Thread: I have been clamped and secretly impounded!

Hello - I am new to this and not quite sure what to do yet so please forgive me.
My car has been clamped and is currently held in a secure "secret" pound. I am to be charged £400 for the release of my car which is only worth at the absolute maximum £200. I wonder if anyone knows how I stand iwth regard to the tax disc if I sign the car over to be scrapped. Am I entitled to cash this in for a refund of the 4 clear months that remain? Also, if I sign the car over, can the company come back to me at a later date for the balance of the fine? Whilst in my mind I have written the car off - rather begrudgingly - I am unsure as to where I stand legally and so far legal entities say this is a rather grey area! Does anyone have any ideas? Or have you been through a similar thing?
Please help as I have no idea where to go next!

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Ok, thank you

Hello - I am new to this and not quite sure what to do yet so please forgive me.
My car has been clamped and is currently held in a secure "secret" pound. I am to be charged £400 for the release of my car which is only worth at the absolute maximum £200. I wonder if anyone knows how I stand iwth regard to the tax disc if I sign the car over to be scrapped. Am I entitled to cash this in for a refund of the 4 clear months that remain? Also, if I sign the car over, can the company come back to me at a later date for the balance of the fine? Whilst in my mind I have written the car off - rather begrudgingly - I am unsure as to where I stand legally and so far legal entities say this is a rather grey area! Does anyone have any ideas? Or have you been through a similar thing?
Please help as I have no idea where to go next!

Hello - I am new to this and not quite sure what to do yet so please forgive me.
My car has been clamped and is currently held in a secure "secret" pound. I am to be charged £400 for the release of my car which is only worth at the absolute maximum £200. I wonder if anyone knows how I stand iwth regard to the tax disc if I sign the car over to be scrapped. Am I entitled to cash this in for a refund of the 4 clear months that remain? Also, if I sign the car over, can the company come back to me at a later date for the balance of the fine? Whilst in my mind I have written the car off - rather begrudgingly - I am unsure as to where I stand legally and so far legal entities say this is a rather grey area! Does anyone have any ideas? Or have you been through a similar thing?
Please help as I have no idea where to go next!

More information required. Where was it when it was clamped, who clamped it and why?

You can claim a refund on a tax disc that is not in your possession. If I remember rightly it is a form V33 only available from your local DVLA office. There is a small fee.

Originally Posted by Doods

Hello - I am new to this and not quite sure what to do yet so please forgive me.
My car has been clamped and is currently held in a secure "secret" pound. I am to be charged £400 for the release of my car which is only worth at the absolute maximum £200. I wonder if anyone knows how I stand iwth regard to the tax disc if I sign the car over to be scrapped. Am I entitled to cash this in for a refund of the 4 clear months that remain? Also, if I sign the car over, can the company come back to me at a later date for the balance of the fine? Whilst in my mind I have written the car off - rather begrudgingly - I am unsure as to where I stand legally and so far legal entities say this is a rather grey area! Does anyone have any ideas? Or have you been through a similar thing?
Please help as I have no idea where to go next!

A couple of questions:
Was it clamped and towed away on private land by a private firm?
Was it clamped and lifted by a bailiffs at a courts direction for unpaid fines or debts of some nature?

Thanks to Martin 3030 for sorting out this thread so that i can now answer previous questions.
My car was parked on what I thought to be council land. For the past ten years I have parked here to go to the local restaurants. There are no other car parks around. There are no pay and display machines in the car park - just a man who sits in a wooden hut every day until 5pm. Once he is closed there is no way of paying to park and as far as I knew you did not have to pay in the evening.
Up until October 2007 the car park was indeed owned by the council but then sold to a private company. Therefore, my car was on private land and it was clamped and taken away by a private firm.

Theft and extortion springs to mind.

Did you know it was now private land?

Are there any signs?

How long where you clamped for and did they give you the oppotunity to pay a release fee before towing your car?

There are no signs up to say that the land is now privately owned although clamping signs can be seen in daylight!
We were clamped for about 2.5 hours. When we returned to the car park, the car was already on the lorry and we had to pay £400 there and then (cause we all carry that kind of money around!) or contact the "office" in the morning to pay the release fee of £400.
If the car had not been lifted I could have saved £50!!!!

If you can, pay by credit card over the phone, and then initiate a chargeback via your bank/credit card company.