The call comes: the police found your car. Relief first, then the questions. Where is it? What's missing? Who pays for what? When a stolen car is recovered in Indiana, you tell the police agency and your insurer, find out where the car is being held, check it over properly, and sort out the title if it went missing too. Then you decide whether the car is worth keeping. This note from Cash for Junk Cars West Gary walks through each step.
What to do when your stolen car is recovered
- Call the police agency that took your theft report and confirm the car is recovered.
- Tell your insurer, whether or not you've filed a claim yet.
- Ask where the car is being held and what you need to get it released.
- Inspect it before you drive it: ignition, steering column, wheels, battery, exhaust and interior.
- Replace the title through the BMV if it was in the car when it was taken.
- If the insurer totals the car and you keep it, apply for a salvage title within 45 days of the settlement.
Who owns the car if the insurer already paid?
This is the question to settle first. If your insurer has already paid you for the theft, the car may now belong to the insurer, not to you. Don't sell it, junk it or start repairs until you've asked.
If no payment has been made yet, the claim may change now that the car is back. Your insurer will tell you what happens next, and whether they want to see the car.
How do I clear a stolen and recovered car?
Ask the police agency that took your report to confirm the car is marked as recovered in their records before you drive it. You'll also want a copy of the report number for your insurer. We haven't covered release procedures or fees here, because they depend on the agency and the place holding the car. Ask them directly.
A theft record on a vehicle history report shows the car was reported stolen. On its own it doesn't mean the car is damaged, but a buyer may ask about it.
What to check on a recovered car
A stolen car can come back with damage you won't spot at a glance. Before you trust it on the road, go over it:
- Ignition and steering column. A forced ignition or a cracked column cover means the car was started without a key.
- Keys. If the thief had a key, deal with the locks and keys before you rely on the car.
- Wheels and tires. Swapped, missing or on the rims.
- Battery. Present, and the right one.
- Catalytic converter. Start the car. A loud roar means it's probably gone (what to do about that).
- Interior. Seats, radio, the glovebox and anything personal.
- Warning lights and fluids. Have a mechanic look before regular driving.
Photograph what you find. Your insurer may want the pictures.
If the title was stolen too
If the title was in the glovebox, it may be gone too. Indiana's BMV says "a duplicate title is obtained when the original title has been lost, stolen, mutilated, destroyed, or becomes illegible," and the replacement is printed with the word "DUPLICATE." You can apply online at myBMV.com, at a BMV branch, at a BMV Connect kiosk, through a Partial Service Provider, or by mail. The BMV duplicate title page has the form.
If you plan to sell the car to us instead: In Indiana a junk car changes hands on one of two papers. One is the title, and the BMV prints a duplicate for $15 if yours is gone. The other is a BMV certificate of authority for $4, which you apply for with proof the car is yours, your current registration for example. On a car under 15 model years old, the law requires one of the two. Send the form with whatever you do have, a bill of sale, the registration or an insurance card, and on the call we'll say which route suits your car.
If the insurer totals it and you keep it
Some recovered cars come back too damaged to be worth fixing, and the insurer settles them as a total loss. If you keep the car after that, the BMV's salvage title packet is clear: the owner "must apply for a certificate of salvage title not later than 45 days after the settlement of loss with the insurance company." You'll need proof of the settlement date from the insurer. The BMV salvage title packet lists the rest.
Keep it or sell it
Here's how we'd think about it.
Keep it if the car came back mostly whole, the insurer is paying for what was damaged, and it was a car you wanted to keep driving.
Sell it if it came back stripped, with a forced ignition and a missing converter, on a car that was already old. The repairs stack up fast, and every one of them is on a car that thieves have already shown they can take.
If you sell, we buy recovered cars as they are in West Gary, missing parts and all, as long as the car is yours to sell. The stripped cars page covers what to tell us, and if the keys never came back, see selling a car with no keys. Towing is free and you're paid at pickup.
General information, not legal advice. Check with your insurer and the BMV for your own situation.