Roadside checks for HGV, van, bus or coach drivers
What happens if your vehicle is immobilised
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) officers and police officers have the power to immobilise your vehicle when they stop you.
Your vehicle can be immobilised if you’ve committed a serious enough offence to get an ‘immediate prohibition’.
An immediate prohibition is used to prevent risks to road safety (for example an unroadworthy vehicle or a tired driver). It means you will not be able to drive your vehicle until the problem is sorted out.
When your vehicle can be immobilised
DVSA or the police can immobilise your vehicle for any of the following reasons:
- you’ve broken the rules on drivers’ hours and tachographs
- your vehicle is not roadworthy
- your vehicle is overloaded
- you’ve been given a fine but cannot or will not pay it
Your vehicle might not be immobilised if special circumstances apply.
For example, DVSA will consider:
- the type of load you’re carrying
- whether you’re carrying passengers on a public service vehicle who’d be inconvenienced if it was immobilised
How to get your vehicle released
DVSA or the police will attach a warning notice to your vehicle after immobilising it. The notice tells you how to get the vehicle released. You have to:
- prove that the issues have been fixed
- pay an £80 release charge
You can be sent to prison and be given an unlimited fine if you give false statements to get the vehicle released. You can also be fined £1,000 if you try to remove the immobilisation device.
Costs to release your vehicle
If your vehicle is immobilised for 5 days, this means your vehicle is ‘abandoned’. DVSA will move the vehicle to a storage site and contact you or the registered owner to claim the vehicle.
You will have to pay for:
- moving the vehicle (£160)
- storing the vehicle (£35 per day)
- immobilisation device removal (£80)
Your vehicle will only be released when the full amount has been paid.
If the vehicle is not reclaimed within 3 months, DVSA will dispose of the vehicle. You’ll have to pay these fees:
- moving the vehicle (£160)
- storing the vehicle (£35 per day)
- disposal of the vehicle (£50)