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Car towed! Small claims court advise
Slinker_2
Posts: 27 Forumite
Hi there ,
New to the forum i just needed some advise on taking a private security firm to the small claims court.
Early last month my partner and i parked in (what used to be) a council owned car park after 6.30pm. Unbeknown to us the council has leased out 75% of this space to an unknown firm and hired a private security company to manage the site. This car park is was connected to the main council car park and had no signs marking the entrance other than a crudely sprayed message on the ground (which we didn't even realise when hunting for a space). This message according to the security company was spray painted there by a member of the public and not even them ! There were signs in on the walls that were high up and oblivious to us and other unsuspecting parker's which in my mind is totally unacceptable.
We were clamped and towed within 40 minutes of leaving the vehicle and this was after 8pm. They charged us a total of £427 for releasing the clamp and the towing fee + a £100 excess. We had to plead with them to release our car the same night as we had house keys in there and would have had to stay in a hotel. The guys responding to the phone calls were as unhelpful as you would expect and the actual "towers" were completely impossible to get any useful information from.I have checked and they were SIA registered.
In my mind its just entrapment and the sole reason for the land being leased is to catch out unsuspecting people and drain money from them. We have tried an appeal which was denied, then there was an article in the local papers about it as other people had complained. Since the article they have been and marked the entrance properly with 3 prominent signs that are allot more obvious. I have photographic evidence of before and after which im hoping is my main reason for the claim to swing my way. Plus the fact that the charge is unreasonable as my vehicle wasn't obstructing anything and needn't be towed away so quickly. Also the next morning i went to the car park to gather more evidence and the signs had been completely removed !! Apparently this is due to vandalism but i have pictures of this too. Who's to say the signs were even there when i parked there and the security firm didn't just turn up and put them up at the time?
Having never been to a small claims court before i just wondered if anyone had any good advice on what to play on in court ? I have an option to use a witness who saw my car being clamped and taken away who also had his car removed the previous week. Would using a witness like this help at all ? if he just saw it happen then its not really relevant as there is no dispute that the car was taken . Could he reinforce the fact that the signage wasn't there and i was shocked to see what had happened ? im not sure quite how to use a witness in this case. Or i could have my other half as a witness but then she has only seen what i have so is this going to be of any help at all?....I need to plan my claim carefully and would love advise if anyone has any good suggestions, im determined not to let these !!!!!!!s win. Many thanks
[EMAIL="slinker29@gmail.com"][/EMAIL]
New to the forum i just needed some advise on taking a private security firm to the small claims court.
Early last month my partner and i parked in (what used to be) a council owned car park after 6.30pm. Unbeknown to us the council has leased out 75% of this space to an unknown firm and hired a private security company to manage the site. This car park is was connected to the main council car park and had no signs marking the entrance other than a crudely sprayed message on the ground (which we didn't even realise when hunting for a space). This message according to the security company was spray painted there by a member of the public and not even them ! There were signs in on the walls that were high up and oblivious to us and other unsuspecting parker's which in my mind is totally unacceptable.
We were clamped and towed within 40 minutes of leaving the vehicle and this was after 8pm. They charged us a total of £427 for releasing the clamp and the towing fee + a £100 excess. We had to plead with them to release our car the same night as we had house keys in there and would have had to stay in a hotel. The guys responding to the phone calls were as unhelpful as you would expect and the actual "towers" were completely impossible to get any useful information from.I have checked and they were SIA registered.
In my mind its just entrapment and the sole reason for the land being leased is to catch out unsuspecting people and drain money from them. We have tried an appeal which was denied, then there was an article in the local papers about it as other people had complained. Since the article they have been and marked the entrance properly with 3 prominent signs that are allot more obvious. I have photographic evidence of before and after which im hoping is my main reason for the claim to swing my way. Plus the fact that the charge is unreasonable as my vehicle wasn't obstructing anything and needn't be towed away so quickly. Also the next morning i went to the car park to gather more evidence and the signs had been completely removed !! Apparently this is due to vandalism but i have pictures of this too. Who's to say the signs were even there when i parked there and the security firm didn't just turn up and put them up at the time?
Having never been to a small claims court before i just wondered if anyone had any good advice on what to play on in court ? I have an option to use a witness who saw my car being clamped and taken away who also had his car removed the previous week. Would using a witness like this help at all ? if he just saw it happen then its not really relevant as there is no dispute that the car was taken . Could he reinforce the fact that the signage wasn't there and i was shocked to see what had happened ? im not sure quite how to use a witness in this case. Or i could have my other half as a witness but then she has only seen what i have so is this going to be of any help at all?....I need to plan my claim carefully and would love advise if anyone has any good suggestions, im determined not to let these !!!!!!!s win. Many thanks
[EMAIL="slinker29@gmail.com"][/EMAIL]
0
Comments
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Remember, you will also need to pursue the landowner for the return of your money. You may be better off getting some advice on https://www.pepipoo.com.0
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