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Here, you can find out how to reclaim a vehicle that has been seized under Section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988. This means an officer had reasonable grounds to believe that the driver was uninsured or was not driving in accordance with their driving licence.
Vehicles can be seized for the following reasons:
Often a first warning is issued initially.
The powers also allow officers to seize FRVs when they have been driven on a publically maintained road and have either:
If your vehicle is seized, you have seven working days to go to the relevant police station with the correct documents (see below) and have your seizure form (issued at the roadside) stamped by the police.
Go to any of these police stations:
Brighton (John Street)
Chichester
Crawley
Hastings
Eastbourne (1 Grove Road)
Worthing (Chatsworth Road)
Use our police station finder to get directions and station opening times.
If after 14 days, you either haven’t reclaimed the vehicle or haven’t met the legal requirements to reclaim it, we'll dispose of it.
You'll need to take these documents to the police station:
If you can't produce the original documents, the release of the vehicle may be prevented or delayed and you could incur further storage costs.
All documents must be originals, we won't accept faxes and photocopies.
If we're not satisfied with your documents, we may:
Ultimately, if you can't provide satisfactory documents, we won't release your vehicle. We'll keep it for 14 days, then we'll dispose of it.
You can use trade or business insurance to claim a seized vehicle as long as the policy:
Trade policies will only be accepted if accompanied by stock books and VAT registration certificate. The driver should also have declared to the police officer who seized the vehicle that they were driving the vehicle for business purposes.
We won't accept documents at face value, we'll carry out checks with the DVLA and Motor Insurers' Bureau. We might also make direct contact with your insurance company.
Please note, this could lead to your insurer withdrawing cover if you haven't told them about any driving convictions or pending convictions.
The vehicle must be reclaimed by the person who owned it when it was seized by us and you can't sell the vehicle while it's in our custody.
However, you can come to the police station with a nominated driver to collect the vehicle. You'll have to prove you own the vehicle and your nominated driver will have to show they have appropriate insurance cover and a valid driving licence.
Please note, the nominated driver can't use their own comprehensive insurance.
Once the officer is satisfied your documents are in order, they'll stamp the seizure notice and tell the recovery operator who's holding your vehicle for Sussex Police. They'll also email the recovery yard, authorising the release of the vehicle. You can then usually go straight to the garage/pound (check opening times first) and collect your vehicle.
You need to take with you:
You can find full details about the statutory charges in the Road Traffic Act (Retention and disposal of seized vehicles) Regulations 2005 – amended 2008.
Please note, the daily storage charges start from midday the day after the vehicle was seized.
If you don't want your vehicle back, you can 'disclaim' it by signing a form signing the vehicle over to us for disposal.
Once you disclaim the vehicle, further storage costs won't apply, but you'll still be liable for the recovery fee and storage up to that point.
If you don't want the vehicle back, we prefer that you disclaim it rather than simply not turn up to collect it: it lets us draw a line under the incident.
Disclaiming your vehicle can also save you incurring longer storage fees.
You can disclaim your vehicle:
If you don't disclaim your vehicle or collect it, we're authorised to dispose of it on the fifteenth day after it was seized.
You'll then automatically be liable to pay the statutory recovery fee, 14 days of statutory storage fees and the disposal fee.
We could pursue this through court action.
If you intend to collect the vehicle but have a problem meeting the 14-day deadline you must make contact with the recovery operator as soon as possible.
If you don't, your vehicle will likely be disposed of. In exceptional cases, arrangements can be made to keep a vehicle for longer at your cost.