Any legal Eagles who can help me with a problem regarding a stolen bike being recovered and the rights of ownership

If you have had an insurance payout then it belongs to the insurance company, otherwise it still belongs to you.

I once almost got a car back (conscience stopped me) – I got a payout but a year later it turned up and the police had no record of a payout so told me I could come and get it.

John are you a solicitor

Nope, just my experience sorry.

John are you a solicitor

I’m not.

But he’s right.

I tracked down my stolen bike after I had been paid out by the insurance co. I told the insurance that it was in possession of the police and they said they would collect it, (Presumably to auction it off – They’d just paid out nearly 3k on new for old).
They hadn’t collected after a month so I got back in contact to see what was going on. They basically said it was too much hassle to collect and, if went to collect it, I could keep it. I made sure I got that bit in writing before doing anything though.

was it reported stolen to the police and a crime number issued?

if not it gets complicated;

http://road.cc/content/news/96891-teen-stunned-police-find-his-stolen-bike-then-say-they-cant-return-it-him

It’s a bit more complicated as the bike wasn’t mine it got reported to the police and in the mean time I gave him a bike worth more than his as I was gutted. The bike got recovered and given back to the owner now he intends to keep both.
I want mine back at least

So really the question is about rights to a bike that you’ve given away to someone else, isn’t it?

I’d say, unless there was some conditionality attached to the gift, you waived your rights to the bike when you gave it away

where is the recovered bike, and who is in possession of it? It would generally be returned to the original “rightful” owner, if insurance has paid out it belongs to them (but they may not be interested), if it was bought by someone in good faith they can make a claim to the bike.

If the bike has been recovered by and is in the possession of police then the Police Property Act can be used; parties who dispute ownership (eg. original owner and good-faith buyer) go before a magistrate who decides on ownership.

Not a lawyer, just useless workshy b*stard plod who steal from kids, according to various posts in

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ive-bought-a-stolen-bike-follow-up

which might be worth a skim read (a modicum of useful stuff in amongst the ranting).

edit after your last post- rights of stolen bike ownership irrelevant, youve given something away and now you want it back?

what edlong said.

If your mate had any morals he’d be returnign it saying ‘I got mine back and thanks’ maybe he’s changed forks on it or spent money thjough and it’s more complex than that.

I think he owes you more than a gesture of goodwill though.

I wouldn’t have classed it as a gift

… I gave him a bike…

I’d class that as a gift.

If I’d lent him a bike, I’d of written I’d lent him a bike.

help me with a problem regarding a stolen bike being recovered and the rights of ownership

I gave him a bike worth more than his as I was gutted

I wouldn’t have classed it as a gift

❓

Do you want to go out and come back in again?

Unless you specified that it was a loan and the bike was still yours, sounds like legally speaking, you don’t own it any more.

You certainly don’t own the stolen/recovered bike.

Have you actually asked or it back?

“Oh cool, you can give me mine back then. Happy days”

If you have, and he said no. It sounds like you need some better friends too 🙁

if I an right Sancho you borrowed a bike it was stolen from you or while in your custody , you felt responsible so you gave the owner a bike of yours as compensation . the stolen bike is now recovered and returned to the bloke you borrowed it from as it’s legal owner . He is now trying to keep “your” bike too .

his argument is the stolen bike was always and is his so he keeps it , your bike was an unconditional gift so that is his too.

Yours is that either you gave him your bike as an exchange for the missing one so the returned one is now yours. or the bike you gave to him was always given over on the implied or express understanding that it was in place of the missing bike and would have to be returned in the event of an insurance pay out or the recovery of the stolen item.

Good luck arguing in the small claims court I am pretty sure Judge Judy would say you win.

So either you gave him a bike and he has a moral obligation to return it or you loaned him a bike and consider him to have now nicked it?

Yes but in giving him the replacement it was not stipulated but in my mind it was with the assumption that if we recovered the bike id get it back so I guess I would have been regarding it as a indefinite loan

Have you actually asked for it back.

Not hints but “Look, now you’ve got your bike back can I have the one I loaned you back?” type thing?

Yes repeatedly so now considering legal position as opposed to kicking f@#k out of him

Steal it from him. And take the other bike too.

You’re going to lose a friend but I’d suggest writing detailing exactly what the bike you loaned him was, why you think it was a loan and not a gift and that now he has his own bike back you’d like yours.

Set a date and say that if it’s not returned in reasonable condition and with the same components before that you’ll be taking legal steps to recover it.

I don’t think you’ll win on the legal route that easily. He’ll say it was a gift, and it can’t be proved otherwise by the sounds of it. You might win if you lied your backside off and said it was definitely a loan bike, as gifting a bike to a mate in these circumstances is a pretty unusual act (albeit a praiseworthy one).

I take it your ‘mate’s’ bike was uninsured then?

Totally understand your outrage on the moral front. What a git.

Tell the police your bike has been stolen and you followed this stranger home…

he bike wasn’t mine it got reported to the police and in the mean time I gave him a bike worth more than his as I was gutted. The bike got recovered and given back to the owner now he intends to keep both.
I want mine back at least

What a ****

personally I would ask the mods to delete this thread and just take my bike back and say he returned it after the loan when his was returned and see if he wants to claim it in court.

Then again I may calm down and use the powers of the law to resolve this like a grown up

Cannot be sure but they are a proper **** either way.

Yep, your mate sounds like a right ****