The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency's (VOSA) long awaited introduction of charging for the release of immobilisation devices following prohibitions will go live on 6 June. The circumstances under which a vehicle will be immobilised will not change. The Road Safety (Immobilisation, Removal and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations 2009 granted VOSA the powers to immobilise vehicles and included the requirement for £80 to be paid before a vehicle will be released; to date, VOSA has not requested this payment. The release fee represents some of the costs of VOSA’s immobilisation facilities being funded by those operators who have received prohibitions, rather than being met through the general enforcement fee as currently.
The powers allow VOSA to immobilise a vehicle for any reason. However, in practice the operating instructions to roadside examiners direct that the vehicle should be immobilised in all instances if the following circumstances prevailed.
- Drivers’ hours prohibition with a fixed penalty severity value of £200. Although this does not include '45 minute break' prohibitions
- Overloading prohibition where the vehicle is overloaded beyond design weights
- An immediate roadworthiness prohibition
- Any prohibition for an unpaid deposit
- Any other prohibited vehicle where either there is intelligence that the operator’s vehicles have previously absconded or the behaviour of the driver lends to a belief that they intend to abscond
This policy applies to both UK and non UK vehicles. The policy does allow for a reasonable amount of time to resolve the prohibitable issue before immobilising is imposed.
The charge is to the operator, rather than, as with fixed penalty notices, the driver. Operators will be offered the opportunity to pay the release charge at the time of immobilisation so as to lessen any delay at the end of the prohibition process. An immobilisation notice will be issued detailing the reasons for immobilisation and advising that the payment must be made before the vehicle will be released, even if other prohibitable matters have been resolved. The release of the vehicle is usually made by VOSA examiners in cases where it requires further inspection to remove a prohibition. In circumstances where the vehicle requires no further engagement with the examiner and there is no examiner present, eg release from a drivers’ hours prohibition, the release will be undertaken by a contractor.
Payments can be made to the examiner at the time of the immobilisation or upon removal of the prohibition; this can either be done via the driver or the operator can pay over the phone to the examiner. Payments can also be made to VOSA’s Contact Centre in Swansea. Receipts will be issued. There is no statutory appeal against immobilisation but should it later be deemed necessary to remove the associated prohibition, then a refund of the immobilisation charge will also be made.
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