Guide

Police seizure notice explained.

A police seizure notice is the form you are handed at the roadside, or sent by post, when the police take your vehicle under section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 or section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002. It records which power was used, where the vehicle is held, the deadline for reclaiming it and the documents you must bring. Several forces number it form 3708.

Reviewed by Adam Jay, Director, Dash Cover Ltd · Last reviewed 2 November 2026 · Applies to England and Wales.

What's on the notice

Layouts differ between forces, but every notice carries the same core information. Check each line, because the compound will match your documents against it.

Date, time and place of seizure

The deadline runs from the date the notice was given, so this date matters more than the day you read it.

Vehicle details

Registration, make and model. Your insurance certificate and V5C must show the same registration.

Power used

Section 165A RTA 1988 (no licence or no insurance) or section 59 PRA 2002 (anti-social use). Occasionally another power such as section 165A alongside a drink-drive arrest.

Who was driving

Driver and, where known, the registered keeper. If the keeper was not the driver, the notice is posted to the keeper's address.

Where the vehicle is

The recovery operator or compound, its address, phone number and opening hours, and a reference number to quote.

What to bring

Usually photo ID, driving licence, proof of ownership, a certificate of insurance covering the vehicle, and sometimes a valid MOT.

Deadline and disposal warning

Seven working days to claim, and notice that the vehicle may be disposed of 14 days after the notice date.

Section 165A or section 59: what the difference means for you

Section 165A seizures follow a roadside check where the driver could not show a valid licence or insurance. To reclaim the car you have to produce exactly what was missing: a licence that covers the vehicle and a certificate of insurance that covers the person collecting it. If the problem was insurance, the compound and the police both know that, and they look closely at the certificate you bring.

Section 59 seizures are about how the vehicle was being used rather than paperwork. Normally a warning is given first and the vehicle is seized if the behaviour is repeated within 12 months. The release process is the same, and you still need insurance that covers the vehicle to drive it away, because the police will not release a vehicle to be driven uninsured.

The deadline, in plain terms

You have seven working days from the date on the notice to turn up with the right documents. Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays do not count. If the notice was posted because you were not the driver, the clock still runs from the date it was given or sent, not from when it landed on your mat, so act the day it arrives.

Miss the seven days and the vehicle becomes eligible for disposal 14 days after the notice date. It can be sold or scrapped, you still owe the removal and storage charges, and a disposal fee is added. Charges are fixed by regulation: £192 removal, £26 per day storage and £96 disposal for a standard car or van. Our compound release guide works through the costs with examples.

The insurance line, and why people get it wrong

The notice asks for a certificate of insurance that covers the vehicle. What it does not say, and what catches people out, is that the compound will only accept a policy that runs for at least 30 days and is written for a seized vehicle. One-day, weekly and most monthly temporary policies are refused. Annual policies usually exclude vehicles in police custody, and a new annual policy can be hard to arrange quickly after a seizure for no insurance.

What the compound wants to see is a 30-day impound insurance certificate in the registered keeper's name, showing the registration on the notice. It can be bought the same day, and the certificate arrives by email, which you can show on your phone.

If someone else will drive the car out, their name needs to be on that certificate as a named driver. If you hold a provisional licence, you need a provisional impound policy and a supervising driver with you on the day.

Lost the notice?

Phone the force's vehicle recovery unit, or the compound if you know which one holds the car, with the registration. They can confirm the seizure date, the power used and what to bring, and most will let you collect with photo ID and proof of ownership in place of the paper notice. Do this straight away: the deadline does not pause because the form is missing.

What the notice doesn't cover

The offence itself. A fixed penalty, summons or court date for driving without insurance or a licence arrives separately. Collecting the car does not settle it.
Vehicle tax. Untaxed vehicles are clamped or removed by DVLA's contractor under a different process with its own release fees.
Damage in the compound. Check the car before you sign for it and note anything on the release paperwork.
Finance. If the car is on finance, the finance company may be contacted and can ask for the vehicle to be released to them instead.

Mistakes we see every week

Buying one-day or weekly cover and being turned away at the gate, with another day's storage added.
Insurance in the wrong name: the certificate must be in the registered keeper and owner's name, with anyone else as a named driver.
Going straight to the compound when the notice says to produce documents at a police station first.
Turning up without the V5C or a bill of sale, or with a V5C still in the previous owner's name.
Not declaring a cancelled policy, conviction or earlier seizure when buying the impound policy, which can void it after the car is released.

Got a notice in your hand?

Dash arranges the 30-day impound policy it asks for. Quote online in about three minutes, price shown before you pay, certificate by email straight after.

Get an impound quote Prefer to talk? 01905 930 411

Sources

General information for England and Wales, not legal advice. Follow the instructions on your own notice where they differ.