While having your car taken away by a tow truck is something you want to avoid, it is something which the police, local authorities or the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) can do in certain circumstances.
So, what do you do if your car ends up getting towed? What are the legal procedures for getting it back? This guide delves into the details you need to know about when a car can be towed, how you get it out of impound and ways to avoid it in the first place.
When can your car be towed?
Relevant authorities can have your car towed away if your car is untaxed or insurance has not been paid. Such cars can be towed anytime if it’s on a public road. If the car is not on a public road, it can still be taken away if it doesn’t have a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN).
If your untaxed/uninsured car is on a public road, it doesn’t matter if you have a SORN for it, it can still be towed away regardless.
It is also possible for the police, a local authority or the DVLA to clamp and tow away a car if it is parked illegally on roads or public land, if it’s blocking the road or if it has broken down.
On a related note, if your car is on private land, then private companies or land owners can issue parking fines if it is parked illegally. However, they do not have the legal right to clamp your car.
What to do if your car is towed
There are three main things you’re going to want to do when you find out your car got towed. First, you need to find out where your vehicle has been taken.
When you learn your car’s location, you will need to pay a release fee (and probably a penalty fee too) for towing recovery and also show confirmation or a receipt that proves you’ve paid your vehicle tax.
How to find a towed car
To established where your towed car has been taken to, you can contact the non-emergency number 101 and ask for your local police station.
They should have on record what cars in the local area have been towed and which impound site they have been taken to.
Alternatively, you can find your local impound site online by visiting the Car Tax Enforcement website. Here you can see your nearest DVLA Pound on a map when you enter your postcode or town.
How to get out of impound
When you’ve reached the impound which has your car you will have to pay a release fee to recover your car, as well as likely a separate penalty (if the car was towed for being illegally parked, for example).
If you believe that your car was wrongly towed away, you will still have to pay the release fee anyway to get it out of impound, but you can apply to have the fee refunded afterwards, either by going to court or appealing to your local authority.
Keep in mind that if your car was impounded because it is untaxed or you don’t have insurance for it, then you won’t be able to just simply take the car away.
You will first need to get insurance and/or tax payment sorted and bring proof for confirmation at the impound site. An alternative choice is for the registered keeper of the car to declare it as permanently off road and not being driven, by filling out a SORN and sending it to the DVLA.
