Impound Car Insurance

There are many reasons why an authority such as the Police or DVLA may have decided to impound your car. Here are just a few examples:

• The car is on the road without insurance.
• It has been driven by someone without a driving licence.
• It’s reported as being involved in a crime.
• It’s been reported stolen.
• It was involved in a collision.
• It was found parked illegally.
• It was being driven in a dangerous manner or is causing obstruction.
• You haven’t paid your road tax and your car is parked on a public road.

Yes, your car can be seized and impounded if it doesn’t have proper insurance coverage. Other reasons why your car can be impounded include if you haven’t paid road tax for your vehicle, have parked it illegally, or it was being driven by someone without a valid driver’s license.

You’ll need to supply a valid certificate of motor insurance that permits the release of a vehicle impounded by a government authority before your vehicle is released.

This is a legal requirement for your vehicle to leave the pound in all cases, even if you don’t intend to drive it on a public road or if a third party is collecting your car from the pound on your behalf.

Yes, someone else can get your car out of impound. While some impounds may allow you to nominate a third-party to release your car from the impound, there are additional steps you will need to complete.

Please note that if you’re using a Tempcover policy to release the vehicle, only you as the vehicle owner will be able to release the vehicle. 

First, you will need to go to the pound yourself to establish that you are the owner of the car. You can then nominate a third party to actually reclaim the car at a later date.

The third party must have a signed authorisation letter from you, stating your consent for them to take the vehicle on your behalf, as well as a copy of your passport.

To drive the vehicle from the compound where it’s being kept, they will also need to provide their own valid driver’s license and a valid certificate of insurance. Yet it’s unlikely that their insurance will cover driving someone else’s impounded car, even if it covers driving other people’s cars under normal circumstances.

Because of this, the simplest solution is to take out a specialist impounded car insurance policy and reclaim your car yourself.

No matter what the offence, to get your vehicle back, you need to have insurance. If you don’t already have an annual policy or your existing insurance won’t cover impounded vehicles, then you need to buy specific insurance for impounded cars.

• Impounded cars are seen as high risk by insurers – Most annual insurers won’t offer cover for impounded cars because it’s seen as a high-risk category, so a temporary impounded vehicle insurance policy will be the best option.
• You need specialist short-term impounded car cover – A standard temporary insurance policy won’t cover the release of impounded vehicles, as it only lasts for up to 28 days. You’ll need to show that you have at least 30 days’ insurance to get it released. Our special 30-day impound insurance gives you what you need to get back on the road.
• The sooner you act, the more money you’ll save – You have just seven working days to reclaim your vehicle and, the longer that you leave it, the more the daily storage fee will snowball into a large, unwanted expense. If you fail to reclaim your vehicle or fail to show the correct documents within 14 days, your vehicle will be disposed of. In such time-sensitive situations, temporary insurance for impounded cars is the ideal solution. The process is simple and straightforward with quotes available in minutes, saving you time and money.

As with any car insurance policy, how much you pay for your impound car insurance will depend on several factors, including:

• Your age
• Your location
• Your driving history
• Your driving licence type
• How long you’ve been driving
• The make and model of your car
• The age of your car
• The value of your car

You can buy impound insurance that covers you for a full year, but this can seem very costly –especially if you’re paying other fees to get your vehicle released.

With temporary car insurance for impounded cars, you get 30 days’ insurance. This is the minimum needed for release and gives you time to decide whether you want to sell your vehicle or buy an annual insurance policy for it.

Buying car impound vehicle cover means that you can get your vehicle released quickly. With a short-term impound car insurance policy from Tempcover, you get:

• a quick and easy quote in under 2 minutes
• instant cover 24/7
• the legal length of insurance for releasing a vehicle
• documents emailed to you instantly for immediate use
• a temporary impounded policy that gives you everything that you need to prove your insurance.

It’s important to remember that a temporary impound insurance policy will only last for 30 days and no changes can be made once you buy the policy. There is also no refund if you cancel the policy once the vehicle has been released.

Valid impound insurance documents are not the only thing that you need to have your impounded vehicle released. You must prove that you own the vehicle before you will be allowed to collect it.

To make this process as quick and painless as possible, you should take all the following documents with you:

• Proof of valid insurance
• Full driver’s licence (including counterpart)
• Proof of ownership (the full log book [V5C] or a new keeper supplement [V5C/10] with a verifiable and ‘in-date’ bill of sale)
• MOT (a valid MOT certificate or evidence of a pre-booked MOT appointment)

This is just a general list of the documents that most pounds will require but you can find a full list in the notice letter that you get when the vehicle is ready for collection.

How much it costs to recover your car from impound will depend on several factors.

Charges will vary depending on who collected your vehicle and for how long they’ve held it. Before you can get it back, you’ll need to pay a release fee – and your road tax, if your car doesn’t have any.

As long as your vehicle isn’t badly damaged or off the road, the charges will usually be:

• Up to £200 for removal and £10 per day for storage two-wheeled vehicles
• Up to £200 for removal and £20 per day for storage of cars and light vans

Yes, the police have the power to seize a car for having no insurance. The registered owner or keeper will have to go to the police station in the area the vehicle was seized to reclaim the vehicle. To do this, they will need to bring a valid form of ID, driving licence and motor insurance to drive the car away (impound insurance can help with this).

Impound insurance is the cover you need to get a car released from the impound, as the majority of standard car insurance policies do not cover impounded cars. Impound insurance is a short-term policy that lasts from 30 days. This temporary car insurance can start immediately so you can drive the car while you decide on your next steps.

Tempcover’s third-party impound insurance will release your vehicle from the impound. It will cover social, domestic and pleasure driving for 30 days so you have the chance to decide what you will do with the vehicle next. It covers you when driving in the UK and any damages to third-party vehicles.

If you don’t claim your vehicle after two weeks, legal action can be taken to dispose of it. If you don’t want to reclaim it, this is called disclaim. To disclaim your car, you will need to go to the impound with ID and proof of ownership.

You’ll have to pay a disposal charge (please check your local council website for further details) and be liable for any outstanding penalty charges. Once you sign the disclaimer, the vehicle will be disposed of straight away.

Yes, compound and impound insurance offer the same cover. Both will help release your car from the impound/compound and get you back on the road.

No, you need to have a minimum 30-day to release your car from the impound. This is so you have the chance to decide what you want to do with your vehicle next and ensure it is correctly covered.

Yes, someone else can collect your car from the impound but they must bring the following documents:

• Proof of identity e.g. passport
• Valid driving licence
• Proof of ownership
• Valid certificate of motor insurance
• MOT
• An authority letter signed by the legal owner 
• A copy of your passport or driving licence
• A valid certificate of insurance

Find out more on the Metropolitan Police’s website.

Please note that if you’re using a Tempcover policy to release the vehicle, only you as the vehicle owner will be able to release the vehicle.