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Current statutory charges for a standard car
For a normal private car, the statutory matrix used by police and many councils now sets the standard removal charge at about one hundred and ninety pounds, with daily storage at around the mid-twenties per day for each 24-hour period or part of a day. These figures apply where the car has been removed under road traffic law and taken into a police or council compound.
Authorities work within this framework, but the practical amount you pay can also reflect the contract rates agreed with local recovery operators, so real-world bills often sit in that range rather than at older, lower levels.
Typical totals after a few days
The easiest way to make sense of the cost is to look at examples for a standard car that has been recovered once and stored for a short period:
- If you collect the car very quickly, with only a single day’s storage added, the total often lands in the low two hundreds once removal and one day’s storage are combined.
- After three days in the pound, totals commonly move up into the high two hundreds for a straightforward case.
- Leave the car for a full week and it is usual to see a bill in the mid-three hundreds or higher, because storage is charged for each 24-hour period or part period.
These examples assume a standard car, upright and not badly damaged. Heavier vehicles or complicated recoveries sit in higher charging bands.
Recovery and other local charges
On top of the headline removal and storage figures, there are often extra amounts to consider. Where a specialist truck was needed to lift or tow the car, the recovery fee is built into the final bill. For a simple lift it is often in the low hundreds, but it increases where the job was difficult, for instance if the vehicle was off the road, badly damaged or blocking a junction.
Certain council seizures can also carry administrative or penalty charges separate from the police fee structure. In practice, this means that two people with similar storage periods can still see slightly different totals, depending on why and how their vehicles were taken.
What this means in practice for most drivers
For many drivers collecting a seized car within a day or two, a realistic working range for the overall cost is usually from just over two hundred pounds up towards the mid-two hundreds once removal, a short period of storage and basic recovery are counted. If the car is left for several days, or if there were complications at the roadside, totals in the three-hundred-plus bracket are common.
Pounds also have their own payment rules and time limits. Most give only a limited window, counted in days rather than weeks, before disposal action begins. Because those rules and any added charges are set locally, the only figure that actually applies to your case is the one given by the pound holding the car.
Keeping costs under control
The key influences on the final amount are the statutory removal charge, the daily storage rate and any recovery or local enforcement fees. Collecting the car as soon as you have the right documents, checking how the pound counts storage days, and confirming any extras such as tax deposits or administrative charges before you travel are the most reliable ways to keep the total as close as possible to the lower end of the usual range.
Impound processes, time limits and costs vary widely across the UK, and authorities can amend their rules at any time. Information on this site is intended as a general overview and should not be relied on as definitive for any specific impound location.