If your car breaks down on a 'No stopping' road and the police get a contractor to tow it away then does the contractor have any legal right to charge you for this (and storage).
After all, their contract is actually with the local police force and not the car owner.
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I can't imagine the police paying.
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L\'escargot.
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You'd get a bill I think... going up by the day for as long as it took you to collect the car.
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Test out your theory and then come back and let us know how you got on. Not sure even Nick Freeman would want to find the loophole on that one.
So much easier just to obey the law, even if you think you have a way round it.
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It has been said in the past that not only will the contractor charge you but there will be a contribution by the contractor to police "charities".
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yep buy a car with an explicit clause that it will never break down so you dont get billed by the bill
your window of breakdown on a motorway is i believe 2 hours before the fuzzy wuzzies have your veeicle to-ed
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Are you obliged to use the contractor nominated by the police, or can you use your own recovery firm, AA, National Breakdown etc?
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RE: "Are you obliged to use the contractor nominated by the police?"
That's what prompted my original question - I've heard of police contractors towing cars away even though the owners had called and were waiting for the AA.
Is there any watchdog that keeps an eye on police contractors? If not they could charge what they want for storage (etc)
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presumably, if you'd called the AA or RAC etc you'll still be sitting in the car? (or at least leap into it if 'contractor man' turned up) If so no-one can lift or tow the car if someone is in it.
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In a nut shell .....
Police under Regs 3 & 4 Removal & Disposal of Vehicles Regs 1986 can cause vehicles to be removed that are left in contravention of a statutory prohibition or restriction, or parked in a dangerous position, or causing an obstruction on a road.
This can be by a direction to the driver/person in charge to do so as soon as practicable . Failure to do so - OFFENCE. In the more serious cases or vehicle without driver/owner present then arrange uplift to a pound.
Police Forces arrange private contractors to do this and take to a pound, often I understand run by private concern. Payment is made for the recovery and any storage charges when the owner goes to collect.
Due to the unpredictability and slow response time of owners choice of recovery not used.
All the money received from any statutory recovery fees remains with the recovery operators to help pay for their services and the disposal of disclaimed vehicles. The scheme is aimed at being at zero cost to the Constabulary and hence at no cost to the community.
dvd
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So if the owner refuses to pay the contractors can't recover their costs through the courts and all they can do is keep hold of the car?
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