tow truck taking away an impounded car

Ring for a quote now!
0161 388 2552

Ring for a quote now!
0161 388 2552

Has your car been impounded? No insurance?

0161 388 2552

Do you need impounded car insurance to get your car out of a pound? If your car or van has been been towed away to a pound by the police, speed is essential if you are not to lose it completely, and you'll need to produce proof that it's insured before you'll be allowed to drive it away.

Get help and advice    

Ring specialist brokers Alternative Propositions Limited on their freephone number 0161 388 2552 and their friendly staff will give you every assistance to make sure that the policy you buy is one that will be acceptable to the authorities, and they will follow up to make sure that you have not had any problems with it.

Deal with a trusted company    

They are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. You can check their listing at the FCA website; their number is 602443. This means that they have systems in place to make sure that you are dealt with honestly, transparently and fairly.

Buy a yearly or short term policy    

There are two types of policy you can use. One is a short term policy. Standard 1-28 days cover won't be accepted, but pounds do accept one that lasts a minimum of 30 days. These are available with third party cover only, which is sufficient to comply with the law. This is your cheapest option if you just want to get your car back.

Alternatively, if you intend to keep the car, you can use a full year's policy; the problem is that most insurers simply refuse to cover the driver of a vehicle in a pound. Fortunately there are a few with a more enlightened attitude and if you ring the above number you should be able to get quotes for either a normal 12 month policy (which could be comprehensive or third party fire and theft) or a thirty day (third party only) one. You could probably arrange to pay the annual policy on a monthly payments basis over twelve months too, which may help with your budgeting.

Get your seized car back    

You should, if possible, collect the vehicle yourself; you can if necessary try get a friend to do it for you but it involves more hassle (see the details below) and it is likely that your friend would have a great deal of difficulty in proving insurance cover.

You'll need to go to the pound taking with you the insurance certificate; MOT certificate; the 'producer' certificate that you were issued with when the car was taken from you; proof of ownership (which usually means the logbook); and some ID which includes a photo. Student cards and other non-official forms of ID will not be accepted but a passport, photo driving licence, EU national identity card, immigration document or Freedom Pass should be OK.

If you haven't got an MOT you should get a confirmed appointment for a test, bring along written evidence of the appointment and take the vehicle straight to the test centre as soon as you've collected it. The vehicle will usually have to be taxed and you may have to be able to prove that; alternatively you may need to pay a deposit, with is at least £160 at present for a car or motorcycle, or anything up to about £700 for a van.

You will also need to take some cash or a credit/debit card with you to pay the towing and stowage fees. It is best to ring the pound (the number will be on the back of the INF32 leaflet you were given) before you go to check on just how much these will cost.

Can you get the car collected by a friend?

Your friend will need to take along all the items listed above, plus an authority letter from you and a copy of your passport or driving licence in order to authenticate your signature. Please bear in mind that it is highly likely that your friend's normal insurance policy will not be acceptable even if it covers vehicles not belonging to him or her, since it is pretty well inevitable that recovering seized cars is specifically excluded. Please bear in mind, also, that a 'seized car' policy cannot be provided for a friend; only the registered keeper can, usually, get one.

Will my insurance rates go up after my car is impounded?

Almost certainly the answer is "yes"; if it has been impounded because of a lack of insurance you would face a conviction for driving whilst uninsured; which will be taken into consideration by your insurer at renewal time.

Can I cancel my insurance policy if my car is impounded?

Most insurance policies contain cancellation clauses but the exact terms can be different from one insurer to another; and whether or not you could get a partial refund (or indeed anything at all) would depend on the exact terms and conditions of your policy. If you were paying for it monthly you could even find that you were obliged to still pay something towards the policy even if the car was scrapped by the police.

Can I get my car towed from the impound lot to my home?

If you really cannot get your car insured it is possible to get the car removed from the pound but this can only be done by a properly licenced company; you cannot get just any company with a tow truck to do it for you. This is specialised work and so charges are likely to be heavy.

Companies that are able to carry out this work are few in mumber but you may get details of a local one from the staff at the pound (who can be surprisingly helpful).

Could I donate my impounded car to a charity?

Certainly - if you did so quickly - and if they wanted it. As new owners they would need to produce proof of ownership, as well as evidence that they were insured to drive it; as well as pay the towing and rental fees.

If you went down this route you would be well advised to let the staff at the pound know what was happening so that they could perhaps provide some leeway on the length of time allowed for you to do this.

Can I get a temporary insurance policy to release my impounded car?

In this case the absolute minimum period that a car can be insured for is 30 days; and the policy must stipulate that it can be used for releasing an impounded car. This means that convention short term policies (which last between a few hours and 28 days) will not be accepted.

The policy won't necessarily have to have 30 days left to run; in other words, if you took it out on day one then presented it at the pound several days later it should still be accepted.

However: speed is essential!

If you cannot get the vehicle out of the pound within 14 days it is likely to be sold or crushed for scrap. Not only will you receive nothing for it but you are also likely to receive a bill for the vehicle's disposal. You may still of course be liable for the towing costs and the storage charge, which increases day by day. It is therefore vital that you move quickly if you wish to save your car or van. There is no point in trying to get insurance via a price comparison site because none of the insurers on them are likely to cover a confiscated vehicle but if you ring the number below and speak to one of the friendly people there they should be able to find you the right insurer.

Ring for a quote now!
0161 388 2552

Ring for a quote now!

0161 388 2552

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