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Last Passover, someone broke into our garage, where we had stored all the chametz we had sold. They stole our bread-making machine. When people asked why we weren't claiming it on the insurance, we pointed out that since the bread machine could not be thoroughly cleaned of chametz, it had to be sold for Passover. Therefore, it wasn't ours at the time of the theft – and we could not claim. (This year we made sure our garage is more secure!)
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Actually, the text of the sale frequently states that the non-Jew is buying only the CHAMETZ contained in our pots, pans (and bread-making machines) – not the actual vessel itself. This avoids the necessity of having to re-dunk the vessels in a mikveh upon buying them back (see Numbers 31:23, and Talmud – Avodah Zara 75b).
So it may be that you actually did own the bread machine at the time of the theft! Check it out with your local rabbi (and insurance company).
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