If you're caught committing certain driving offences, the vehicle you're driving can be impounded by the police. This page explains when your vehicle can be impounded, what happens at the roadside and the actions you need to take to get it back.
The vehicle you're driving will be impounded if you're caught driving when:
The vehicle you're driving can also be impounded if:
Your vehicle can also be impounded if you failed or refused to provide information, or provide misleading information, about a fail to stop event involving your vehicle.
The police will give you an impoundment notice and will call for a tow truck to take the vehicle away to a storage facility.
You'll have to pay the towing and storage fees before you can get the vehicle back.
Following a 28-day impoundment period, you have 10 days to claim the vehicle and pay the fees (or make arrangements to pay the fees).
If the vehicle was impounded because you were racing or doing street car stunts, you must get a new warrant of fitness before the vehicle may be driven again. This means you have to take the vehicle straight from the storage facility to a garage or testing station for a warrant of fitness inspection.
If you fail to stop (and remain stopped) when signalled by police, the enforcement officer may order your vehicle to be impounded for 6 months. Failing to stop is the only offence which has an impoundment period of 6 months.
If your vehicle is impounded for 6 months, you have 38 days to either:
If you haven’t done either of the above at the end of the 38-day period, the vehicle will be considered abandoned. At this point, the storage provider can request to become the registered person for the vehicle.
After the police give their approval, the storage provider can sell or dispose of the vehicle to recoup costs, subject to any terms or conditions from the police.
The registered person for the vehicle has an obligation to make sure that only licensed drivers use their vehicle, and that other drivers use their vehicle responsibly. However, there are some circumstances where the registered person can appeal against a roadside vehicle impoundment.
As the registered person, you can make an appeal only on the grounds that:
For a 6-month impoundment, you can appeal on that grounds that impoundment will cause extreme hardship (for the vehicle’s registered person) or undue hardship (for another person). A vehicle would not be released if the Court considered it contrary to the interests of road safety.
You can't appeal on hardship grounds for a 28-day impoundment.
As the registered person for the vehicle, you may appeal to the Commissioner of Police within 14 days. If that appeal is unsuccessful, you can appeal to a district court.
If your appeal is successful, the vehicle will be returned. You don't have to pay the costs of the impoundment if it's shown that the police didn't have reasonable grounds to impound the vehicle or didn't follow the correct procedure.
If the vehicle was stolen or converted, you don't have to pay the storage fee, but you must pay the towing fee.
At the end of the impoundment period, go to the storage provider. Take:
When you've paid the towing and storage fees and shown your documentation, the storage provider will release the vehicle.
If you've received a summons, you must still go to court. Impoundment doesn't replace any legal action the police may take.
This depends on:
| Gross vehicle weight | Time/day | Towage fees (incl. GST) |
|---|---|---|
| 3500kgs or less | Between 7am and 6pm, Monday to Friday (not including public holidays) |
$90.20 |
| Any other time (eg Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday) |
$120.30 |
|
| More than 3500kgs | Between 7am and 6pm, Monday to Friday (not including public holidays) |
$223.40 |
| Any other time (eg Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday) |
$343.70 |
| Additional fee (incl GST) |
|
|
| Fee for additional kilometres towed in excess of 10 kilometres (per km or part of a km) |
$6.10 |
|
| Gross vehicle weight | 28-day impoundment total1 (incl GST) |
Approx2 6-month impoundment total1 2 (incl GST) |
Each additional day (incl. GST) |
| Gross vehicle weight is 3500kgs or less |
$607.50 |
$4374.00 |
$24.30 |
| Gross vehicle weight is more than 3500kgs |
$1417.50 |
$10,206.00 |
$56.70 |
1 Under the relevant legislation, no storage fee is charged for the first 3 days.
2 The total storage fee for a 6-month impoundment will vary depending on the number of days in the impoundment period.
You should contact the storage provider to discuss what options the provider may offer for paying it off. For a 6-month impoundment, you may be able to appeal of the grounds of extreme hardship (see above).
The tow truck company is responsible for any damage to the vehicle while it's being towed to storage. The storage provider is responsible while the vehicle is being stored.
Rental companies are responsible for making sure they rent vehicles only to licensed drivers.
Employers are responsible for checking that their employees' driver licences are valid before allowing them to drive company vehicles (see below).
It's the company's responsibility to recover the impoundment fee from the driver.
In the case of a 6-month impoundment, when a vehicle is under a finance arrangement and the contract is breached, a creditor may take ownership of and apply to repossess the vehicle. When creditors repossess a vehicle, they are not liable to pay impoundment fees from the time they become a registered person for the vehicle until the time it’s released.
Employers can subscribe to Driver Check, a secure internet site that allows them to confirm that only licensed drivers are driving their company vehicles. The employer registers the names of their drivers (with the drivers' consent) and NZ Transport Agency then advises the employer of any change to a driver licence status.
Visit the Driver Check website(external link)
