Unfair and probably illegal

I am refering to the new practice of some police forces.
My friend has a business doing recovery for the police be it an accident or an impounded vehicle
Example quoted to me by him
Vehicle was stopped in a check and found to have a chip and crack in the windscreen above the line of the interior mirror out of the line of vision you would be using while under normal driving.The crack was not rubber to rubber and all documentation was in order.The MOT was 11 days old from issue
This was deemed hazardous by the police and the vehicle impounded,meaning it is taken away by recovery on a full lift[Not driven or towed]
Here is the interesting bit--------
In order to recover the vehicle from the pound the driver has to produce his license,mot and insurance but can only remove it by a licensed recovery firm to a place of repair.Unfortunately the driver in this instance had recently split up from his wife and was having difficulty obtaining the documents and had a court order banning him from the house[Former family home] so after various visits by his representative he finally gets his original paperwork 18 days later
My friend has to go to the police station and produce paperwork showing he is authorised to do the recovery,which as it is costing him time he charges £50 for even although he is on their list of authorised recovery firms, He has asked about this but each case is individual and the release must be stamped for the offending vehicle and his recovery documents produced for each case.
The little bit above is separate from his recovery charge from the pound to the repair facility.
When the vehicle is released to him the owner is informed that the current MOT[11 days old at the time of being stopped] is now null and void and the vehicle has to have a new MOT before it can be driven plus the repair.
The pound charges by this time has shot up and the chap did not have enough money with him on the day and didn't get paid for another week so he had to leave the vehicle till he could borrow the money from another source.He has to pay my friend for the £50 incurred producing the authorisation even although the vehicle was not released.
By the time the vehicle owner has got the money together to pay for the vehicle release,repair and new MOT this has become a substantial amount of money and it is now the 21st day since it was impounded.
Back with my friend and his recovery truck for a second time only to find that since 21 days had lapsed the vehicle was for the crusher.The vehicle was a three and a half year old van.

The driver was never prosecuted for the offence of the cracked windscreen,cost him £100 and he lost his vehicle due to the circumstance in finding the money for recovery and repair charges.

Moral being keep your vehicle in tip-top condition or be prepared for a hefty outlay or even forfeiture of your vehicle even if it is newish.Something simple which in itself would not be a MOT failure can cost you your vehicle

P.S.I believe the authoritise concerned did everything "By the book" but it is still unjust in my eyes that you should loose a vehicle for no reason.

You know when bad stuff happens to someone and they say "it could be worse" I feel 1000000fold for your mate. How can things get any worse! Someone needs to buy that bloke a pint or 50.

[Messie]

"Moral being keep your vehicle in tip top condition"

You said it yourself

[yorkie_chris]

Impound yards and their ilk are biggest scum in the world, worse than traffic wardens.

Friend of mine had a car towed, someone had broken the window and rooted through the (empty of anything valuable) glovebox. £150+ to get his car back after the police had it towed to "make sure it didn't get vandalised" despite his mobile number being WRITTEN ON THE F*CKING DOOR!!

The slag on the phone "oh just claim it back on the insurance". Hmmm yeah young lad, £1000 TPFT policy... Even if he could claim it would cost him £2000 next year.

Whole situation with this lot does boil my p*ss to a serious degree!


Of course, that uninsured smackhead in the piece of sh*t he bought for £50 doesn't care about getting his car back after he knocks you off your bike eh.

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Of course, that uninsured smackhead in the piece of sh*t he bought for £50 doesn't care about getting his car back after he knocks you off your bike eh.

when that heppens, the police should cuff the driver, hand you a baseball bat, sit in their car, turn all cameras off and close eyes. leaving you with the driver and a baseball bat...

[yorkie_chris]

It would be nice.

But fact is if prosecuted the little c*** will end up paying less of a fine than you will to get your bike back when they nicely "recover" it for you!

never have i heard of a vehicle being uplifted for a crack in the windscreen, what recovery company does your friend run?

[andrewsmith]

I think the last lot in charge but legislation in place to allow the police to charge you offensive amounts for towing and storage. A slightly defective windscreen would normally get a repairs notice issued (unless the vehicle is not roadworthy)

and they will also charge you for towing and recovery if your vehicle is tea leafed by a ****!!!

But it depends upon the police force

was this blokes ex-misses a copper by anychance?

called in a favour from some colleages to ruin the bloke.

Husky,I would prefer not to name names,perhaps the drivers had been stroppy with the police,who knows, but my friend quoted another instance when somebody had a small nick in the side of a tyre and they would not allow the driver to change to the spare This still cost the driver all the recovery charges and a new mot.
Perhaps its me but I find it a bit underhanded for them to make the MOT void when all the person had to do in this case was change the wheel.
I did find what he was saying extraordinary but he categorically assured me it was common practice for the police concerned and I have no reason to disbelieve him as I know he makes a lucrative living from it. Even he can't believe some of the instances and he owns the recovery firm and a garage,MOT Centre.
He did say that several of the instances he has been involved with would not have been MOT Failures and he is an examiner.
I am aware that a vehicle can be unsafe for other things apart from MOT Items but letting somebody change a wheel or having a windscreen fitted at the roadside seems logical to me where as the recovery and ensuing problems for the drivers seem EXTREMELY harsh for such trivial faults especially as both instances mentioned could happen to us at any time we are driving and rectified as a matter of course