How to Get Your Vehicle Out of an Impound

First Steps: Check if Your Car Has Been Impounded

If you weren’t with the vehicle when it was taken – maybe it was towed while parked – you might initially think your car has been stolen. Before you report a theft, check if it’s been seized. How you’re notified depends on why the car was taken:

• Insurance or Licence Offences: If your car is seized because of uninsured driving or driving without a valid licence (under Section 165A), the police will typically issue a seizure notice (Form 3708) to the driver at the scene.
• Other Reasons: If your vehicle was impounded for another reason – such as being stolen and found, involved in a collision, or causing an obstruction – or if you weren’t with the car when it was taken, you will usually receive a notice letter in the post. This letter will confirm where your vehicle is and when it is ready for collection.

If you haven’t received a notice or letter yet, you can call 101 (the police non-emergency number) to locate the specific impound where your vehicle is being held.

Don’t delay this part. Storage fees often start piling up from midday on the day after seizure, so knowing where your car is immediately is vital.

The Essential for Getting Your Car Back: You Need Specialist Impound Insurance

This is where most drivers get stuck. You might assume you can just buy a standard one-day policy or use your annual insurance to pick up the car. But to release a seized vehicle, the law requires you to present a valid certificate of motor insurance that meets two specific criteria:

1. It must be valid for at least 30 days.
2. It must explicitly cover the release of an impounded vehicle.

Most standard annual policies – and standard temporary insurance policies – specifically exclude impounded vehicles in their fine print. If you turn up at the pound with a standard policy that doesn’t cover seizure release, you will be turned away, which is why you must have impound release insurance in place.

Why Do You Need 30 days of Insurance to Retrieve Your Vehicle?

It can be frustrating to discover you can only get impound insurance for 30 days, but it is the law. Whilst it might only take 30 minutes to get your car or van out of the compound, you must have a 30-day impound policy in order to get your car released.

It’s a legal requirement to ensure the vehicle doesn’t immediately become uninsured again once it leaves the pound. You can’t buy a policy for just 24 hours to release an impounded car; they are for 30 days only.

At GoShorty, our specialist impound release insurance options are designed specifically for this. We provide the necessary 30-day certificate quickly, so you can satisfy the legal requirements and get your car out as soon as possible.

It also then gives you plenty of time to sort out a permanent policy if your car was seized for being uninsured, or your insurance has been invalidated due to the impoundment.

The Costs: How Much to Get a Car Out of Impound?

Speed is everything when it comes to getting your car released, because the costs increase every 24 hours it’s held in the compound. The fees are set by government regulations and generally include:

• Removal Fee: This usually starts around £192, though it can be much higher for vehicles that are larger, have trailers, are damaged, not upright, or off-road.
• Daily Storage Fee: This is typically £26 per day for cars.
• Disposal Fee: If you choose not to collect the car (or fail to collect it in time), you may still be liable for a disposal fee.

Why Urgency is Key

You typically have seven working days to produce your documents and reclaim your vehicle. After 14 days, the police have the right to dispose of the vehicle, which usually means crushing it or selling it at auction. Check your seizure notice or with the police authority that seized your vehicle to find out how long you have, as timeframes can vary.

Don’t let the paperwork overwhelm you. The quickest way to get insurance that satisfies the police requirements is to purchase a dedicated impound policy online. It takes minutes to arrange, meaning you can head to the pound the same day and stop those daily storage fees from spiralling.

You can get a quote for car or van impound release insurance with us in under two minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – making getting your vehicle back that little bit easier.

Are Impounds Open on Weekends?

This varies by force. Some pounds are open 24/7 or have Saturday hours, but many operate Monday to Friday. Remember, storage charges apply for every day the car is there, including weekends, even if the pound is closed and you can’t collect it. Which is why acting quickly is so important.

What If It Wasn’t the Police Who Seized Your Car?

While police seizures are common, they aren’t the only reason your vehicle might be taken off the road. If your car has been clamped or towed by the DVLA, your local council, or bailiffs, the process for getting it back is slightly different, but the need for impound insurance remains.

Recovering Your Car from the DVLA

If the DVLA clamped or towed your car because it was untaxed, the rules are a bit different. To get your vehicle back, you generally need to:

• Pay the release fee
• Pay the surety fee: If you haven’t taxed the car yet, you’ll also need to pay a surety (deposit) of £160 for a car.

Remember, you’ll need insurance to tax the car, to avoid it being seized again.

Recovering Your Vehicle from the Council

If your local council towed your car for abandonment or unpaid fines, you’ll typically need to:

• Prove you own the car (bring your V5C logbook).
• Pay all outstanding Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) in full.
• Pay the removal fee and any daily storage charges that have accrued.

Recovering Your Car from Bailiffs

If bailiffs have seized your car to cover a debt, the situation is more serious. To get the car back, you will generally need to pay the debt in full, plus the bailiff’s fees.

In some cases, you may be able to negotiate a Controlled Goods Agreement, which allows you to keep the car while you pay off the debt in instalments, but this must be agreed upon quickly before the car is sold.

Need to get your vehicle out of an impound lot? Don’t risk being turned away at the counter. Get a quote for impound release insurance in minutes and get your vehicle back on the road, without racking up a hefty bill.