Seized vehicles

Your driving licence must be either:

• A valid UK photo card driving licence; if you have the old paper licence you need to bring your passport or another verifiable form of photo ID (one from the list above)
• A valid UK provisional licence – you must be accompanied at the station by a supervisor (someone who is over 21 and who has held a suitable full UK or EU licence for three years or more). The supervisor must also produce their driving licence. If necessary, you'll need to produce your CBT certificate too.
• A valid EU/EEA photo card driving licence along with a passport or EU/EAA identity card in the same name as that on the licence
• A valid non-EU/EEA driving licence, along with your international driving permit and an additional form of photo ID, such as a passport or a home country Identification Card in the same name as that on the licence. You must also produce proof of immigration status; this could include a stamp in your passport.

With some exceptions, including some concessions for students on a fixed-term course, drivers may not drive in the UK on a licence issued by a non-EU or EEA country for more than 12 months after their first arrival in the UK. An International Driving Permit is only an international translation of the licence and offers no authority or entitlement to drive in its own right. It must be accompanied by the domestic driving licence to which it refers.

If you've been disqualified in another EU member state or EEA country that disqualification applies in the UK too.

Check if your non-UK licence is acceptable and for how long.

You'll need to produce a valid certificate of motor insurance that permits the release of a vehicle impounded by a government authority before your vehicle will be released, even if you don’t intend to drive it on a public road. This needs to be a policy of no less than 30 days.

We’ll accept:

• a paper certificate 
• copies sent by email

Please make sure you've declared all the relevant facts to your insurer, including:

• correct owner and registered keeper details
• any motoring convictions in the last five years
• any relevant disclosable convictions
• any relevant medical conditions or disability
• correct address
• correct date of birth
• correct occupation
• any modifications to your vehicle from standard specification

If you took out the policy after the vehicle was seized, you must also declare relevant pending convictions, including those which may be pending in respect of the incident for which the vehicle is currently impounded.

You must also tell the insurer that the vehicle has been seized and is in a police compound.

It's a serious criminal offence to fail to declare the correct material facts or to give false information when getting insurance. This can render your insurance invalid and we will report all suspected fraud to the relevant company, and you may be prosecuted for any false statement made or omission to declare statutory information.

We may share information with your insurer or the Motor Insurers' Bureau if we suspect an offence.

Short-term insurance or temporary cover (for a period of up to 30 days) may not be valid to reclaim a seized vehicle. Please check the wording on the certificate or cover note. If in doubt, contact your insurer before you come to the station. 

If we're not satisfied that your insurance is valid for the release of an impounded vehicle, we may ask you to provide written confirmation from your insurer.

A motor trader can't release a seized vehicle on your behalf.

Only the policy holder can produce an open or trade insurance policy to release a seized vehicle. The policy must include the authority for it to be used to release a vehicle seized by the police. We will only accept a motor trade policy if the vehicle was scheduled on the policy at the time of seizure.

If you don't have the log book, you'll need you to bring the V5C/2 (Part 10 - green new keeper supplement of the log book) and you'll have to complete a V62 application for a new V5C while at the station. We'll send this to the DVLA on your behalf, along with the V5C, registering the vehicle in your name. 

If you don't have the V5C log book or V5C/2 (Part 10 - green new keeper supplement of the log book), we'll need to see verifiable proof of ownership – this could be an official receipt from the garage where you bought the vehicle, or evidence of purchase, such as a bank transfer or bill of sale. It will need to include the details of the previous keeper so we can contact them to verify that you bought the vehicle from them.

You also have to complete a V62 application for a new V5C while at the station. We'll send this to the DVLA on your behalf, registering the vehicle in your name. You'll also need to bring a postal order made payable to 'DVLA SWANSEA' to cover the DVLA set fee of £25. We'll send this to the DVLA with the V62.

If you have the V5C log book or V5C/3 (yellow Motor Traders Supplement), we'll need to see verifiable evidence of trading in relation to the seized vehicle, such as a stock book or similar containing details of purchased vehicles. This must include the date and time of purchase for the seized vehicle (a single piece of paper with the vehicle details written on it will not be acceptable).

If you have the V5C, you'll also have to complete a V62 application form while at the station. We'll send this to the DVLA on your behalf, along with the V5C (minus the V5C/3 yellow Motor Traders Supplement), registering the vehicle in your name.

If you don't have the V5C you'll also need to bring a postal order made payable to 'DVLA SWANSEA' to cover the DVLA set fee of £25. We will send this to the DVLA with the V62 form and the vehicle will be registered in your name.

If you're visiting the UK, you'll need to bring the following documents to the police station:

• The seizure notice
• Proof of ownership of the vehicle
• A valid driving licence
• A valid certificate of insurance
• Valid photo ID (passport or driving licence)

If you've imported or brought a vehicle into the UK and intend to stay for longer than six months, you must go through a process that includes registering and taxing the vehicle with DVLA. Find out the full process of importing a vehicle into the UK.

If your vehicle is seized while you're going through this process, you need to attend one of the designated police stations within seven days of the date of seizure to tell us that. You'll need to produce all the documents listed above to get your vehicle released.

This legal requirement to attend the pound in person to prove ownership and pay the charges will only be waived if you can provide evidence that:

• you're out of the country (for example, a copy of flight tickets)
• you're in custody
• you're in hospital
• you're immobile due to age, injury or disability
• there are compelling medical or compassionate circumstances that stop you being able to attend the pound in person

If any of the above circumstances apply to you, the third party collecting the vehicle on your behalf must attend the pound with:

• the evidence of the valid reason why you can't attend in person
• a letter of authority – a letter signed by you authorising the third party to collect the vehicle on your behalf
• a copy of your passport or driving licence as proof of your identity and signature

If you can attend the police station to establish your ownership but you can't drive the vehicle yourself, you may nominate someone to collect it on your behalf. Both you and the third party need to go to the police station together. 

You need bring valid photo ID (passport or driving licence).

The third party needs to bring their valid driving licence and valid photo ID (passport or driving licence).

Your insurance policy must cover the third party to drive the seized vehicle, this isn't covered by an 'allowed to drive other vehicles not owned by them' extension on the third party's insurance policy.