NI vehicle removal — procedural and charging defects

Where a vehicle has been removed in Northern Ireland, the authority should be put to proof that the statutory conditions for immobilisation or removal under the Traffic Management (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 were met, and that the removal and storage charges do not exceed those prescribed by the Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles (Prescribed Charges) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (SR 2006/337). If it cannot show this, the removal and storage charges can be challenged.

Legal basis

Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles (Prescribed Charges) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (SR 2006/337) (prescribed removal and storage charges); the immobilisation and removal provisions of the Traffic Management (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (SI 2005/1964 (N.I. 14))

How to identify this in your case

Request the removal log, body-cam footage, and pound-entry record under Article 8 GDPR / DPA 2018. Look for missing pre-removal warning or unauthorised pound use.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

Dear Sir/Madam, Re: Vehicle [VRM] — removal and storage charges [REF] My vehicle was removed on [DATE] from [LOCATION] under Article 89 of the Road Traffic Regulation (Northern Ireland) Order 1997. The Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 require [SET OUT REQUIREMENT]. FOI / DPA records [REF] show that [DEFECT — e.g. no pre-removal warning issued; removal log incomplete; pound not authorised]. The removal and consequent storage charges are therefore unlawful and I require their refund within 28 days, failing which I will issue County Court proceedings. Yours faithfully, [NAME]

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NI vehicle removal — procedural and charging defects

Legal basis

How to identify this in your case

Sample appeal wording

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Sources

Related appeal grounds

Next steps