Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Land Transport Act 1998

Motor vehicle registration and licensing - Change of registered person on sale or other disposition

250: Personal property

You could also call this:

“Getting your personal items back when your car is taken away”

When a car is taken away by the authorities, they need to give back any personal items that were inside it. These are things that don’t belong to the car itself or aren’t used to make the car work. You can get these items back in two ways:

If you’re there when the car is being taken, you can ask for your things right away. You just need to show that the things belong to you or that you were allowed to have them in the car.

If you weren’t there when it happened, you can still get your things later. You can do this if you’re the owner of the items, or if you’re picking them up for the owner. If you’re getting them for someone else, you need to prove that the owner said it was okay for you to collect their things.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3705381.

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249: Circumstances when motor vehicle may be seized and impounded, or

"When police can take your car if you drive when you're not allowed to"

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251: Storage of impounded motor vehicles, or

"Rules for storing cars taken away by the police"

Part 17 Motor vehicle registration and licensing
Change of registered person on sale or other disposition

250Personal property

  1. Personal property (other than property attached to or used in connection with the operation of the motor vehicle) present in a motor vehicle at the time of its seizure and impoundment under section 249 must be released—

  2. on request made at the time of the seizure, to a person who produces satisfactory evidence that he or she was lawfully entitled to possess the motor vehicle or the personal property immediately before the motor vehicle was seized and impounded; or
    1. subsequently, to—
      1. the owner of the personal property; or
        1. a person acting on behalf of the owner of the personal property, if the person produces satisfactory evidence of the owner’s consent to the property being released to that person.

        Notes
        • Section 250: inserted, on , by section 32(7) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 17).