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Hello everyone!!! Wud appreciate some help re: wheel clamp
Hi everyone, I am new to the forum, what fantastic help. I stumbled into this forum after I was wheel clamped a week ago. Basically I parked on a side road that is between two shops. it's an access to a church at the back . I parked edged to the wall of one of the shops and dashed to collect a package from the adjacent shop. barely one minute. Came back and there was this guy walking towards my car with a clamp, I tried to say to him I was just moving away and he wouldnt have any of it and clamped the car anyway.
I asked how much it was to release it and he said 225. I asked if he was doing this legally and if he was allowed to do it, to which he made a call and a lady appeared from a van, she took the money and showed me a licence. He added that I now would have to pay 100 for a tow truck that had been called out, I wish i had known this forum before, he refused to take the chain off until I paid for the tow truck, my kids were inside the car screaming all this time. so in a matter of minutes I had lost 325 pounds.
It wasn't until i saw the signs that i realised the release fee is 120 so they basically stole the rest of the money from me.
my questions are
1. if a road is in between two shops with obvious access to other buildings at the back how can this be private land? how can i verify this that this is indeed private land?
2. The person who clamped me was a man, the person who took money and provided a licence is a woman who did not clamp me, is this a legal clamp? according to the sia the immobiliser must be licensed and i presume it would have to be the same person collecting money, the sia have confirmed to me that they licence individuals not firms, and the regulations apply to a person not "a group of people"
3. I have found the address behind the po box can i direct all my letters to the physical address from the outset?
4. how safe is it to provide these kind of people with my home address?
5. Are they allowed to clamp a car with children inside?
Any sort of help will be very much appreciated. I am in the process of constructing a letter to them and I am determined to go to court if this fails
Re: Hello everyone!!! Wud appreciate some help re: wheel clamp
Welcome to the site.
Will move your thread
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Re: Hello everyone!!! Wud appreciate some help re: wheel clamp
Basically these people are a law unto themselves. Even if they weren't SIA registered, you'd have a hard job getting the police interested.
You're an easy target with children in the car as you have to pay up. The tow truck [problem] is a common one.
If you're on your own, you are best off sitting in your car until they get bored and leave and phoning friends / locksmiths / toolhire companies or your own tow truck firm to remove your car to your property where you can work on the clamp in peace.
Did you pay by credit card? If so, you can get the money off the bank.
If not, you need to jointly take the clamping company and landowner to small claims court. Before doing this you should send both a 'letter before action' giving them 7 days to pay up or else.
Who owns the land? Is it the church? What signage was there?
Re: Hello everyone!!! Wud appreciate some help re: wheel clamp
Thanks for the reply. One I paid by debit card, was the only card I had at the time.. I am not sure who owns the land? it is a shared road by both shops and the church how do I find out who owns the land?
Admitedly there were signs 8 ft from the ground, saying you need a permit to park there, and that your car could be clamped, release fee of 120 no mention of tow trucks etc
my question though I was clamped by a man, then a lady was called to collect the money and she wrote her sia number, its likely the other chap is not licensed. sia tell me they licence individuals in the first place for the person to clamp my car he needs the licence then obviously he would carrry out the whole process plus collecting money etc. The fact that I have a name of someone who did not clamp surely makes it an illegal clamp> They have obtained money by deception. Please advise
Letter to land owner what should I be saying to land owner?
Re: Hello everyone!!! Wud appreciate some help re: wheel clamp
Originally Posted by Ninja gal
Thanks for the reply. One I paid by debit card, was the only card I had at the time.. I am not sure who owns the land? it is a shared road by both shops and the church how do I find out who owns the land?
Admitedly there were signs 8 ft from the ground, saying you need a permit to park there, and that your car could be clamped, release fee of 120 no mention of tow trucks etc
my question though I was clamped by a man, then a lady was called to collect the money and she wrote her sia number, its likely the other chap is not licensed. sia tell me they licence individuals in the first place for the person to clamp my car he needs the licence then obviously he would carrry out the whole process plus collecting money etc. The fact that I have a name of someone who did not clamp surely makes it an illegal clamp> They have obtained money by deception. Please advise
Letter to land owner what should I be saying to land owner?
Ninjagal,
Have a read of the clamping guide it suggests some remedies and gives some feedback. I would suggest that a court would insist on the return of any money over and above the release fee.
You should be able to find out who owns the land from the land registry. As its a road try the council road department. They should be able to tell you whether or not it is adopted by the council. If it is adopted then there shouldn't be any private clamping occurring. They may be able to tell you who owns the road.
I would agree that the person clamping you sounds as if he was not licensed. This is an offense under the PSI Act and should be reported to the Police and the SIA (www.thesia.org.uk). Don't expect a huge reaction from either agency - the police reaction is likely to be - "clamping - civil matter, not interested" - so make sure you mention the Private Securityv Act and the use of unlicensed individuals. The SIA are more interested in compliance than prosection so don't expect huge things to happen on that front either. However the possibility of criminal charges will give you extra ammunition if you manage to get these jokers to court.
If you believe the signage was inadequate then you may have a case for getting the all the money refunded. If you persue the avenue then make sure you get photos. You will need to show that the signs cannot be easily seen or are not understandable.
Any letter should be titled letter before action. Basically you should insist that the money obtained above the release fee should be repaid. If you are going after them on signage/use of unlicensed individauls then you should mention that fact to. Give them 7-14 days to comply or court action will follow. BTW send any mail recorded delivery to make sure they receive it.
BTW send the same letter to the landowner as you do to the clamping firm. The clamping firm are acting as their agents in this manner.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This does not constitute legal advice and is not represented as a substitute for legal advice from an appropriately qualified person or firm. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: Hello everyone!!! Wud appreciate some help re: wheel clamp
Thanks pin1onu, very much appeciated. Just one question if you dont mind, the land registry do I call them or search the title online? Would it then show me that exact road and who owns /controls it? not so familiar with this sort of thing, what exactly should I do re; land registry?
its just that I see this as the only avenue workable, contacted the council planning department and no one can help?
Hello everyone!!! Wud appreciate some help re: wheel clamp
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Originally Posted by Ninja gal
