Removal charges, scrapping car.

Babbawah

I'll let you all into a little secret.

I used to own a recovery Co' that once enjoyed being on the Police Scheme.

I know a little bit about this Corporalcodpiece !

Made a lot of money, sold it just before it all changed :-)

I have lots of tales to tell but I'll just tell you just this one :

The car (Mercedes estate, value approx £12k) had been parked in a secluded spot for 3 days. The Police had been informed at least the morning after it had been parked, by an early morning dog walker . . . who thought it strange.

They thought it strange because the secluded spot was next to a river popular with fishermen yet they had seen no fishermen by the river along that stretch.

It was also a popular spot with suicide by drowning type people.

What's so strange about a parked car?

The car had been parked for 2 days before someone phoned to say someone was missing & they were very worried about his welfare !

By this time the Police must have received about 30x phone calls about this car parked in a very strange spot.

It wasn't until the 3rd day of the car being parked that someone realised that this is Rogers car, Roger went missing from home after some serious family problems came to the boil.

The Police sent me the request to pick the car up, I don't know why I didn't send a minion on this particular occasion but I ended up going myself. I managed to find the car despite it being in a very strange & secluded spot, I even managed to bump into the dog walker who'd phoned it in 3x days before.

It was a Merc estate, value approx £12k & despite it being in a very strange, secluded spot for the past 3 days it had sufferred no ill effects. Despite countless folk passing it by, no one had considered putting the windows in, vandalising or setting it on fire. It was quite a decent & recent Merc' so hear this . . . you cannot drive it away without the keys !

I loaded it up & returned to the yard to find my favourite plod inspector waiting . . . this really was a strange one !

To cut a very long story much shorter, a thorough examination of Rogers car revealed over £380 000 in CASH stuffed in just about every orifice that wasn't visible by glancing through the windows.

It turns out that Roger went for a swim after liquidising everything he owned, it is thought . . . so his family couldn't get their mitts on it !

Strange, but true.

Captaincodpiece

Babbawah wrote: »

I'll let you all into a little secret.

I used to own a recovery Co' that once enjoyed being on the Police Scheme.

I know a little bit about this Corporalcodpiece !

Made a lot of money, sold it just before it all changed :-)

I have lots of tales to tell but I'll just tell you just this one :

The car (Mercedes estate, value approx £12k) had been parked in a secluded spot for 3 days. The Police had been informed at least the morning after it had been parked, by an early morning dog walker . . . who thought it strange.

They thought it strange because the secluded spot was next to a river popular with fishermen yet they had seen no fishermen by the river along that stretch.

It was also a popular spot with suicide by drowning type people.

What's so strange about a parked car?

The car had been parked for 2 days before someone phoned to say someone was missing & they were very worried about his welfare !

By this time the Police must have received about 30x phone calls about this car parked in a very strange spot.

It wasn't until the 3rd day of the car being parked that someone realised that this is Rogers car, Roger went missing from home after some serious family problems came to the boil.

The Police sent me the request to pick the car up, I don't know why I didn't send a minion on this particular occasion but I ended up going myself. I managed to find the car despite it being in a very strange & secluded spot, I even managed to bump into the dog walker who'd phoned it in 3x days before.

It was a Merc estate, value approx £12k & despite it being in a very strange, secluded spot for the past 3 days it had sufferred no ill effects. Despite countless folk passing it by, no one had considered putting the windows in, vandalising or setting it on fire. It was quite a decent & recent Merc' so hear this . . . you cannot drive it away without the keys !

I loaded it up & returned to the yard to find my favourite plod inspector waiting . . . this really was a strange one !

To cut a very long story much shorter, a thorough examination of Rogers car revealed over £380 000 in CASH stuffed in just about every orifice that wasn't visible by glancing through the windows.

It turns out that Roger went for a swim after liquidising everything he owned, it is thought . . . so his family couldn't get their mitts on it !

Strange, but true.

Crackanory.

Norman_Castle

Amara wrote: »

Good evening.
My car broke down in Thursday, just outside my town, flat battery. We've removed it with intention to charge it up overnight and come back for it next day. However , I've got a call from police that car windows have been smashed and they removed to place nearly an hour driving away. I've called there and have been told I need to pay £150 removal charges and if I want to scrap the car , I have to either come there, collect it and scrap myself and pay another £20/per day storage charges, either sign over them and they'll do it, but I won't get any money for it. It sounds unfair. Any advice, please?

I would question why the police contacted you after removing the car. How did they get your phone number?. Why couldn't they do this before removal?.

Amara

Thanks for all replies.
Norman Castle, I have no idea why they didn't contact me before and how they had my number .

ossie48

Its a grey area, Police dont routinely remove (so called) abandoned vehicles, its usually down to the local authority.

Its something they dont lightly either, due to costs and unless it was stolen, involved in crime etc they should have left it, broken windows or not!! and made an effort to contact you.

Make a complaint, the chances are you will have to pay the recovery firm to get it back but should get this refunded by the Police in due course (if its not an insurance job that is).

Rover_Driver

ossie48 wrote: »

Its a grey area, Police dont routinely remove (so called) abandoned vehicles, its usually down to the local authority.

Not a grey area at all - s.99, Road Traffic Regulation Act 1988 & s.4, The Removal & Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986.



It would depend on the circumstances at the time if they decide to remove an apparently abandoned vehicle or not.

Captaincodpiece

Rover_Driver wrote: »

Not a grey area at all - s.99, Road Traffic Regulation Act 1988 & s.4, The Removal & Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986.



It would depend on the circumstances at the time if they decide to remove an apparently abandoned vehicle or not.

The fact it was abandoned is a grey area. Taxed and insured would suggest it's not.

Rover_Driver

Captaincodpiece wrote: »

The fact it was abandoned is a grey area. Taxed and insured would suggest it's not.

It would depend on the circumstances at the time, just because it was licensed and insured would not affect that.


They may have considered that the age/condition of the car (apart from the broken windows), eg. no battery, that it had been abandoned.

ossie48

Rover_Driver wrote: »

Not a grey area at all - s.99, Road Traffic Regulation Act 1988 & s.4, The Removal & Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986.



It would depend on the circumstances at the time if they decide to remove an apparently abandoned vehicle or not.

and 99% of the time they dont..just because the legislation exists doesnt mean its policy .

Captaincodpiece

Rover_Driver wrote: »

It would depend on the circumstances at the time, just because it was licensed and insured would not affect that.


They may have considered that the age/condition of the car (apart from the broken windows), eg. no battery, that it had been abandoned.

I missed the part he said the battery was remove and he left the bonnet up for the police to see he had.

Taxed and insured = legal to be there.

I'd speak to the vehicle recovery manage and asked what part of Section 99 they used.