Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
new(ish) company so probably a standard PPC under a new name (old one too tarnished maybe..).
they have never filed any accounts and their return is overdue.
report them to companies house for a compliance failure
and treat them as rogues.
What is also interesting is that they give the following in their clamping FAQ:
What happens if you damage a vehicle on my property?
We carry full Combined Liability Insurance (see our certificate), which covers us, to work on your property and we shall indemnify you against any claims that could arise.
You will first see that they provide an Employers Liability Certificate which is utterly irrelevant to the question. You then see that they have £5Million of public liability insurance (that's good) but only for 7 employees.
Do we reckon that they can do all they claim with 7 people?
Are they using contractors? Are their contractors insured?
Never mind they give the landowner an "indemnity" that means that the landowner can pay claims with no obligation to mitigate and PCS has to reimburse.
To those who know You don't think this could be our friends from Oldham do you? Cos much of the jargon seems about right & very much the same.............. drivel
EL cover usually does include PL as does this policy but I doubt it would indemnify their client, or them, when being successfully sued by a consumer for PCS's negligent or unlawful behaviour
EL cover usually does include PL as does this policy but I doubt it would indemnify their client, or them, when being successfully sued by a consumer for PCS's negligent or unlawful behaviour
EL cover pays for injuries to members of staff in the course of their employment. It never includes PL but they may be separate sections of the same policy as is the case here.
a brief outline of the case......a colleague of my wifes, a carer, attending an old lady, parks in the same place she has parked for the past 6 months. call takes 15 mins. returns to car, clamped!
calls the clampers, explains she has to have car released as she has very young child expecting her at home. clamper returns 3 hours later. she argues that there are no signs and that she was on legitimate call with a note on her dashboard. clamper checks parking area and finds the notice on the floor, and puts it up in a temporary position.
result, £75 plus £125 clamping fee =£200 for 15 mins.
what really gets my goat with these rogues is that to contact them you have to call an 0900 number at £1.50 min.
anyway, i'll let the lady know that she is dealing with cowboys, as i suspected.
EL cover pays for injuries to members of staff in the course of their employment. It never includes PL but they may be separate sections of the same policy as is the case here.
You can upgrade your doubt to a certainty!
If you read the document you will see that PL IS included at a premium cost of £504
As I stated most EL policies include PL
However to suggest it covers them with regard to their client is misleading. PL (Public Liability) means just that public not contractual
If they were to include contractual liability they would need a separate policy called "Contractor's All Risk" - a very much more expensive proposition.
They have samples of their ticketing system including those yellow plastic wallets stating:
"It is an offence for anyone other than the driver to remove this ticket"
If you were lucky enough to get one of these tickets, you could have some fun.
Wait for the bogus "notice to registered keeper" to come through the door and write back.
Dear Sirs,
Thank you for your letter dated ********. It begins to answer a dilemma I've been in for the past couple of weeks.
I noticed a yellow sticker attached to the car stating it was illegal for it to be removed by anyone other than the driver. Unfortunately, the driver at the time did not do this. As mere registered keeper, I did not feel qualified to remove the notice myself, not wanting to get into trouble.
Do I now have your permission to dispose of the ticket in an environmentally responsible way?
You clearly have issues which you wish to take up with the driver of the vehicle at the time. When you catch up with them, please give them a ticking off from me.
If you read the document you will see that PL IS included at a premium cost of £504
As I stated most EL policies include PL
However to suggest it covers them with regard to their client is misleading. PL (Public Liability) means just that public not contractual
I did read it thank you!
I know what you stated but I think what you may mean to say is that "most commercial liability policies cover both Employers and Public Liability."
That is what they have, it is a single combined liability policy that covers Employers Liability and Public and Products Liability. Stand-alone Public Liability policies often cover Products Liability as well but a stand alone Employers Liabilty policy will never cover Public Liability (or any other class).
If they were to include contractual liability they would need a separate policy called "Contractor's All Risk" - a very much more expensive proposition.
Not quite, a CAR policy is generally used to cover stuff like building works etc. It is not designed to include contractual liability. In fact they don't need contractual liability (which covers their liability assumed by them under contract) what they should have is their contractors and sub-contractors included as additional insureds under their public liability.
Given that they have declared 7 employees I very much doubt that they have this.
SO what does this mean.
It means that anyone who engages these people should be concerned that if damage is caused to vehicles that it may well be uninsured, PCS may tun out to be a "man of straw" and unable to meet its obligations under its indemnity and you are left carrying the can.
If you are clamped by a PCS contractor it means that if your vehicle is damaged, you may find yourself with no oprtion but to claim on your own insurance and/or self fund the repairs.
If they were to include contractual liability they would need a separate policy called "Contractor's All Risk" - a very much more expensive proposition.
but I think you'll agree that's not what's being implied
I know what you stated but I think what you may mean to say is that "most commercial liability policies cover both Employers and Public Liability."
That is what they have, it is a single combined liability policy that covers Employers Liability and Public and Products Liability. Stand-alone Public Liability policies often cover Products Liability as well but a stand alone Employers Liabilty policy will never cover Public Liability (or any other class).
I'm not disagreeing with you Bernie. I'm simply stating that MOST EL policies sold are combined with PL & again I'm not disagreeing I'm saying that their PL will not give the sort of cover to their clients which they seem to imply on their website
I have had (bad) experiences with this outfit and I thought I would share those here.
Briefly in terms of the facts, I was driving a friends car and had it clamped in an area of Bow, East London where there was not any signs showing I couldn't park there. It turned out that the signs had been pulled down. My friend paid in cash for the release to the tune of £235.
In the eyes of the law, where there is no sign prohibiting parking, the clamping is illegal, as the driver/owner has not consented to the risk that his/her car may be clamped (Vine v London Borough of Waltham Forest is the relevant authority). Having discovered this, I felt it was worth the fight and so I disputed it with Parking Control Services in the first instance and received their computer generated response telling me to seek legal advice. I actually happen to be a trainee solicitor and so I followed this through to the Courts.
I issued proceedings in the county court and Parking Control Services didn't even bother to file a defence. I obtained judgment in my favour, naively thinking at the time that I would get my money back. However the following is crucial to anyone thinking of chasing these cowboys:
1. Don't be fooled by their smart website and fancy EC2 postcode. This is a PO Box address. 2. Their registered company address is some obscure address up in Park Royal, North London. This is likewise a shell outfit.
The upshot of this is that there is no means of enforcing your judgment should you obtain one. In the normal course of things, you can pay for an enforcement order (£55) and the Court will send bailiffs round to secure the possessions of the defendant. In the normal course of things, the threat of bailiffs on their door going to seize company computers should compel them to pay up. Of course, because there is no office and no computers/other high value items to seize, getting a bailiff will be a waste of time and money.
If you have paid a clamping release fee by card then you may have another trick up your sleeve, namely a Third Party Debt Order. A Third Party Debt Order is essentially where with the bank details of the defendant, the court orders the bank to freeze it, disallowing any money going in and reserving the money owed to you. This is an effective method of enforcement, however you will most likely need legal representation for this as you need to persuade the bank of Parking Control Services to disclose these bank details to you for the purposes of litigation. In which case, I would recommend going to a local Citizens Advice Bureau and they can point you in the direction of a local free legal advice centre. I personally volunteer at one called Toynbee Hall which is based near Aldgate East tube, East London.
One further point, it may be prudent to check out the company before you begin on the long process of suing them. If the company has a whole host of County Court judgments against them, they probably won't pay up yours either, so its worth doing a search against them. This can be done online at www.registry-trust.gov.uk for a fee of £8.
Any questions on this, I'll do my best to respond and clarify.
NB: Please do not directly rely on this as legal advice. The above is intended as helpful guidance and the writer accepts no responsibility for any inaccuracy or any losses that this may incur.
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You don't think this could be our friends from Oldham do you? Cos much of the jargon seems about right & very much the same.............. drivel
Originally Posted by JonCris
