The process to get your vehicle released depends on whether the vehicle was:
- Seized by the police (you will have been given a seizure notice).
- Impounded, but not seized by the police.
You need impound insurance for your vehicle to be released from a police compound.
Whether seized or not, for your vehicle to be released, you’ll need motor insurance that explicitly permits the release of a vehicle from a Police compound.
Some motor insurance policies do not include this as standard.
Here’s what you should do:
- If the vehicle has motor insurance you can check the certificate of motor insurance to see if release from a Police compound is included, or alternatively contact the existing insurer to ask.
- If the current motor insurance does not cover release from a compound or if there is no insurance on the vehicle, then you can either:
- find an annual policy that does include the release from a police compound; or
- purchase a 30-day impound insurance policy (this is insurance that lasts 30 days and explicitly allows for the release of the insured vehicle from a police compound).
- find an annual policy that does include the release from a police compound; or
What is the process to release an impounded car that has been seized by the police?
If your car has been seized by the police then you will have been issued with a seizure notice at the point that the car was seized.
If you are the registered keeper of the vehicle but weren’t driving the vehicle when it was seized, then you will be sent the seizure notice in the post.
You have 7 working days (14 days in some police forces) to pull together the required documentation, go to the designated police station (in some police forces you need to go directly to the pound), and have your seizure notice stamped (in most cases). With the stamped seizure notice and supporting documentation, you can then collect your car from the pound.
Note: The process can be slightly different by police force – at the bottom of this article are links to what to do if your car is seized or impounded for each police force in Great Britain.
For most police forces you have to:
- Go to the designated police station (or sometimes any police station in the area) with your seizure notice, within 7 working days of the car being seized.
- Note, it must be you, the registered keeper of the vehicle, that goes to the designated police station in person, unless you can provide evidence that you’re out of the country or that there are compelling medical or compassionate circumstances that prevent you from collecting your vehicle.
- If you do nominate another person to collect the vehicle, then that person requires a letter of authority – a letter, signed by you, authorising your nominated person to collect the vehicle on your behalf. The nominated person must also be insured on the vehicle (normally added as a second driver on the policy).
- Provide documentation:
- Seizure notice
- Driving Licence (if you have a paper licence only you will need to additionally bring your passport).
- Proof of address document (recent utility bill, bank statement).
- Proof of vehicle ownership:
- Car registration logbook (V5C) in your name with the logbook address matching your proof of address document; or
- an unaltered and ‘in date’ new keeper supplement (V5C/2) together with a bill of sale (plus two proofs of address); or
- a verification email from DVLA’s online system confirming a change to the registered keeper.
- Valid MOT (unless the vehicle is not old enough to require an MOT) or proof of pre-booked MOT appointment.
- Valid Insurance that permits the release of a vehicle impounded by a government authority.
- Valid road tax.
- You then need to go to the police pound (which may well be operated by a third party) and produce your stamped seizure notice plus proof of identity, plus potentially all the other documents above.
- Pay release charges – these are set by the government (see below for costs)
How much are the release charges?
The release charges vary by weight and damage condition of the vehicle.
The release cost for an upright, substantially undamaged, less than 3.5-tonne vehicle costs £192. There is additionally a daily storage fee of £26 (more for higher-weight vehicles).
You can find full details about the statutory charges you’ll have to pay in The Removal, Storage and Disposal of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Regulations 2023.
When is a vehicle seized by Police rather than simply impounded?
A vehicle can be seized by police if the driver was uninsured or was not driving in accordance with their driving licence, or the vehicle wasn’t taxed.
A vehicle can be impounded without seizure if it has been:
- stolen;
- involved in a collision;
- parked illegally;
- involved in a crime;
- driven in an anti-social manner;
- caused an obstruction or danger;
- abandoned after an incident involving the police;
- trespassing on land;
- treated as surrendered property as part of a dispersal order;
The process to release an impounded car that has not been seized by the Police
The main difference is that you are not issued with a seizure notice and therefore do not need to go to a designated Police station to have it signed.
Once the vehicle is ready for collection the registered keeper of the vehicle will be sent a collection notice in the post.
You can then collect the vehicle directly from the pound where it is being held.
You will need the same documentation as when the vehicle is seized, bar the seizure notice. Similarly, another person can be nominated to collect the vehicle but they will require a signed letter of authority from the owner/registered keeper.
Note: Local councils can also impound vehicles for parking violations – check the website of the relevant council for information on how to release the vehicle.
Below is more information on what to do by police force:
| Police Force | Seizure form | Police station stamped | Seized Vehicle Link | Impounded Vehicle (not seized) Link |
| Avon and Somerset Police | Y | Y | Link | |
| Bedfordshire Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Cambridgeshire Constabulary | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Cheshire Constabulary | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Cleveland Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Cumbria Constabulary | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Derbyshire Constabulary | Y | Link | Link | |
| Devon and Cornwall Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Dorset Police | Y | Y | Link | |
| Durham Constabulary | Y | Y | Link | |
| Dyfed-Powys Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Essex Police | Y | Go to pound | Link | Link |
| Gloucestershire Constabulary | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Greater Manchester Police | Y | Y | Link | |
| Gwent Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Hertfordshire Constabulary | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Humberside Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Kent Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Lancashire Constabulary | ||||
| Leicestershire Police | Y | Y | Link | |
| Lincolnshire Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Merseyside Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Metropolitan Police Service | Y | Go to pound | Link | Link |
| Norfolk Constabulary | ||||
| North Wales Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| North Yorkshire Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Northamptonshire Police | Y | Y | Link | |
| Northumbria Police | Y | Y | Link | |
| Nottinghamshire Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Police Scotland | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| South Wales Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| South Yorkshire Police | Y | Y | Link | |
| Staffordshire Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| Suffolk Constabulary | ||||
| Surrey Police | Y | Y | Link | |
| Sussex Police | Y | Y | Link | |
| Thames Valley Police | Y | Y | Link | |
| Warwickshire Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| West Mercia Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
| West Midlands Police | Y | Y | Link | |
| West Yorkshire Police | Y | Y | Link | |
| Wiltshire Police | Y | Y | Link | Link |
