My cars been impounded by Herts Police :(

[CoupeUK]

Lent my ST170 out to a friend yesterday, I knew she had appropriate inurance cover because I had already checked her insurance only a few days ago....got a call at 8.15am ths morning saying she had been pulled over for my numberplates (standard apart from they lightly tinted), the police have run a insurance check on the car and the police reckon theres no insurance on it full stop!

I have spoken to my insurance company and they have said its insured.....the drivers insurance company have said shes covered aswell.

I rang the police station and spoke to the super intendant and have waivered the £110 recovery fee and the £12 a day + VAT storage charge but now I have to skive off work for a few hours, I need to arrange a lift, have to go home (30mins from where I am now) to get my insurance certificate then go to the police station to get my documents checked out and then head off to the pound (rival recovery company ) to get my beloved back.

To say i'm pi**ed off is an understatement.

[k3v.gsi]

you dont need to pay the inpound fees if ur legit

[CoupeUK]

you dont need to pay the inpound fees if ur legit

Pig thought I had to ...?

[k3v.gsi]

well how can they inpound your car for it not being insured then find it was legit an charge you?

tbh mate tell them to fook rite of and get sum advice from sum 1 in the know.

and pigs roll around in mud all day so there full of sh1t

[P1CK4D]

I had exactly this problem with me and my car. Yes you do have to pay the fee if you want to get your car back. But you will need to make a formal written complaint explaining your car was impounded wrongly and then they will "investigate" and refund you. Its been 4 weeks for me already and im still waiting for my refund. I bet if i owed them money, they would be banging my door down!

[Allvaux]

Happened to someone round here. Proved they were insured and the police just told them to appeal to DVLA. Three recorded delivery letters later he hasn't heard a thing or been refunded.

[CraigGreen]

That sucks. Typical over zealous copper....

[CoupeUK]

Well if they think they will charge me to get it back i'll grab the DFL out and take it away over the fence....then claim it was stolen lol

[Fow16v]

what a ****ing joke, a mistake made by them and you are expected to pay up after is already an inconvenice, i got pulled a few months back when my car came up on anpr as non insured then when they phoned my plate through the monkey they had on the other end took my plate down as a m not an n plate, so the police then tried to tell me my car doesnt exist and started checking vin numbers, after sitting in the car for near an hour i had to phone my insurance company to prove that i was insured and then still had to take my documents to the station

[CoupeUK]

Just rang the impound to find out if its there, they told me it is and that the Police are incorrect in saying that the fee can be waivered......the fee is a government set legislation that is applied to all cases of Police No Insurance and that i'll have to pay it and try to claim back from the Police.

Ill be going to get her back late tonight for free

[@ndy]

I would contact the police station again and tell them that you want them to pay for the impound charges as it is their error.

If you do have to pay it then you will be seeking to recover traveling costs to get to and from the impound, interest charges on the money you have to pay out etc. Oh and of course you'll be complaining to the police complaints department and taking legal advice.

Oh and I would fully inspect the car before you leave the compound and photograph any damage (hopefully none)

[kNeo_gHau]

Happened to someone round here. Proved they were insured and the police just told them to appeal to DVLA. Three recorded delivery letters later he hasn't heard a thing or been refunded.

Can you take the police through the small claims court? If so that would be the way to go.

Or local papers

[Allvaux]

Apparantly not because in the case of the lad I was talking to the police said it was DVLA's fault for not having his insurance details (or the insurance details of the car in question) on the database. This meant it was flagged up by the ANPR system so he was pulled up and had his car taken off him. I can only assume it was at a time when his insurance company weren't in the office/he didn't have proof of insurance on him.

Op: I'm confused because in your first post you said...

"...rang the police station and spoke to the super intendant and have waivered the £110 recovery fee and the £12 a day + VAT storage charge but now I have to skive off work for a few hours..."

So if that was the case how come a couple of posts further down you said you had to pay the storage sorry? I mean I understand that the recovery company wouldn't release it without their payment or a form from the police but I can't understand how your first post said one thing and it was later changed to something else?
If I've missed the point then I apologise.

[M_Clayton]

Ask them how many un solved crimes they have on there system, then ask why they are wasting the money that you paid in tax to solve those crimes and on top of that why they are now wasting your time and more money as your off work? I would really lay into them for wasting time and public money........

[cambridge]

its only an st170.... tell the insurance that the police stole it, get your money back and get a proper ST lol

[Brett]

*Adds insurance companies phone number and his policy number to contact list in his mobile*

Thats a ****ing outrage mate, making you pay that when you are fully legit.

Once again, being a law abiding citizen being treated WORSE than a criminal. Stick it to the tossers mate.

[angryman]

its only an st170.... tell the insurance that the police stole it, get your money back and get a proper ST lol

Sound like a plan...in effect they have technically stolen it as it is legally insured

[LongLiveTheNova]

Aye, even if you are legit you have to pay.

A mate had his Fiesta Zetec impounded because the police national computer said he had no insurance. Turns out the computer just had a fault within the database or something and wasn't showing certain insurance records up.
His car got impounded and he had to pay the £105 to get it back, he didn't get a penny back for something that was no fault of his own.

[MSG]

NO!! you never!! never give in to day light robbers!!! strongly protest your innocence, scream, shout, like kid, until they give up and refund all your money and your car.lmao

[Steve!]

Ill be going to get her back late tonight for free

I can see the title of the thread now.....

Couple of days later: Just got released from jail for stealing back my own car that the police stole. lmao

[lewist123]

can you pay it on a credit card and then do some kind of claim back?

might not be possible, but it might be worth some investigation!

I would be livid if that happened to me!

surely the deffinition of 'stolen' is taken without concent. does that work if the cops take without concent? i guess not!

[kNeo_gHau]

I can see the title of the thread now.....

Couple of days later: Just got released from jail for stealing back my own car that the police stole. lmao

Well if he broke in and busted his car out all they'd beable to do him for is trespassing (assuming nothing was broken when he got in/out) and if it's the first offense i can't imagine a jail sentance.

They'd have a hard time justifying taking the car back to the impound (especially if it's on private property on bricks with the wheels hidden elsewhere lmao) and with the car out of there hands not much motivation for the owner to pay the fees.

[mike261263]

Why not pay any fees by cheque, then cancel the cheque?

[Fow16v]

^ i was just thinking the same thing, will still cost with some banks but only about £10 to cancel. that would get my vote.

[Steve!]

probs don't take cheques because of said cancel