Police compound release fees: do I have to pay?

[PeachyParisian]

I've a thread in AIBU with a bit of background HERE

the police towed my car from a busy A road after it broke down. I had called the AA who failed to show up. The police decided after over an hour, having caused massive tailbacks (so the AA were half an hour later than they said they would be) that they were taking an unreasonable amount of time. I had no choice in the matter.

They said it will cost £180 to release my car from the compound. Is that legal? I had a look at the road traffic act but it only mentions seizure when he driver has no insurance as far as I can see.
Do I have to pay?

yes. The police can impose a fee as they removed your vehicle as it was causing an obstruction; you normally get a leeway of about 30mins.

You may be able to get it reimbursed from your instance given it was the result of a car problem. Do go get the car quickly though as daily storage fees will apply too, and make sure you take all the documentation they require.

Reimbursed from insurance, of course...

My car insurance?? Or do you mean the roadside recovery?

car Insurance. Not a certainty, but worth a try.

Also - sorry bit late but - compounds generally don't allow repairs to be conducted on site. So if the car won't drive, you'll need to arrange a recovery service to remove it.

This happened to my DN.

He was in a road traffic accident on his motor bike. Not his fault. The bike was broken and a near by lady offered to put the bike in her garage till it could be picked up. The police insisted they would take it.

Then he got charged £300 for the impound! The bike didn't even cost that much!

It's probably not a police compound more likely to be a 3rd party towing contractor they use for breakdowns and accidents etc.

The £180 is the cost the company charge for coming out. It's nothing to do with the police. The road traffic act is completely different to this.

Your car wasn't siezed it was removed

The AA didn't "fail to show up" They can't guarantee to get to you within a set time, it depends on who else has called and who is ahead of you in the urgency order.
And yes, you do have to pay.

It turned out to be a towing company with the police contract.
The AA did fail to show up, as confirmed to me by the AA. Apparently they do actually guarantee to be there within 40 minutes anyway.

Paid the fee to release my car, AA towed it to a garage but it's not worth fixing apparently. AA have agreed to refund the cost of the police tow.

Redglitter, I didn't mean that my car was seized, just that i couldn't find anything relevant to this situation in the legislation.

Thanks all.

They give an average response time of 40 mins, they categorically don't guarantee response time of same.
Good that they have offered to refund you though.

I haven't seen it written down anywhere, I haven't even had my paperwork through. I'm only relaying what the AA man said to me this afternoon. He said it was based on cars in dangerous situations and that 40mins is the period determined by the police apparently!

That's brilliant they're refunding you. Their response time was poor considering the circumstances. The fact they're refunding you indicates they're acknowledging that.

Just shows you its always worth pursuing these things

Hi my vehicle was put in police compound after a incident that was not involving me but a fellow passenger and I was arrested with assistance which I new nothing about, it has now been nfa’d and the vehicle is due to being released but do I have to pay the costs for the release after two months which I clearly can’t afford. Also can I claim back my insurance for the two months it was held?

You should start your own thread. Who are you hoping to claim your insurance costs from, BTW?