Impound Car Insurance

Impound insurance is short term car insurance designed to help you retrieve your vehicle quickly and easily if it has been seized by the police and impounded. To be eligible for impound insurance, you must have a valid driving license, be at least 21 years old, and have a V5 logbook in your name.
Many drivers with existing insurance policies will still need cover as many standard policies often do not cover police impoundment, so the short term cover a temporary impounded car insurance policy provides is a quick and easy solution.

Unfortunately most standard car insurance policies do not cover releasing a vehicle from impound. A 1-day temporary insurance policy won’t be accepted at the majority of police pounds so a 30 day specialist impound insurance document will be required.

Impound insurance for a day is often not accepted at most police station impounds as it does not give drivers enough time to legally deal with their vehicle. Our policy lasts 30 days and is accepted at all police compounds, leaving enough time to make sure your driving status is legal throughout the 30-day impound insurance policy. Temporary car insurance for impounded cars will generally not release your car.

It is possible to get impound insurance with a suspended or provisional driving license, but if you have any previous claims or convictions, it is important to inform the insurance company as this may affect your premium. If you have a provisional license, you can still be covered if there is a passenger alongside you with a valid driving license who has held it for more than 5 years.

Temporary impound insurance provides third-party coverage for a period of 30 days as this length of cover is always accepted. This coverage will continue after your vehicle has been released from the impound for the remainder of the 30-day policy period. If you are involved in an accident while driving with impound insurance, the third-party vehicle will be covered, but your own vehicle will not.

Our focus is on minimizing disruption to your daily life. If you provide us with accurate information to the best of your knowledge, we will do our best to retrieve your vehicle from the police compound as quick as possible. A same day release can be arranged, but please note that the availability of your car or van at the impound or yard may impact this.

You should have received notice of where your car is being impounded. The easiest way to do this is to call 101 and ask for local police. They will be able to point you towards the impound it is being stored at.
If removed by the DVLA after clamping for road tax or parking offences, it has likely been towed and impounded by NSL and in this instance just requires any tax issues to be resolved here with a payment made on their site once any fines are paid or tax purchased. If you have valid insurance, an impound policy is likely to not be required for clamping offences.

If your vehicle is removed by the police and impounded, you will have received a seizure notice or notice letter if you’re registered as the current driver with the DVLA. You will be informed of the correct recovery operator and when it will be ready for collection, and need to have the correct documents and insurance when you pay the charges for release. After 14 days your car will be auctioned off or scrapped, usually to your cost.

It’s important to release your car or van from police impound as soon as possible. You will be charged for your vehicle’s removal to police impound, a daily storage fee, plus a disposal fee if you have not collected it within the 14-day time limit. This starts from noon on the day after the car was taken by police and results in your car being sold or destroyed. Heavy vehicles are charged for at a higher rate.

The police and other authorities have the power to impound vehicles. Police can seize your vehicle for issuing a form 3708 such as this one. In these instances, it’s suspected that the driver does not have valid insurance, so an impound insurance policy is likely necessary.
Other reasons for police impoundment include:
Being stolen and found by police
Involvement in a collision
Illegal parking
Being involved in a crime
Driving in an anti-social manner
Causing an obstruction or danger
Abandonment after an incident involving the police
In these instances, a short term impound insurance policy may be necessary as most insurers do not cover release from police impound.
Driving with no valid insurance policy; this can result in police impoundment with a fine and points on your license.
Theft and recovery; if reported stolen, the vehicle is taken to impound to await collection. Statutory charges for removal and storage still apply, but your insurer may cover the fee.
Involvement in crime; this is where a vehicle is potentially evidence and so police are within their rights to seize it as evidence.
Illegal parking; this can cause an obstruction, endangering other road users, so can result in it being towed away to a police compound.
Vehicle has no valid car tax; this can mean that the car or council deems the vehicle to be abandoned and so is impounded to remove it from the road.