Bristol man forced to pay to get stolen car back from police
A Bristol driver believes he has been punished twice after he had his car stolen, and then had to pay £150 to get it back from police.
Trainee English teacher Ross Wolverson's car was stolen from outside his home in Horfield on June 26 and was later found undamaged by police in nearby Southmead.
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But 23-year-old voluntary youth worker Mr Wolverson said that moments before he was due to go and collect his car, as suggested by police, it was impounded and taken away to a compound for the weekend.
Mr Wolverson was then stunned to receive a telephone call from a garage in Shirehampton on June 29 informing him his vehicle was available for collection for £150, with an additional £20 charge for every extra day the car remained at the garage.
The driver, who was told his car was impounded so it could be checked for forensic evidence, said: "As a victim of a crime why am I being punished a second time by the police to retrieve my property which they decided to impound?
"It is unfair, unjust and needs to be challenged. We shouldn't have to pay the police for the privilege of investigating a crime that we are a victim of."
Catherine Foster, spokeswoman for Avon and Somerset police, said: "I can confirm that Mr Wolverson's vehicle was recovered by police after it was involved in a pursuit.
"Officers always endeavour to contact owners as soon possible after their vehicles are found. Unfortunately, police do not have the facilities to store stolen vehicles.
"We therefore use our contractor – Hintons – to recover and store them safely until they are collected. In nearly all cases, the cost of recovery and storage after a theft can be claimed back through the driver's insurance."
Mr Wolverson, who lives in Ashley Down Road, said his Kia Rio car is worth £2,000 and he is comprehensively insured.
But he says he will not claim his £150 back because he doesn't want to lose his six-year no claims bonus.
Mr Wolverson said: "I've paid the £150 because I need my car for the youth work I do for charity. I won't be claiming on my insurance though. Why should I ruin six years of no claims to pay for a police investigation we pay for through our taxes?"
Avon and Somerset police have been recovering stolen vehicles and taking them to a secure compound since May 2002 to prevent them becoming a target for crime or arson. The force says the procedure is in line with national guidelines.
Hintons recovers between 200 and 300 vehicles for the police each month.
In March, 789 vehicles were recovered in the Avon and Somerset police force area, including those driven without insurance, stolen, involved in any other crime or abandoned.
When a stolen vehicle is found by police it is automatically picked up by a recovery firm such as Hintons, who also deal with vehicles that are found abandoned or parked illegally.
In April, police told Adam Nowadczyk they had found his £120 scooter stolen from outside his home in Bedminster – but said he would have to pay at least £150 to get it back.
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by James Lewis, Leicester
Tuesday, July 28 2009, 10:38PM
“My friends case: his car was stolen on Wednesday night. He reported it stolen to the police on Thursday morning. The police called him on Thursday night to report that they had founf the car and that it was parked only 10 mins walk from where he lived. When he went to collect the car it wasn't there, he rang the police who informed him that it had been impounded by a private company because it was unlocked and they didn't want it to be stolen again. The car is only worth £300 max and has been a reliable runabout for many many years. He didn't give his consent for the car to be towed away, the police could have locked the doors (in full working order btw) and the police didn't mention any forensic examination. So why on earth should he fork out money to petty thieves to acquire his property back. You are right by saying that this in not the fault of the police, but how about some common sense. If the police allow this sham to happen then they deserve to be discriminated against. They are supposed to be peace officers, not revenue collectors for the governmant. In essence, they have just given the private car company permission to hold my friends property to ransom. I sincerely pity all the posters who are outraged that people are complaining about the police in this matter, you are gutless and cowardly and deserve to be victims in a police state, shame on you!”
by Your all fools, bristol
Thursday, July 09 2009, 9:12PM
“What a load of rubbish 1 get a car alarm 2 your car aint worth nothing so should of left it there 3 stop bloody moaning”
by KB, Bristol, England
Thursday, July 09 2009, 1:40PM
“Jeff, what do you mean "Hinton's conflict of interest?" They are a recovery operator which means they recover vehicles that have broken down etc. and move them off of the highway to a secure compound. Like any commercial organisation, they are entitled to make a charge. You are correct to say that the prices charged are set at Ministerial level. Consider that lucky, as if they were to charge the full rate for the job it'd be a helluva lot more than £150”
by Annoyed ex-fuzz, Bristol
Thursday, July 09 2009, 1:36PM
“Please remember when referring to "the Police" that it is not the actual officers you see out and about patrolling, but rather the governing body of the Police (i.e the Government) so it is unfair to put any blame whatsoever on them bobbies who do what they can to uphold the law and are held back by red tape and ignorants like some of the people on here making suggestive comments they don't do their jobs. I would love to have anyone join the Police Service for a month and see things from their perspective and what they have to do, cannot do etc in certain situations.
The fee's charged are nothing to do with the Police! Take it up with the towing company.
You wouldn't blame McDonalds for poor food received from Burger King.”
by Michael, Bristol
Thursday, July 09 2009, 1:34PM
“Someone has to pay £150 to get a car back from the car pound. This happens many times a day.
Yawn.”
by Jeff, Hotwells
Thursday, July 09 2009, 1:28PM
“Look - no is blaming the police for
Hinton's conflict of interest. It's government policy.”
by Gemma, Bristol
Thursday, July 09 2009, 1:15PM
“Far be it for me to meddle with the pedants unanimous that thrive upon these web forms, however, I think the point I was trying to make- ie, we are very lucky to live where we do, adn I stand by my point that the UK Government have bigger fish to fry than car recovery fee leglislation- still stands.
Having a legal and parliamentary system that is routinely admired as one of the best in the world still doesn't buffer us from economic decline- I think UK citizens can be well governed and poor at the same time, the two are not mutually exclusive.
So perhaps instead of looking for things to pick up on in order to appear erudite and ever so cutting, you might try and absorb the sentiment of the comment which was simply- if you don't like it, dont live here. This country is not a joke, and I dont believe that abysmally unimportant issues such as this render it one.”
by Amanda, Bristol
Thursday, July 09 2009, 1:01PM
“Why are people blaming the Police for the cost of the storage of stolen cars? What exactly have they got to do with it, I don't think that they set the fees or make the rules regarding situations like this?! Michelle to say people have no faith in the Police of this country because of something as petty as this is ridiculous! I know I wouldn't be as safe as I am walking around today without them, and have nothing but respect for the job they do, I'm sure their hands are tied in may situations but get blamed!
We have insurance to cover our out of pocket expenses when things get stolen, the excess is of our own choice! This whole story is madness!!”
by Roger, Redland
Thursday, July 09 2009, 12:03PM
“Gemma, you lament about the
'death of our economy' while at the same time saying how wonderful our system is.
These are two mutually exclusive stand-points, or totally contradictory views.
You'll have to choose one or the other to maintain any sort of credibility.”
by l, bristol
Thursday, July 09 2009, 11:11AM
“LEO - you were robbed - my car was picked up by Hintons and I was asked to pay £150 plus storage - but they scrapped it for me at no cost when I said that I wouldn't be able to pay the bill !!!!!!!!!!”