Help help help car towing!!!!!

scheming_gypsy

Didn't you start to get some indication that you were parking in the wrong place when you constantly got tickets?

Inflatable_Armadillo

eb2 wrote: »

Okay I've posted on pepipoo for help also.

I'm worried my car will be sold. It is worth 5k or there abouts so they know they can recoup monies 'owed' from it.

Won't a Court Case take forever in getting my car back?

As Renegade say, they can't sell it without a log book, plus they would be in even more trouble than they are already in if they did something so stupid... to be fair, I can't believe they have been this stupid.

Follow the advice from Alexis on Pepipoo and then if they don't comply get onto to your nearest County Court and start the injunction process.

Inflatable_Armadillo

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

Didn't you start to get some indication that you were parking in the wrong place when you constantly got tickets?

Well there is never really a 'wrong place' in a private car park and of course the OP didn't get any tickets, he/she has got a boat load of invoices that he has been invited to pay and now the company inviting him to pay those nice costly invoices have illegally seized the OP's car... other than that, thanks for the advice on how to get the car back!

Coupon-mad

Stop trying to rush to talk to Metropark and the Housing Association about fines that do not even exist in law, you are not getting it yet. If you do a bit of reading first and can make an assertive call stating the legal position (rather than begging them to release the car) then you could try Alexis' suggestion in post #30 here:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=64994&st=20&start=20

But either way, your remedy I think is: Solicitor, injunction, car back. I have read that an injunction may cost you £200 - £300 which has got to be the answer. DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT PAYNG METROPARK ANY MONEY, PAY A GOOD SOLICITOR TO SORT THIS OUT.

BUT you must understand first, that these ARE fake tickets, they are not real fines, not real PCNs at all. You need to know this in case you go to a Solicitor who doesn't know (and so that the Housing Association cannot talk you into paying even one of these pieces of trash!).

Read this and watch the Watchdog link; you need to know that private 'parking charge notices' ARE a scam:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=46975

I searched but could not find, another similar case I recall from a couple of years ago. The person was on pepipoo I think and their car was seized under similar circs. They sued and won about £4,500 which included months of replacement hire car costs. Sorry to say they were without that car for over a year(!)...but it was a protracted Court battle - and I'm fairly sure they did not go straight for an injunction, which is what several of us here are advising you to do.

Bottom line, you need a good solicitor versed in contract law who understands that these are not real parking tickets. Not in Norwich are you?!

http://www.leathesprior.co.uk/ourpeople/8/

(if you read the second pepipoo link I gave, you will recognise him from Watchdog!).


Then sue Metropark and the Housing Association jointly and severally for your costs and expenses (such as injunction costs & hiring another car).

Inflatable_Armadillo

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Bottom line, you need a good solicitor versed in contract law who understands that these are not real parking tickets. Not in Norwich are you?!

http://www.leathesprior.co.uk/ourpeople/8/

(if you read the pepipoo link I gave you will recognise him from Watchdog!).

I think that is top advice, he will grasp the issue straight away and act on your behalf. I don't think you would need to be near Norwich to get them to act for you, you could speak, e-mail and scan in douments. He might take the case on as a no-win-no fee case, but to be fair, if you just paid him to write a letter on your behalf then that might do the trick and only cost you a £100 quid or so... which he then might advise you to sue Metrolink for anyway, along with his big fee on no-win-no-fee deal to you!

It is a win-win for him!

esmerobbo

I asked earlier if there were signs up regarding clamping or if the OP had received a letter telling him he was trespassing?
Forget the fake ticket issue for the moment, if he has been "legally" clamped and towed, which as we know is a legally accepted remedy for trespass!
So it could be argued that the clamp and tow is legal! The company have possession of the vehicle and are now holding it for unpaid parking charges as well as the clamping and tow! That is were the extra money added to the charges has probably come from!

The NCP case is slightly different as there were no signs ,but NCP claim they told the OP by letter they were banned and they would be trespassing.

Unfortunately the company have the upper hand at the moment, as they have the car. The OP really needs expert advice and to start the injunction process ASAP. The towing company will be adding daily storage charges to the bill!

Also depending on previous contact between the company and the OP a judge has to agree that the company acted unlawfully to order its return!

We all agree its a totally over the top situation, but we have seen perverse decisions made in these cases. Also there has been contact between the OP and the PPC which we have seen can be a fatal mistake.

OP the car is not on finance is it, or does anyone else have an interest in it? If so maybe worth contacting them about a joint action!
Also contact the towing company and ask for the name and the licence number of the clamper/tow operator, and check with the SIA they are licensed! If they are not it could be another angle for a complaint to the police!

esmerobbo

Clampers can and do get V5's hence the reason the OP needs to act fast!

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/local_news/8675130.Clampers____had_right_to_sell_Scott_s_car_/

Inflatable_Armadillo

esmerobbo - Some good advice there and I think we all now agree, that the OP needs to act fast and get an injunction under way.

A couple of points though, that the OP may be able to clarify?

It sounds like the OP has a permit to park in this car park as a resident of the building? The issue seems to be parking in spaces supposedly 'reserved' for designated users but the OP said that no signs clearly indicated that this was the case? So, while there were clamping signs (I am sure the OP said that there were?) did they actually clamp the vehicle while it was in this supposed reserved space, it sounds like not to me?

So, they have previously issued fake PCN's and asked for money? The OP realises that they are now parking someone there shouldn't be (although, we all know that matters not one jot if they have a permit and it is not signed correctly) and stops parking in those spots? The OP tries (in vain of course) to correspond with Metropark on the issue of having a valid permit but having parked in what they are saying are the wrong spots, but of course, they get ignored.

I still think they have taken the car illegally because they are taking it not for what they see as a infringement at the time, parked in the wrong spot and clamped, but clamped and then towed for a debt. If my understanding above is correct, that is what they appear to have done!

OP?

eb2

I have contacted the local county court to start and injunction and they advised I cannot do this against a company. That I may need to start a section 8a but they are unsure and I should seek legal advice.

The company have provided 19 tickets and photographs of the vehicle but no dates are on the images

Inflatable_Armadillo

eb2 wrote: »

I have contacted the local county court to start and injunction and they advised I cannot do this against a company. That I may need to start a section 8a but they are unsure and I should seek legal advice.

The company have provided 19 tickets and photographs of the vehicle but no dates are on the images

I would give Tim Cary at Leathes Prior a call, which I think the other poster who is having a problem with NCP holding his car has done and have a chat with him on this now.

Can you answer my questions above if possible please as well, we are just interested to know the answers?