If the DVLA clamps your vehicle for being untaxed, the release fee is £100. If it has already been towed to a pound, you pay £200 plus £21 for every day it sits there. On top of the DVLA vehicle clamping and impoundment fees, you may owe a refundable surety deposit of £160, £330, or £700 depending on the vehicle, and a separate penalty for the tax offence itself. Acting the same day is what keeps the bill down.
What You Pay to Get the Vehicle Back
The charge depends on how far enforcement has gone by the time you act.
A clamped vehicle that has not yet been towed costs £100 to release. Pay within 24 hours of the clamp being fitted and a discount applies.1GOV.UK. DVLA Enforcement of Vehicle Tax, Registration and Insurance Offences
Once the vehicle has been towed to a pound, the release fee doubles to £200, and a £21 daily storage charge starts running from the day it arrives.1GOV.UK. DVLA Enforcement of Vehicle Tax, Registration and Insurance Offences Every day of delay adds to that total, so the difference between collecting on day one and collecting on day seven is real money.
The Surety Deposit If the Vehicle Is Still Untaxed
If you have not taxed the vehicle by the time you go to collect it, you also pay a surety deposit on top of the release fee. The deposit is refundable if you show proof of valid vehicle tax within 14 days. Miss that window and the deposit is forfeited.1GOV.UK. DVLA Enforcement of Vehicle Tax, Registration and Insurance Offences
The surety amounts are:
- £160 for motorcycles, light passenger vehicles, and light goods vehicles
- £330 for buses, recovery vehicles, haulage vehicles, and goods vehicles
- £700 for exceptional loads and heavy goods vehicles such as large lorries
The Tax Penalty Runs Separately
Release and surety are only the mechanical side. The DVLA also pursues the underlying tax offence, and those charges can be larger than the release costs.
Where records show a vehicle is untaxed and has no SORN, the system issues an automatic late licensing penalty of £80, reduced to £40 if paid within 33 days. Ignored, it goes to a collection agency.1GOV.UK. DVLA Enforcement of Vehicle Tax, Registration and Insurance Offences
For more serious cases, an out-of-court settlement letter is issued instead. The amount is £30 plus a multiple of the outstanding tax: one and a half times for driving or keeping an untaxed vehicle with no SORN, and twice the outstanding tax for driving an untaxed vehicle that does have a SORN in force. The higher multiplier reflects that a SORN is a declaration the vehicle is off the road, so driving it anyway is treated as deliberate.1GOV.UK. DVLA Enforcement of Vehicle Tax, Registration and Insurance Offences
Unpaid settlements can be prosecuted in the magistrates’ court, where maximum fines reach £1,000, or £2,500 where a SORN was in force, or five times the tax owed if that is greater.1GOV.UK. DVLA Enforcement of Vehicle Tax, Registration and Insurance Offences
How to Locate and Release Your Vehicle
If the vehicle has been clamped but not towed, ring the number on the INF32 leaflet left on the windscreen. Once you pay the release fee, the enforcement team returns to remove the clamp.2GOV.UK. Get a Clamped or Impounded Vehicle Released
If it has already been towed, you need to find out which pound is holding it. Call your local police on 101, or NSL on 0343 224 1999. NSL runs DVLA enforcement operations and can tell you where the vehicle went.2GOV.UK. Get a Clamped or Impounded Vehicle Released
Payment can be made online, by phone, or in person at the pound, which also accepts cash and cheques from anyone collecting in person.3Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). INF32 – Taxing Your Vehicle
What to Bring
You need the V5C registration certificate to prove you are the registered keeper. A replacement V5C costs £25 through the DVLA and takes time to arrive, so start that application immediately if yours is missing.4GOV.UK. Get a Vehicle Log Book (V5C)
You also need proof the vehicle is now taxed (otherwise the surety applies), valid motor insurance, and a current MOT certificate. Bring photo ID as well: a passport, driving licence, EU national identity card, or government-issued card such as armed forces identification. Student cards, employer ID, and bank cards are not accepted.
If You Don’t Pay
Vehicles left unclaimed are eventually disposed of by the DVLA’s contractors, either sold at auction or scrapped. Once disposal begins, you lose all legal claim to the vehicle.2GOV.UK. Get a Clamped or Impounded Vehicle Released The exact holding period is not published, but the £21 daily storage charge continues to accumulate the whole time, so waiting is the most expensive route out of the process.
When a Vehicle Is Safe From Clamping
Enforcement is not limited to vehicles caught on the road. The DVLA can clamp or tow an untaxed vehicle that is on a public road even where a SORN is filed, and it can also act against a vehicle that is off the road but has no SORN in place.2GOV.UK. Get a Clamped or Impounded Vehicle Released The only situation that keeps an untaxed vehicle safe is sitting on your own property with a valid SORN declared. Someone else’s private land, a shared car park, or anywhere accessible to the public does not count.