Car Toed off by the police & impounded without any notification

sarah1975uk

Hi guys

my mum has had quite a few problems over the years with depression and anxiety. Her latest stress is that she couldnt afford the car tax on her car so placed it in my spare carparking space at my house. i came home from work yesturday to find the car gone. i got her to ring the police to findout if it had been stolen or what! and they said its been towed by the police and impounded. Now i looked on the police web site and they are stupposed to notifiy and contact regtistered owner my MUM and then give her chance to move it etc, but they didnt. my mum is now in a worse state they are charging £160 quid per day in impound charges. IS there anything i can do to try and help her, i cannot afford to pay the fees for her but surely they cant just take the car without either giving her a warning notice etc. can anyone help!? thanks xx

freebird65

Where exactly was the car parked? You say it was in your spare parking space, but was this on the road, or on private property? If it was on a public highway then I believe they can tow it away. On private property, they can't.

The other issue is the tax - has your Mum done a SORN notice on the car? The Statutory Off Road Notice tells DVLC it's off the road and untaxed and you would be fine. This takes seconds to do at the post office - just take the car tax renewal notice with you. Get this done quickly or your Mum will get a fine from DVLC as well.

sarah1975uk

freebird65 wrote:

Where exactly was the car parked? You say it was in your spare parking space, but was this on the road, or on private property? If it was on a public highway then I believe they can tow it away. On private property, they can't.

The other issue is the tax - your Mum should have done a SORN notice on it - Statutory Off Road Notice to tell DVLC it's off the road and untaxed and you would be fine. This takes seconds to do at the post office - just take the car tax renewal notice with you. Get this done quickly or your Mum will get a fine from DVLC as well.

The car was off road in my parking area and yes she did do a sorn.

LandyAndy

When you do a sorn you have to say where the vehicle will be kept. Did your Mum give your address? If not there will be issues as to how it got there.

aj3001

I'm sure if you actually check, the parking space will be on the public highway sorry

Phil_rich

Have they actually told you why they towed it? You are presuming it is to do with the TAX but it will be worth going to the cop shop and actually talking to them to get the full stort.

Sorry to hear about you problem.

Phil

sarah1975uk

Phil_rich wrote:

Have they actually told you why they towed it? You are presuming it is to do with the TAX but it will be worth going to the cop shop and actually talking to them to get the full stort.

Sorry to hear about you problem.

Phil

I got mum to phone the police last night who confirmed that the car has been towed by them yesturday.

sarah1975uk

the bottom line is mum shoudl have obviously had it taxed theres no getting away from that fact but having said that the police have not followed proceedure of letting mum know that she had to move it or that they were gonna tow it away etc, theres no way mum can afford £160 day impound charges and although the car is an older car to mum it is valuable to her.

sarah1975uk

aj3001 wrote:

I'm sure if you actually check, the parking space will be on the public highway sorry

I thought public highway meant on the road etc, my car park space as of those of my neighbours you have to drive off the road over a pedestrian path into the driving space. hence i thought not on public highway!

freebird65

It depends......are these parking spaces on land owned by you and your neighbours, or a public car park where anyone can park, but you have allocated spaces?

TheAble

If your mum had done a SORN and the car was parked on private land (ie your own land to which you own the freehold/leasehold or to which your landlord owns the freehold/leasehold) then your mum is completely in the right. Otherwise the parking space is public land and as such wouldn't count.