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.
I live on what I thought was a public road. However, part of this road appears now to be subject to the control of a private company which controls the parking. There is a section of the road which you may only park on provided (i) you live in a particular block of flats and (ii) you have been granted a permit. The private company monitors the area with CCTV. If you do not have a permit and park there, they clamp your car for half an hour and then tow it away. The total fee to get the car back is £432. An appeals procedure is provided for by the company.
The signs which explain the consequences of parking on the land without a permit are, for reasons I need not trouble you with, ambiguous. But they do state that the person parking 'agrees to be bound by the terms of the contract'. In particular, the 'terms' stipulate that the vehicle will be clamped for 1/2 an hour. Then after that period has elapsed, the vehicle wll be towed away. The clamp release fee is something like £150, and the fee to release from the pound is £280.
My car was unfortunate enough to find itself parked in the area controlled by the company. The car was parked at about 1 a.m. when there were no other cars about. The car was covered with a protective cover, which covered the licence plate. Nonetheless, the parking company must have lifted up this cover , as a big sticker appeared on my window telling you not to interfere with the clamp. The parking ticket which I received states that the vehicle was clamped at 02.30 a.m. and then towed at 03.10, i.e. in accordance with the contract terms which require a period of at least 1/2 hour before towing can take place.
As owner of the vehicle I went to collect the car and paid the £432 to get it back. In the course of pleading with the owner of the company, I made admissions that I had driven the vehicle. I also asked to see photographic evidence from the CCTV which woudl show that the car was clamped for the requisite 1/2 hour before being towed away. They offered to provide this information to me at £10 a photo.
I have read the information on this website carefully. The main problem I appear to have is that this situation is different from many of the other posts in that I have already paid the money over. Have I thereby accepted liability? What implications does this have for fighting the case in court- what would I need to prove?
I would invited comments on my strategy so far which is:
(i) Appeal in accordance with the company procedure, with skeletal submissions as I do not want to reveal too much of my hand and get knocked back,
(ii) go to court, saying that (a) the signs were insufficiently clear to permit a contract to be formed and (b) that the charge amounted to a penalty clause and should be reduced.
I will also get information on this company via companies house to establish what profits they are making from this scheme. This will help to establish whether the charges are 'reasonable' (seeing as the sole purpose of the company's existence appears to be to raise money through parking tickets). I will also contact the council to find out what byelaw empowered this private company to take over what was previously public land with free parking.
I have also considered whether there is any mileage in the fact that the company must have interfered with my vehicle by pulling up the cover in order to place the sticker on the screen. Can you help?
Is it worth putting them to proof that they left the car on the road, clamped, for the 1/2 hour as stiuplated in the contract? If it turns out they did not, they have clearly breached their side of the contract. But implicit in this is an acceptance that there was a valid contract in the first place.
I do not consider it worthwhile putting the company to proof as to the driver of the vehicle. I made admissions to the owner of the company.
Your comments and assistance would be much appreciated.
As the car was taken to their pound their is nothing to gained about disputing who was driving (a valid argument for a charge sent from a private parking company), if only part of the road is council owned are you sure that you were actually parked on the private road.
If you were parked on the public road then they stole the car, and you paid a ransom.
Advice is based on my personal opinion, and what I have learnt from this forum.
If you need legal advice please consider consulting a lawyer.
• were the signs clear and correctly worded?
• that the £432 is way in excess of what would be 'reasonable'
• any contract breaches on their side e.g. the half hour towing rule
£432 release fee
which I received states that the vehicle was clamped at 02.30 a.m. and then towed at 03.10, i.e. in accordance with the contract terms which require a period of at least 1/2 hour before towing can take place.
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