My car has been towed – how do I find it and who do I call?
STRESS and hefty fines come with discovering your car has been towed and many of us panic trying to locate the vehicle.
Luckily this process is simple if you know what you're doing, so here's who to call and how to find your towed motor.
How do I find my car?
First things first, you need to find out where your vehicle has been taken to.
If you call your local police station they will be able to point you in the right direction to where your car is.
This can be done by calling 101 and asking for the local police - do not call 999 as it is not an emergency.
Police, local council or the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency all reserve the right to tow your vehicle if it is parked in an illegal space.
Bailiffs and fine enforcement officers can also take your car if you have unpaid parking charges or debts.
A penalty charge notice is from the council and must be paid or appealed.
Across the UK the procedures vary as to where your car goes but for the majority, the vehicle is taken to a local impound site.
You can also called NSL on 0343 224 1999 as they enforce car tax payment - which if unpaid can get your car clamped.
Alternatively, you can locate the nearest impound by searching your postcode on the .
If you're in London, you can quickly find out if your car has been towed by texting .
Who do I call first?
The 101 non-emergency number will be able to put you through to the local police station and give them your licence plate number.
They will have a record of what cars have been towed in the local area.
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101 should also be able to tell you over the phone whether your car has been impounded and direct you to the site.
Once you have located your car you can begin to organise retrieving it.
Your car insurance could be affected by vehicle impounding, check the details of the policy to make sure.
Depending on the rules of the insurance company, they may need to be notified of the towing or of any car retrieval.
Being convicted of a driving offence makes car insurance more expensive but it is illegal to drive without any coverage.
How much does it cost to get it back?
Naturally, getting your car back comes at a cost.
First there's the release fee to recover the car which costs £100 if you retrieve the vehicle in 24 hours.
After this time, the release fee goes up to £200 and it costs a further £21 a day to store your car on site.
On top of this, you'll also have the penalty for what it was that got your car towed.
If your vehicle was towed because it has no tax or insurance, you will have to rectify this before collecting your car and bring evidence with you to the impound site.
It'll cost you £160 for a surety fee (deposit) if you do not tax your vehicle before release or intend to SORN the vehicle.
The surety fee applies to motorcycles as well as cars, larger vehicles like buses or heavy load vehicles can cost either £330 or £700 in surety fees.
Any vehicle must be taxed if it is kept on a public road, it can be taxed or have a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) if it is kept off-road.
The surety fee will only be refunded to you if you can confirm within two weeks of the vehicle's release that tax has been paid.
If you believe your car was wrongly towed, you will still need to pay the release fee.
But can apply for a refund by appealing to your local council or taking the issue to court.