Reply With QuoteDoesn’t sound right - there must be some come back.
Mate of mine had his van towed on Sunday evening due to showing no insurance on the police data base.
Insurance had been renewed the previous Thursday with the same Company that he was insured with the previous year.
Took policy details etc to the station today, and all was in order.
Then had to pay £170 to get his van back.... Police not interested, insurance Co not interested.
Can’t be right can it??
Doesn’t sound right - there must be some come back.
It's just a matter of time...
Who actually towed it away?
Find out, then write to the most senior person you can identify requesting compensation for the loss,
I suppose the answer lies in finding out who is responsible. You can sue whoever you like for whatever you like whenever you like, but you're unlikely to be successful unless you've got the right person.
It doesn't sound like the police are at fault. They seem to have followed standard procedure. I don't know where you go next. Presumably the police have to maintain some sort of evidential paper trail on their side?
Good luck to your friend.
A recovery company called by the police.Originally Posted by adrianw
Could be that the insurers are liable if the vehicle wasn't on the Motor Insurance Database, as required by law.
I'd imagine a call to them will involve their legal team and then the charge will be removed.
Happened to me a year or so ago. I have a trade policy and was pulled over for no insurance. Dozy broker had forgotten to update the mid. To be fair to the police, they let me ring him and sort it at the roadside though.
What he did say though was that the Motor Insurance Database is just that, a database. As long as your friend had paid for his insurance, he was covered regardless of what the MID stated.
Happened to a friend of mine and the police paid him back when his solicitor sent a letter saying he would sue them in small claims court.
Took about four weeks before he got his money back.
That’s useful, I’ll pass it on..
Speaking with my mate, his policy never lapsed, he pays by DD and is on auto renewal.
His old policy finished at midnight on Thurs 5th, and his renewal came into force immediately.
He was stopped on Sunday eve. Copper was having none of it and impounded the van.
From what i can remember he also sent a letter to the insurance company as well but it was the legal department at Lancashire Police that paid up because they were more to blame.
In this case it could be the insurance company BUT if the police haven't updated the ANPR equipment they were using with the latest download from MIB and DVLA it could still be them at fault.
Surely he could have produced some evidence? Email confirmation for example?
I’m sure he would have if he could.
Well, you know then, off you go
Thanks for the help....
And the cost of the solicitor’s letter?
Askmid can be waay out of date. Last year one of my bikes on a multi bike policy suddenly dropped off the MIB, it had been on for appx 4 months.
Result snotty letter from DVLA advising bike not insured. Took at least 4 calls and 10 days to get Carol Nash to agree it was their IT fault.
I've watched a few of those Police Interceptor type programmes, whenever there appears to be a discrepancy between what the database says and what the driver says then a direct call to the insurers is made. It's a bit odd that the vehicle was impounded, it could have all been cleared up with a 'phone call at the roadside.
Sorry, no idea as to how he'd go about getting his money back, though there have been a few options already mentioned.
Difficult to call your insurer on a Sunday night.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Ordinarily I’d agree, but what can you do at 8pm on a Sunday eve??
I had a similar situation a number of years ago, stopped in Liverpool on a Monday morning. A quick phone call to the wife for my policy Number and Norwich Union phone number, and it was sorted there and then.
I've never had to contact my insurers out of hours, I just presumed that your typical large insurance company would be contactable 24/7 for something like this, that someone could help at the other end of the line. I've just checked the contact hours for my insurer, it seems that I'm wrong
I hope your friend sorts this out with as little pain as possible, I'd be pretty miffed.
I understand that each police force will have someone, usually civilian, who is responsible for coordinating the paperwork for impounded vehicles. Rather than speak to someone at the local nick, I would suggest your friend contact that person, explain the situation and ask advice. I would imagine there is a procedure for this type of situation. Unfortunately, he's already handed over the cash, had he spoken to the coordinator first, the charge may have been waived.
Most insurance companies will email you a copy of the certificate which you can "produce" at the roadside on your smartphone, and if not accepted as definitive proof of insurance, should at least prompt further inquiries before seizure.
putting a freedom of information request into the appropriate force asking for their Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on vehicles seized under S165 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. I recently retired from the Met and our SOP stated if the driver was adamant there was cover in place even if the MID said otherwise we should give any benefit of doubt to the punter & not seize the vehicle. There's always 2 sides to every story but if you can ascertain the officer didn't follow the force's policy you have stronger grounds to make a claim for recompense.
Thanks Hops, that’s helpful...
The cop should have phoned the Motor Insurance Bureau which is open at 8pm on a Sunday. If they couldn’t confirm insurance in force your mate should have been given the benefit of the doubt at the roadside & charged at a later date if required.
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My brother had this, his bike was insured but there was some issue with getting the data onto the MIB. Took months to sort out but when he was stopped by plod he got a producer, which would seem to be a more reasonable response than impounding the van
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