Since May 2013, Staffordshire Police have been working hard to keep uninsured vehicles off their roads. By using advanced automatic number plate recognition system, details are compared to insurance databases to target drivers that are dodging paying for car insurance.
As part of a ground breaking operation, known as “Cars Behind Bars“, Staffordshire police have been seizing uninsured vehicles in an attempt to make Staffordshire roads safer. In total the operation has resulted in over 4,750 cars, vans & motorcycles being seized and impounded.
Around a third of the cars that have been impounded by the police were not collected and as a result, 1,370 cars were scrapped.
When higher value vehicles are seized by the police and not collected, they are often auctioned off. Around 125 high value vehicles have been sold as part of this operation. The proceeds from these sales are pumped back into the local communities.
Staffordshire Police have released a gallery of the cars that they have seized, which you can view here.
If your car is seized by the police you only have a certain amount of time to collect it. You’ll need to make sure that you have all the necessary documents, such as your full driver’s license & proof that you own the vehicle to release your car. You will need to arrange a special seized car insurance policy to be allowed to drive it away from the police compound.
If you are caught driving without valid car insurance, you will be handed a fixed penalty notice of £300 and your license will be endorsed with 6 penalty points. Your car can be seized by the police on the spot and you could possibly find yourself with a court summons and even be banned from driving. There are also fees of £150 to release a seized car and an additional charge of £20 for every day it had been stored in the compound.
