LOS report is confirmed within 48 hours of the time of the reporting of theft, because until it is confirmed the DVLA at Swansea are not notified about it. Any activity therefore on the DVLA's record of the vehicle in question would not be referred to the police for any investigation during this time.

There is also in place at the four week mark an additional data quality process for all PNC reports called DAFs (Daily Activity Files). 

These are a high volume of prints that are sent to the Data Bureau each week that detail the reports the force 'owns' on the PNC relating to names, vehicles and property they have put on.

Should no action be made on the theft report it will be weeded two weeks later when the report has reached six weeks as a unconfirmed crime.

Prior to this six weeks weeding, crime reports are also reviewed by the force contact centre in preparation for allocation to an investigating officer who will/should confirm its LOS status.

This selected officer has the responsibility for updating the PNC and adding subsequent references on NICHE (an operational database of crime, intelligence and non-crime occurrences available to all police officers and staff) which must be done by the submission of a Lost/Stolen Vehicle Message Switch (MSS) to Data Bureau.

For reference, the Police Nation Database (PND) holds two billion searchable records and captures data from 220 different systems from 53 contributing police forces and law enforcement agencies.

Failure to send this message and confirm the report of an LOS on PNC can result in the 'unconfirmed' PNC circulation being auto-weeded (deleted) from the system and the LOS marker removed after a six-week period, with any opportunities to investigate and recover the vehicle being lost.

Accordingly, any enquiries received regarding the vehicles vehicle registration mark (VRM) will reveal 'no record' of the stolen status and appear 'clear' of police interest.

PNC bureau staff also perform weekly Vehicle On-Line (VOD) descriptive searches to check all stolen reports for any human errors and ensure confirmed reports will remain on the system for 6 years.

At each annual anniversary of a theft marker, the police force in question will be notified of the impending deletion one month in advance by way of DAF that there is a LOS confirmed marker for the force to confirm.

Should a force wish an entry to remain on the system beyond this six-year period, a fresh entry of the original details is required to be submitted. Recommendations are that this is done selectively, rather than routinely for all vehicles, following a review of any individual circumstances.

This process, whilst comprehensive, is still volatile and clearly human errors can and do occur for a variety of reasons.

It does however explain why some victims of theft never find out what happened to their cars and motorcycles.

Tell your insurer you want to know what happened to your stolen car

KG explains: Whilst it seems quite odd to mention, wanting to be notified of your vehicles recovery, irrespective of any payment received from your insurance company for its loss, seems normal. Clearly it is not and it's a conversation that current owners need to have with their insurers,' Ken says.

Also, if your car is stolen, its useful to keep tabs on the investigation by ensuring that when you report the theft to the police you receive not just an appropriate crime reference number but a telephone number and/or email for the officer investigating your crime together with a note of the force & station where they work.

A periodical contact with the officer to find out the current status of the investigation would be not just for your own interest but its shown as an 'activity' on the crime report, which should keep it live.

Those who have suffered the loss of a motor vehicle, however long ago, may take comfort in knowing that the law decrees that you still own it!

In 1987, a stated case (R.W Jones v National Employers General Insurance Ltd) the Court of Appeal decided that 'a subsequent purchaser of a stolen vehicle does not acquire any title to it, even though it has passed through several hands and was purchased in good faith, without knowledge of the theft'.

That said - and being realistic - those thinking of using this ruling for the return of their machine may well need a solicitor to assist them.

Nevertheless, anyone researching the history of a stolen machine may find help with any of the public-facing registers and data handlers such as Experian, HPI, Retainagroup, Vehicle Information Services, NaVCIS and even Interpol who are all informed of the above 'unconfirmed' reports and may hold information that the PNC and the DVLA do not have.

It's true that whilst your car may have been sold in a Middle Eastern trade free zone, or some of its component parts are now on a taxi in Minsk the answer may well be less elaborate and more likely, closer to home.