DVLA reveals the weird and wonderful items found in untaxed cars
Items found in impounded vehicles are stored and then sold by the DVLA – but it’s not just windscreen fluid and travel sweets people keep in their car
A collection of torso mannequins, a valuable book of illustrated cats or a toilet complete with seat are among the items found by the DVLA in untaxed, impounded cars over the last 12 months.
The agency, responsible for driver and vehicle licensing in the UK, also enforces vehicle excise duty, and has the power to clamp or impound cars left untaxed on the road.
For those cars impounded, owners have a month in which to collect their possessions, before they’re disposed of or sold at auction.
Among the items recovered were a quadbike, half of a corner sofa, a set of Beavis & Butthead trading cards, a bathroom toilet, a collection of men’s torso mannequins and a highly collectible Louis Wain book of illustrated cars from the 1920s.
The first move the DVLA makes against an untaxed car is to clamp it. Once the clamp goes on, a £100 fee applies before the motorist can get their car back, as well as a £160 surety fee if they’re unable to prove that the car is taxed.
If the release fee is not paid within 24 hours, the car is then impounded where the fine doubles to £200 and storage charges of £21 per day are incurred.
Tim Burton, the DVLA’s head of enforcement, said: “Having your car clamped is expensive and inconvenient – and as this list of items shows, you could end up losing more than just the car!
“DVLA operates a range of measure to make vehicle tax easy to pay and hard to avoid. While the vast majority of motorists do the right thing and tax their cars correctly, it is right that we take action against those that break the law and fail to tax their car.”
