Ill double check later but the sign only mentioned clamping prices (140, or 190 the next day). My post title has changed. Maybe the moderator added "illegally towed car away". I dont believe it was illegal. My concern is the price and their tactics to ensure they hold your car at least 2 days by making it impossible to contact them. Also, you can only get your car back by appointment only, which makes things even harder. Is that all ok with the BPA? Are prices regulated? Ive had to visit two pounds before. Both the next day after my car was towed away. Both were under £180. This Parking Control Management deal seems very very shady.

As I understand it, theres nothing I can do. They probably have not broken any rules, so I was just venting

It's a legal [problem] that is out of order... My sister parked her car in a car park and this is her mistake. She parked at 10.45am. She returned at 3pm to find her car gone. She tried over and over to phone PCM to get her car but there was no luck. The lady kept insisting that she needs to speak to a guy via mobile number, but noone was picking up on that mobile number. We could not obtain the address of the car pound or any other details. The next morning we start heading to slough, and again we still cant get in touch with this mystery man at the car pound. I phone PCM main number again and scream at them to find him because we want the car back. Eventually he switches on his phone (10.30am) and tells us we need to make an appoinment to get the car back. He offers 1pm, we insist 11.15am. He caved him when I blagged "Are you a memeber of the BPA, are you following the guidelines". He gives me the post code and door number. Cant find the place. My sister phones back and he says there is no door number, and that we need to look for Glebe Farm. It wasn't easy, but we found it. There are no signs anywhere in or around the pound to tell people they are at the right place. Just two guard dogs, and no staff. We wait, he shows up. He says they clamped her car at 11.30am, and they towed it at 2pm. Total charge £350. We insisted that we couldnt pick the car up same day because he wasnt picking up the phone. He insisted that shes incurred 2 days storage charge. We asked for some official ID that can tell us he is legally allowed to tow cars, he presented an SIA licence. Now, this is the clever [problem]. They pick up cars, but its IMPOSSIBLE to collect the same day. They either wont pick up or they can say 'appointment only'. Their operating hours are 10am to 5pm, which makes it impossible for working folk to get their cars unless they take a day off the next day from work. Another part of the [problem] is that they dont want you to find the car pound. He clearly lied to me about the address, and theres no indication anywhere that there is a car pound there. This particular pound is located in Ruislip. Are the DVLA out of their minds? Is this all according to BPA regulations? Also, the pricing is insane. If they pick up a car at 2pm, close their office at 5pm, and i pick up the car the next morning at 10am, they can charge me for TWO DAYS storage. Even though I've only had a 3 hour window to get my car, which they would never let happen anyway. He explained they charge per calender day, but i said "you dont even operate per day, you dont even work normal office hours". Out of order. Further more, when you ring the number on the website, a message tells you to ring a mobile number if your car has been towed. But noone picks up this mobile number!! And the number given to me the next day is different. Its like a legal paradox that is out of control in London.

As far as I am aware, I do not need to pay business rates until late 2012 according to this quote from the budget: "Further one-year increase of Small Business Rate Relief 1. The Chancellor announced at the Budget that the current temporary increase in Small Business Rate Relief, which started on 1 October 2010 and was due to end on 30 September 2011, will continue for a further year (1 October 2011 to 30 September 2012)." My local council agree that I do not have to pay until october 2011, but claim that they have not had conformation for the one year extension. Does that apply to all local councils? Is the ne year extension going ahead??

Thanks for the reply and letter template. Should I go ahead and repair the car myself? The mileage has been conformed via the MOT history.

Hello. OP here. I'll stick to the original issue of the post... The dealer said his warranty only covers engine and clutch issues. The car has done 28297 miles. Since purchase it has done roughly 200 miles. What should I do next? It was advertised as 'perfect condition". It was all pretty friendly, but he basically said he can't do anything. I'm aware and experienced with the usual engine and clutch issues, but the steering issue is new to me. As far as I'm concerned, my mum bought a 100% working vehicle (according to the advert), with fairly low mileage.

My mum bought a Fiat Punto for near £3000 from a local car dealer. The dealership has a website claiming "xxxxx car dealers offer 3 months free warranty and a clear HPI report on all vehicles giving you a peace of mind to choose from a variety of vehicles to suit your needs and budget" At the point of sale he refused 3 month warranty due to the cars age (2002/2003). Unfortunately i wasn't there at the time, to stop the deal completing. The steering motor has failed, its a £500-600 fix. I have no doubt that he knew about this. What rights do I have?? The car was purchased one month ago, the problem first appeared 3 weeks after the purchase. Is there anything I can print off to show him that he is liable? UPDATE: I now have proof that he sells cars older than the punto, with 3 months warranty. Its clear to me that knew that the steering motor will fail.

He visited my business unit when I wasnt there. He simply left a letter stating he had attended with the intention of removing goods, 'I will return and remove goods even in your absense'. There was no 'Notice of Seizure of Goods & Inventory' form. This is the first and only visit he has made, there is no levy, he has not entered my property and I havent even met him face to face. The amount I owe was not put on the letter he left for me. Im happy to pay him his £24 visit fee but so far he's only asked for the 'Enforcement Costs' of £600. The council have fobbed me off all day. Im sending out letters, and now arranged a meeting with my local M.P. Just to make clear: £900 paid to council (full amount) and £600 to bailiff (unpaid)

What bailiffs can and can't do If County Court bailiffs come to your home, you don't have to let them in. They can't force their way in on their first visit, but they can enter through an open window, or an unlocked door. Forced entry includes pushing past you once you have opened the door to them or leaving their foot in the door to prevent you closing it. Such action would make the whole process illegal. Bailiffs trying to recover money you owe to HMRC are allowed to break into your home, providing they have a magistrates' warrant. Bailiffs recovering unpaid magistrates' court fines, however, do have the power to force entry. This is from Bailiffs and debt collectors : Directgov - Money, tax and benefits According to them, they can force entry when enforcing a magistrate court fine, is that true?

Update: I am shocked and disgusted with the law and my local council (Brent). They sent me on a very annoying merry-go-round of phonecalls, most of the time they transferred me straight to the bailiffs mobile. This is after I stated that he is defrauding me according to various legal acts and regulations. Noone was interested! I asked one lady 'so if he added bailiff charges of £8000 for one visit in which he left a letter for a £1000 fine, you couldnt comment or do anything about it?'. She replied with 'thats correct sir'. I paid the council everything I owe them and he is still claiming £600 for one visit (for which he left a letter). I sent a text to him telling him ive paid and requesting a breakdown of what Im paying £600 for, no answer given apart from an idle threat. I went to the council in person (to two different buildings) and not a single person could help me with this blatent fraud. They gave me a number to call, who again, put me through to the bailiff! The police told me (at the police station) that its up to bailiffs what they charge and that they could do nothing. So when the council or police want to enforce any regulation, law, act youre screwed. If you approach THEM with a case of fraud, theyll throw you to the wolves. Amazing. Theres no sign of the bailiff at the studio, im back home now. Interestingly two neighbouring studios have had the same problem with this exact same person from Equita (Im tempted to name him on the forum). Except they paid him! £400 and £700 in his own costs for one visit. I now want to file a complaint with brent, name members of their staff for ASSISTING with the defrauding of a member of the public. Is it better to write a letter or a email? To both equita and Brent council. I'm stunned. Sorry for the the long winded post. I've lost a days work because of all this. Best way to avoid and fix this mess? Be organised and pay your bills And thanks to this site, Ive saved alot of money.

I just paid via the internet. The council keep fobbing me off, not sure who I can speak to. Bailiff is on his way down. Im happy to argue with him. But how do I get him off my back? His tone has changed from ffriendly to firm and p'd off. 'If thats how you want to play it, then fair enough' is what he just said to me. He called this a recovery/enforcement fee.

The council wont respond. In fact they just sent me straight through to the bailiff over the phone. The bailiff wants £600 in equita charges alone!!!!!!!!! All hes done so far is made one visit and left a letter.

Ive done more reading but still can not find a 100% answer to 'can they force entry?' Also, on another post they had a link to a page where it said the following: If you miss an installment for business rates you will be served with a reminder notice asking for the installment to be paid in 7 days. If after a further 7 days you have still not paid or made an arrangement, the entire balance will become due and the local authority will ask the magistrates’ court for a liability order for the full amount they say you owe plus court costs. The liability order says that you are due to pay your business rates and have not paid. The court must issue the liability order unless: the council has not gone through the proper procedures; you have paid the amount owed; the amount has been incorrectly calculated; the name on the summons is wrong. I can confirm the name is a bit wrong. My surname is correct but they have me down as 'Mr C'. I am in fact Mr K. Seems stupid, but could that get the bailiff off my back so I can pay the council?? And by law, how can they take any equipment if it would disrupt my business operations? Apart from sofa, everything is vital to the studio...

The charges i quoted were the full business rates and charges incurred for missing the court hearing. I have no idea of the amount the bailiff wants, he refused to tell me until monday morning. He seems very very eager to not talk about it until he is in the property, which is making me panic. If they can force entry then I might be in trouble. I've read other posts and theres no way Im handing money to him. So its all on the council to find my small business application and take full payment of it early on monday morning. I'll also ring the courts explaining to them that I had not received the letter until well after the court date. From what I understand, he will be able to charge for 2 visits. Hopefully, I can avoid him completey. Im holding out for the 50% reduction on rates (to which i am definatly entitled). Otherwise I simply havent got the money to pay full rates. Have £800 in cash right beside me! very frustrating. My mistake was informing Brent council that I had not received the letter, instead of the court.

I own a small recording studio in a business park (for which I have a lease). It is not a business so I didnt pay business rates for 2009, which I now know is wrong! I do have to pay, but with a 50% reduction. 2 weeks ago I got suspicious that my mail is being mixed up with other peoples mail. The postman does not directly put post into my pigeon hole. It is down to me and surrounding studio tenants to pick the mail up and put in the correct pigeon hole. I found a letter in someones huge pile of letters, from brent council magistrate court for a court hearing (which I of course missed). I immediately wrote a letter and small busines relief form and sent it to brent council, requesting that they send me the new bill so I can pay immediatly. No response so far, but they bailiff has now left a letter threatening to force entry and sieze goods (im only there part time asi work full time elsewhere). I rang him and he arranged to come on monday and he claims he will ring brent council to hurry my new bill. Now, what are my rights? I dont trust him. He surely wants to just make sure he gets his worth out of the mess (which is VERY valuable and vintage music equipment!). Do I have to let him in? His letter had some company name on it. Can he force entry? I want to pay direct to brent council so ill go there monday morning and INSIST. TO brent council id have to pay roughly £600, to the bailiff...£1800!!!!!! Added: Equita is the bailiff company. I really need to get this sorted without him taking my equipment, or I'll miss my own record label launch! I just rang him again and hes refusing to tell me how much he is expecting to collect, and that i should wait until monday.