The same term is used in French, as in English, for the place where badly parked vehicles or stray animals are taken – la fourrière (pound).
Prevention is always preferable as it will usually cost a minimum of €140 to get your car back from a pound. It might also be in an impractical location on the edge of town – without your car to get to it…
What is more, in many cases, eg. where the police have it towed due to a parking offence, towing and pound fees will be on top of a fine for the offence.
In some cities, police seem especially zealous in having cars removed but in at least one they are making an effort to give drivers a last chance to avoid their cars being towed.
In Cahors, residents may now opt to have a special flashcode in their car window, which the police can scan to send a final warning to their mobile phones. Flashcode stickers can be obtained free from the police municipale.
If they collect the car quickly, owners will still face a fine for their car being poorly parked but they will not have to collect it from the fourrière, with the accompanying higher costs.Another change likely to be introduced across the board in future, as it features in a transport bill, is being able to check on the internet if your car is in the pound. This is already available in Paris, at the site teleservices.paris.fr/fourrieres.
Cars, or other vehicles (it can apply also to two-wheelers), may be towed away if they are deemed to be causing a blockage to traffic or parked badly.
The parking may merely be gênant (inconvenient), with other possible categories being “very inconvenient”, “abusive” or “dangerous”. It could be something as minor as being parked by a dropped kerb (bâteau).
Other situations where a car may be impounded include not having a contrôle technique (MOT test), not doing repairs required after a contrôle technique, and in cases of speeding more than 50kph over the limit.
Before having a car towed away, police always check if it is reported stolen – if it is, then it will be taken to the fourrière for safe-keeping and the owner will be informed.
If it is not, police fill out paperwork describing the car and the reason for impounding it and have it towed away, usually by a private company.
It will be placed in a secure, gated pound.
If you arrive before the car has been towed, you may avoid paying the full pound fees if you pay any related fine for a parking offence.
However, if even two wheels have left the ground, you may be asked to pay the removal fees (which are the heaviest part of the fourrière costs).
There is a fine of €3,750 and potentially up to three months’ prison if you attempt to stop your car being towed away.
It is, however, possible to contest it afterwards to demand a refund, either to the procureur de la République at the tribunal de grande instance court if the towing followed a fine for a motoring offence, or to the prefecture in other cases, such as breaking rules on preservation of listed natural or historic sites.
Apart from in Paris, where you can check the website, you should contact the police commissariat or gendarmerie to find out if your car is in the pound, the same day if possible.
If you are away for several days, a notification will be sent to your home via recorded delivery letter within five working days after the car is taken to the pound.
You should always be very careful about how your car is parked if you are leaving it on the public highway for long.
The letter sent to your home will include a warning that the car may be sold or destroyed if not collected, usually after 30 days.
After four days in the pound, the car undergoes an expert check of its condition (for which a €61 fee is added to the bill if you collect it). If it needs repairs or a contrôle technique, you will not be able to collect it until this is done.
A car deemed to be a “wreck” will be destroyed after 10 days if not collected.
To collect the car, you need to bring the carte grise registration document, proof of insurance and your driving licence, and pay the fees in full.
In most towns these may be up to €141 (not including the expert check fee) plus €6.31 frais de garde for each extra day the car stays in the pound.
In Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, they may be up to €151 plus €10, and in Paris €191 plus €29/day. The fees are lower for two-wheelers.
A first instalment of frais de garde is always payable as part of the fee as the day starts from the moment the car arrives at the pound. An additional €7.60 is also payable if the car was clamped before being towed.
Otherwise, the fees include “preliminaries” and towing.
The towing and frais de garde parts of the fees rose slightly at the end of last year, apart from the ones in larger cities, which have stayed the same.
