Police charging for storage...
Discussion
Some thieving s
tbags attempted to steal my sister's car from outside her house. They broke into it, disabled the alarm, damaged the ignition and steering lock then attempted to tow it down the road. They were disturbed by my BiL who chased them away - in his dressing gown! He called the police, who responded quickly. No complaints there. 
The police decided to recover the car to a station to carry out 'forensic tests' - fingerprinting I'd guess. Now SOCOs, or CSIs or whatever they call themselves these days, are busy people and I'd imagine an attempted car theft isn't their highest priority so it will take a while for them to do it. In the meantime, my sister is left with no car, which she accepts as a neccessary evil. But the strange thing - to me anyway - is that she is being billed for every day the car is in police storage.
As the victim of crime, she isn't at fault here and she has no control over how long it takes for the SOCOs to do their thing, yet she ends up out of pocket. Isn't this what taxes are for? Is this a normal procedure? It just seems very unfair to me.
tbags attempted to steal my sister's car from outside her house. They broke into it, disabled the alarm, damaged the ignition and steering lock then attempted to tow it down the road. They were disturbed by my BiL who chased them away - in his dressing gown! He called the police, who responded quickly. No complaints there. The police decided to recover the car to a station to carry out 'forensic tests' - fingerprinting I'd guess. Now SOCOs, or CSIs or whatever they call themselves these days, are busy people and I'd imagine an attempted car theft isn't their highest priority so it will take a while for them to do it. In the meantime, my sister is left with no car, which she accepts as a neccessary evil. But the strange thing - to me anyway - is that she is being billed for every day the car is in police storage.
As the victim of crime, she isn't at fault here and she has no control over how long it takes for the SOCOs to do their thing, yet she ends up out of pocket. Isn't this what taxes are for? Is this a normal procedure? It just seems very unfair to me.
Yup - had my old R5 turbo stolen and recovered by the police, found on a council estate in southampton and taken to their pound. I arranged collection and went with the driver to pickup the car and was charged £175 for 2 nights stay...
...was pleased to get the car back but did find it a bit strange paying the police as it seemed I was being charged for their work!?!
...was pleased to get the car back but did find it a bit strange paying the police as it seemed I was being charged for their work!?!
Depends on the force, no?
Have a gander at the (chosen at random) West Midlands or Suffolk policies...
http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/foi/publication...
http://www.suffolk.police.uk/Useful+Information/Co...
Have a gander at the (chosen at random) West Midlands or Suffolk policies...
http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/foi/publication...
http://www.suffolk.police.uk/Useful+Information/Co...
Yes, she is claiming it on her insurance but has to stump up first, as I understand it. Which raises the question of what would have happened if she didn't have the cash at that point? She would incur highr costs until she did. Also the insurance company are being a bit of a pain about it, but thats a different issue. It was really just the principle involved I was questioning tbh.
I got the impression this is standard practice and yes you can claim the storage costs on your insurance.
That said a mate had to pay storage fees on his car when it was wrongly impounded as the police believed he had no insurance and it was late at night so couldn't call his insurance company to varify. £150 or near enough for storage when he was in the right, this combined with no appology makes for yet another person who now has very little respect for the force.
That said a mate had to pay storage fees on his car when it was wrongly impounded as the police believed he had no insurance and it was late at night so couldn't call his insurance company to varify. £150 or near enough for storage when he was in the right, this combined with no appology makes for yet another person who now has very little respect for the force.
My motorbike was stolen a couple of years back, the police were excellent I have to say. However, I was informed that my bike had been found and a police unit was with it, and if I wanted forensic testing to be carried out I would have to pay £160 for the bike to be recovered, and then an additional £10 per night storage. This money would not go to the police, but instead to the recovery service they contracted to scrape my bike off the road and store it in their field compound. I was strongly advised that I should have the bike recovered, as if I chose to recover it myself they would be unable to test for forensic evidence.
As it turned out, I paid the recovery and I wish I hadn't bothered. Nothing ever came of it and I ended up paying out for recovery, and then paying out to repair the mess they had made of my motorbike. I called my insurance company to enquire about claiming, I could indeed claim the recovery fee back but I would have to pay the excess and then loose my no claims, so it worked out about the same cost.
I guess that's what you get for leaving your property unattended.
As it turned out, I paid the recovery and I wish I hadn't bothered. Nothing ever came of it and I ended up paying out for recovery, and then paying out to repair the mess they had made of my motorbike. I called my insurance company to enquire about claiming, I could indeed claim the recovery fee back but I would have to pay the excess and then loose my no claims, so it worked out about the same cost.
I guess that's what you get for leaving your property unattended.
- StreakyBertieWooster said:
Did the BiB tell her about the charges when they recovered the car? Just thinking from a contract point of view (i.e. she shouldn't have to pay) if your sister wasn't made aware of the costs, etc.
Bertie W
I have heard of people avoiding the charges if they didn't agree to the removal.Bertie W
sicarumba said:
My motorbike was stolen a couple of years back, the police were excellent I have to say. However, I was informed that my bike had been found and a police unit was with it, and if I wanted forensic testing to be carried out I would have to pay £160 for the bike to be recovered, and then an additional £10 per night storage. This money would not go to the police, but instead to the recovery service they contracted to scrape my bike off the road and store it in their field compound. I was strongly advised that I should have the bike recovered, as if I chose to recover it myself they would be unable to test for forensic evidence.
As it turned out, I paid the recovery and I wish I hadn't bothered. Nothing ever came of it and I ended up paying out for recovery, and then paying out to repair the mess they had made of my motorbike. I called my insurance company to enquire about claiming, I could indeed claim the recovery fee back but I would have to pay the excess and then loose my no claims, so it worked out about the same cost.
I guess that's what you get for leaving your property unattended.
Am I reading this correctly? You had to pay for the police to investigate a crime?As it turned out, I paid the recovery and I wish I hadn't bothered. Nothing ever came of it and I ended up paying out for recovery, and then paying out to repair the mess they had made of my motorbike. I called my insurance company to enquire about claiming, I could indeed claim the recovery fee back but I would have to pay the excess and then loose my no claims, so it worked out about the same cost.
I guess that's what you get for leaving your property unattended.
BB
spikeyhead said:
I thought that if they had recovered for SOCO examination then you don't pay the storage charges.
I think this should be the case.It's outrageous that you have to pay recovery and storage charges when it's SOCO who are holding up the job.
Some of these charges seem extortionate as well.
Ae they putting these cars / bikes up in 5 star hotels for the night? Breakfast included?
Edited by Stevie_P on Friday 29th October 09:27
Quite simply, if a vehicle is stolen we inform the aggd that if found the car will be recovered and as long as they have theft cover then MOST of the time the insurance companies will cover the costs of recovery/storage.
If someone wishes to opt out of this they can do so, however if the vehicle is found they must recover the vehicle themselves and therefore no SOCO examination will be able to take place, also if they opt out and the vehicle is found having been used in a subsequent crime or involved in a RTC this opt out is overruled and the vehicle recovered by police.
Having also previously worked for a police recovery contractor, most of the time the insurance company (or there repairer) will collect the car from the recovery agent and will settle the costs at the time of collection.
If someone wishes to opt out of this they can do so, however if the vehicle is found they must recover the vehicle themselves and therefore no SOCO examination will be able to take place, also if they opt out and the vehicle is found having been used in a subsequent crime or involved in a RTC this opt out is overruled and the vehicle recovered by police.
Having also previously worked for a police recovery contractor, most of the time the insurance company (or there repairer) will collect the car from the recovery agent and will settle the costs at the time of collection.
Which is all very well if you want to make a claim. Take it that the vehicle may not be worth repairing, and you don't want to make a claim as it'll effect future insurance premiums. I worked in the recovery trade, and it was a fairly common occurance.
I do think if a vehicle is recovered as a result of a theft and soco want forensics, then it should either come out of a central fund, or the police themselves rather than the owners pocket.
Too much is assumed that every accident/theft will be covered under insurance when it clearly isn't the case.
I do think if a vehicle is recovered as a result of a theft and soco want forensics, then it should either come out of a central fund, or the police themselves rather than the owners pocket.
Too much is assumed that every accident/theft will be covered under insurance when it clearly isn't the case.
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