View Full Version : impounding cars
essex police ? i thought better of them
last week my friend had his car stolen from a carpark with cctv. (the day before that - his father had his car stolen)
he reported it to the police straight away . they asked what address to recover it to if its found. so he gave his home address.
yesterday he recieves a a call from the boys in blue.
they tell him his car has been found, and is currently impounded.
its gonna cost him 120 quid to get it out and 12 pound a day storage.
despite him telling the police not to impound it.
the impounding place is a few doors away from him so i dont really see the difference of where it was taken .
also the yard it is impounded in is one of the expensive ones in the area - htere is another just down the road from that one that is miles cheaper.
now the police say that he has no choice and he has to pay.. .
is it me - or does this seem a bit wrong ?
the victim of the crime is expected to pay for some little buggers actions ?
Pay the bill and then send them one.
.
Ask whether it was put there "for forensic purposes". If it was, you don't need to pay (according to our local consumer radio show anyway).
Otherwise, yes, I believe they can do what they want and charge you for it. Remember they're scrounging criminal b@$tard$ (the car thieves that is! :wink: :wink: )
Re. stolen cars, I strongly recommend to everyone, especially if your car is 10yrs old or so, to get and use a decent steering wheel lock. I use one 100% of the time (actually a home made version, because I can).
There are a lot of cheap ones which are purely cosmetic as far as the crims are concerned, 10sec max to get them off.
I looked into it a bit and found some reviews/test results.
One model which is affordable and pretty effective is the Autolok 2000 (or its derivatives).
http://www.autolok.co.uk/pages/a2000.htm
Pretty certain its the same as the item marketed under Halfords own name (New Security Shield) at £60.
The Disklok range at £70 is also well reviewed.
http://www.halfords.com/opd_category.asp?root=1&id=51
They are one-off purchases, keep it for the next car, and it'll almost certainly make the crims go to the next car without one. If you've had a car stolen (I have) I'd guess you'd happily turn the clock back for the sake of £60 and keep the car (save all the hassle and blood pressure). It shouldn't be necessary, but sadly it is.
Also don't keep your keys in the hall or kitchen, that's where the burglars go first.
I have no commercial association with anyone regarding this.
re the steering locks , Autolok 2000T was the one he had - (the one you said first)
paying the 100 quid for the car back would be an option for an expensive car - but this was an astra worth 100 quid.
re the steering locks , Autolok 2000T was the one he had - (the one you said first)
paying the 100 quid for the car back would be an option for an expensive car - but this was an astra worth 100 quid.
Did they get the wheel lock off? That kind of blows my theory away then! :oops:
How did they get it off, wreck it, pick it, steal keys?
not sure how they got it off,
the police havent mentioned anything about the state the car is in.
can rule out though stealing the keys.
the cctv footage was supposed to be collected by the police . . . but they havent mentioned anything..
when i find out more ill let you know .
when i find out more ill let you know .
Cheers, I'd like to know! :thumbsup:
(edit - just found another review which says Autolok 2000 off in 4mins, Disklok 18mins, but who knows what you can believe anyway??)
(edit2 - just found yet another review where they're all a bag of cack, best is less than 2 mins - maybe a rottweiler is a better bet? :? )
last week my friend had his car stolen from a carpark with cctv. (the day before that - his father had his car stolen)
Reminds me never to venture in to the badlands of Essex. :shock:
last week my friend had his car stolen from a carpark with cctv. (the day before that - his father had his car stolen)
Reminds me never to venture in to the badlands of Essex. :shock:
never venture into the badlands of Essex :)
Rob S (Yella)
16-10-04, 01:39 PM
I'm pretty sure the Essex police have some sort of deal with these places. After my accident a bystander offered to store my bike in her garden and she had a proper bike trailer to move it with and lived just yards from the crash.
But
The police said no and got a firm to take it away and store it. They charged to move it and then charged per day and of course the bill became massive as I was in hospital and at the time had other priorities (like surviving) and I didn't even know where the bike was. They are very crafty as they kept it 6 weeks before sending an invioce and I was still in hospital then anyway. It also cost me £80 quid to get a copy of the accident report from the police.
And then of course I cant claim the money back as they wern't insured and it was a hit & run. It did make me wonder if I was a criminal rather than a victim.
Serves me right I suppose for being insured and getting in the way of joyriders doing a U-turn into the fast lane of the A13 in a stolen car.
After my accident back in Jan 2003 the police got my bike recovered. When I asked the cops where they had it recovered too they told me the name of the recovery service. They didn't even exist. When I went back to the police they said that they did not know where it got recovered too. Basically I had to sit at home and wait for the recovery service to contact me.......
They did afer 6 WEEKS. £150 recovery and £8 per day storage. When I finally managed to get a trailer to pick it up (they wanted another £150 to deliver it). I found it propped up against a wall at the back of the yard. If that wasn't bad enough, the address that they gave me where the bike was, wasn't. From there I was sent across the other side of London. When I got to that yard it wasn't there either. By this time I had lost it, and told the little oik at the desk, that if he didn't f**king phone someone immediatly and find out where my bike was I would kick his office windows in. Finally found my bike ( 10 miles from my house). To cap it all they charged me for using my visa card and not paying in cash.
And the name of this recovery service? Lantern recovery. Please, never use this rip off outfit.
.......as I said, we're talking thieving lying scrounging corrupt devious untrustworthy b@$t@rd$ here.
The thieves that is, the thieves. :?
After my accident a bystander offered to store my bike in her garden and she had a proper bike trailer to move it with and lived just yards from the crash.
But
The police said no and got a firm to take it away and store it.
They did this to cover themselves in the event of your bike being lost/stolen after leaving it with a previously unknown and potentially uninsured third party.
Suppose they left is with this person and it went missing. You'd sue the police, wouldn't you?
fraser01
16-10-04, 03:14 PM
Normal procedure is for the car to be recovered back to a secure compound, we do not mess around trying to organise the RO collecting the vehicle also if the car has been stolen then the vehicle will have to be examined by SOC.....the costs incurred for reovery and storage is not set by the police and the RO is advised that they should claim off their insurance for the costs, esp if there was damage to the vehicle.
If you are informed that your vehicle has been found and it is still in situ then you can decline any form of forensics and if the vehicle is road legal then you can just get in it and drive it away (happened to me when a lady found her own car, she refused any further police action) but normally the car is found dumped at stupid o'clock or when it is hectic and you need to secure and preserve evidence....
Any further questions??????
fraser, am I right in believing that if the vehicle is removed to a secure compound "for forensics", then there should be no charge. This is definitely what has been confirmed by the West Mids Police PR folks on local radio (although they seem to still try to charge for it unless the "victim" objects).
Is it a nationwide principle or is it determined by each force?
fraser01
16-10-04, 03:38 PM
fraser, am I right in believing that if the vehicle is removed to a secure compound "for forensics", then there should be no charge. This is definitely what has been confirmed by the West Mids Police PR folks on local radio (although they seem to still try to charge for it unless the "victim" objects).
Is it a nationwide principle or is it determined by each force?
I cannot speak for West Mids Police as this may be something that they have running with the recovery companies....however the majority of companies for example here in Hampshire are independent of the police and still require payment etc, that is why everyone is told to claim through their insurance unless of course you have 100 odd quid kicking around, these are costs that the insurance companies normally pick up and expect to pick up when a vehicle has been stolen.
As you mention last in your post, i think this is determined by each force.
Sid Squid
17-10-04, 10:11 PM
Any further questions???????
Just one, but possibly not for you directly:
Why do I pay tax?
I mean why should you need to pay extra when you have become the victim of a crime for example, this smacks heavily of screwing the identifiable wallet rather than the responsible one.
Ker-ching.
Why do I pay tax?
...........
Ker-ching.
you must have seen the new (old?) 3 line tax return
1 - how much do you earn?
2 - how much have you got left?
3 - send it.
:evil:
fraser01
17-10-04, 10:21 PM
Any further questions???????
Just one, but possibly not for you directly:
Why do I pay tax?
I mean why should you need to pay extra when you have become the victim of a crime for example, this smacks heavily of screwing the identifiable wallet rather than the responsible one.
Ker-ching.
um...."no comment" :-#
fraser, am I right in believing that if the vehicle is removed to a secure compound "for forensics", then there should be no charge. This is definitely what has been confirmed by the West Mids Police PR folks on local radio (although they seem to still try to charge for it unless the "victim" objects).
....however the majority of companies for example here in Hampshire are independent of the police and still require payment etc, that is why everyone is told to claim through their insurance unless of course you have 100 odd quid kicking around, these are costs that the insurance companies normally pick up and expect to pick up when a vehicle has been stolen.
My car was nicked in Solihull two months ago (police did a brilliant job and recovered in 24 hours). It was taken to a garage for the WM police to examine and the garage did charge even though it was being held for the SOCO (not just me either - got talking to a couple of other blokes who's cages got taken that weekend and going through same process).
But as Fraser says, call your insurance company and they will pick up the vehicle, pay the bill without question (mine was £308) and deliver to you or garage if needing fixed. Insurance companies might be robbers but they are quite slick at this - any delay costs them extra recovery charges.
Liam
iprideaux
19-10-04, 11:59 AM
But as Fraser says, call your insurance company and they will pick up the vehicle, pay the bill without question (mine was £308) and deliver to you or garage if needing fixed. Insurance companies might be robbers but they are quite slick at this - any delay costs them extra recovery charges.
And loose your no-claims bonus?
And loose your no-claims bonus?
I'm F'd anyway for insurance this year, in 6 weeks the car was nicked, collected SP40 and bike was written off (knocked off while sitting at lollipop crossing) - might as well get what I can as my insurance is going through the roof next year.
Liam
vBulletin® , Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.