Car impounded? No insurance?

It is usually possible to sell a car which is locked in a pound, and the police are normally quite happy about this. The sale has to be a real, genuine one; you couldn't for instance pretend to sell it to someone who could get cheaper insurance, get the car out and then hand it back to you. The full sale process has to be gone through.

The sale process

You will have to provide the new owner with a bill of sale. You can get templates for this online and a quick Google search for 'bill of sale templates' will bring up several possibilities.

if the car is subject to a hire purchase agreement you need to get a settlement figure from the finance company and pay this before getting the car out from the pound. The staff there are likely to check with the company that the payment has actually been made.

You will need to fill in sections five and six of the V5C logbook, tear them off and hand the full top left section to the new buyer, along with Section 10, the V5C/2 'New Keeper's Details. these will have to be shown to the staff at the pound later.

Insuring the car

The buyer, once he or she has paid you for the car, can then insure it. It is important that the insurance company is informed that the vehicle is currently in a police compound; many policies specifically exclude the release of an impounded car. This may not affect the premium in any way but it could avoid potential problems in the future if the policy still excludes impound release, or the insurers felt they should have been told.

It may be necessary for the new owner to buy a short term impounded car insurance policy; this may well be a lot cheaper than one bought by the original owner, since the new one will not have had, or is facing, a conviction for driving without insurance.

Collecting the car

The impound staff are likely to want the previous owner to confirm the sale so you should go there with the buyer, taking with you the seizure notice (Form 3708) that you were given when the car was impounded, proof of your identity in the form of a passport or driving licence and proof of your address. Recent utility bills will normally be sufficient.

The buyer should show the V5C/2, bill of sale and insurance documents to the staff, who will then probably send the relevant documents off to the DVLA. The new owner should then receive a new logbook within a couple of weeks or so.

All accumulated collection and storage charges, plus a payment for the road fund licence if the car is not taxed, will have to be paid before the car is taken away. If it is not MOT'd an appointment at a nearby testing station must have been arranged beforehand and the car must be taken straight there.

Selling the car in this way may seem an extreme step to go through, particularly since it would be a forced sale and you may well end up getting less than market value for your car, but at least you could get something and if you simply cannot get the car out of the pound yourself then something is better than nothing.