Recovery fee threat
Page 11
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
IP Recovery operators are up in arms over enforced changes to their fees which could halve some of their payments.
The row centres on a decision by the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of British Insurers to bring in a blanket £105 fee for all recoveries which is subject to VAT and a 217 administration charge. The Road Rescue Recovery Association and the Association of Vehicle Recovery Operators say they were not consulted about the changes which, they warn, will "damage the industry".
In the past the £105 fee only applied when police used their statutory powers; for example to have an illegally parked vehicle removed. In other cases recovery operators were free to charge a reasonable rate for a job—typically around £150. The administration fee and VAT could cut the mandatory 2105 fee to less than 180.
The two associations also point out that this fee has not been reviewed for the past six years.
AVRO president Steve Shinnock. who will put the association's case to Home Office officials tomorrow (10 September), says: "Some operators will be getting half of what they were at a time when costs are increasing."
RRRA chairman Peter Cosby says: "Since the recovery industry is not party to the agreement that has been reached, operators should not feel obliged to abide by it."
Inspector John Bennett, secretary to ACPO's vehicle recovery group, predicts that recovery operators can expect more work from the police in the future.
Forces have been recommended to recover all abandoned, stolen and suspect stolen vehicles and to remove vehicles from motorways and dual carriageways within SD minutes.
"The suggestion from many operators is that they are now being assured of turnover and volume," says Bennett.