Police seized my car, NOT MY FAULT, cost me £150 - please help!

LukeMo_2

Hello MSE people, please help.

Before my story can I say that I have a full UK driving licence, comprehensive insurance and the car is taxed and MOT'd.

So yesterday morning my car was missing, I called the police and reported it as stolen.
They later told me that the car had been removed because it was an obstruction in the road, and covered in clingfilm.
The car WAS parked correctly.
Some (I'm not swearing) had obviously moved my car, it's a micra and can be moved buy a couple of people.

Basically a police bloke reported my car as an obstruction and got it removed by a garage company. To get my car back I had to go and pay them £150! Probably only hours after they picked it up.

The police lady I spoke to on the phone said that I can claim on my insurance, my voluntary excess is 200.

I question why they couldn't have traced the owner of the car (me) to ask to move it, or move it to the side of the road themselves, being that they took it all the way to the garage.

I want my money back! Any help would be great.

Fruitcake

This part of MSE is normally for dealing with parking on private land.


Pepipoo.com is where the council/police issues are better dealt with so I suggest you have a butcher's over there.


I hope you can get this sorted out. Thinking about it you are actually the victim of a crime. Someone has maliciously moved your car and that subsequently resulted in a financial loss. I'm not sure how you would use that but you did report the car as stolen because it wasn't where you left it.

sgtbanjo

My two pence worth:-

If the 'other people' who could have moved the car, DID move the car and used keys which you gave them then you are responsible for allowing them the opportunity.

If they moved it without keys or they 'stole' the keys from you (it sounds like this was some kind of practical joke - clingfilm!), you need to be chasing them for the cash.

If it was moved by random strangers then Fruitcake is correct.

Coupon-mad

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=5


Post there.

The_Deep

I am with the police on this one, you can make a claim against your insurance.

grant_uk

As the OP has explained, the excess is £50 more than the amount the police are asking for, so an insurance claim isn't going to achieve anything except put premiums up.

I have a feeling he will have to just bite the bullet and pay this one, unless he can find out who moved the car and persuade them to stump up. Can't see any recourse to the police working. The garage they called to take the vehicle away will still want paying, whatever the situation.

I doubt the police have any obligation to get permission from an obstructing vehicle's owner before having it removed.

The_Deep wrote: »

I am with the police on this one, you can make a claim against your insurance.

The_Deep

As the OP has explained, the excess is £50 more than the amount the police are asking for, so an insurance claim isn't going to achieve anything except put premiums up.

Indeed, but that is a non sequiter, he can make a claim against his motor insurance, whether he wishes to do so is another matter.

Either he pays, or the insurance company pays, it is certainly not a charge for Council Tax payers, his sense of entitlement astounds me.

peter_the_piper

I don't see any sense of entitlement just a feeling of injustice. However there is probably little he can do apart from pay. Unless "friends" caused the problem.

grant_uk

The_Deep wrote: »

Indeed, but that is a non sequiter, he can make a claim against his motor insurance, whether he wishes to do so is another matter.

How is that a non sequitur? The OP wants to get his money back. Claiming against a policy where the excess is more than the amount he's claiming isn't going to achieve that, so telling him he can isn't exactly helping.

The_Deep wrote: »

Either he pays, or the insurance company pays, it is certainly not a charge for Council Tax payers, his sense of entitlement astounds me.

I completely understand why someone might be annoyed at having to fork out £150 because some idiot has played a prank on him. I think he's incorrect in assuming that the police should have acted any differently, because their main priority was removing the obstruction. I would imagine that towing is the usual procedure for this.

It's unfortunate that he may end up having to foot this bill that was probably not his fault. Having a go at him for trying to see a way out of that is somewhat mean-spirited, I have to say.

The_Deep

How is that a non sequitur?

The usual way, the conclusion does not fit the premise;

I will explain

The conclusion is that the excess would render a claim uneconomic

The premise is that Council Tax payer should foot the bill.

esmerobbo

But someone "bilked" the OP's car into an obstructive position The Deep!!!!!!