bailiff clamped my taxi

yogibear75

A bailiff clamped my hackney carriage (taxi) after stumbling across it with ANPR (automatic number plate recognition). After doing this he knocked on my door and demanded £593.09 which I paid without dispute. I phoned the company and got a break down of the fees which included £163 attendance fee, £120 clamping fee and £90 cancelled tow fee. Please tell me what you think of my train of thought;

1) it is illegal to clamp a hackney carriage.

2)the "attendance" fee of £163 is unwarranted as they didn't set out to attend my address but stumbled across my vehicle through ANPR.

3) as a result of point 1, the "tow" fee is also illegal, also I believe a request for payment should have been made before any enforcement action was taken, (as I stated earlier I paid without hesitation, i didn't even realise they had clamped me until after I'd paid).

by impounding the tool of my trade (taxi) and demanding monies to release it I believe they acted illegally, possibly demanding money with menaces(?), certainly I believe the fees including the VAT levied and the card processing fee for that portion of the monies charged.

any thoughts or insights will be appreciated

AlexisV

There is certain property that bailiffs cannot seize, for example, tools, goods, vehicles and other equipment necessary for use by you in your employment or business, clothing, bedding furniture, basic household equipment.

£90 cancelled tow fee also sounds like a scam I agree.

I assume this was relating to an unpaid council penalty of some sort?

peter_the_piper

Did you find out what the charges referred to?

yogibear75

this debt originated as a legitimate parking ticket

nomoneytoday

What didn't you pay the ticket when it was "50% off" rather than leaving it so long?

Or to take it to the extreme, "why should taxi drivers be immune from paying valid tickets" ?

hallowitch

what makes you think they used ANPR is the address on the warrant different to your address now

I don't know enough about PCN fees to help you but i do know there was a detailed assessment (will post if i can find it) where the judge ruled they cant charge a clamping fee

is the bailiff certificated to the company he is employed by (what bailiff firm is it )
http://certificatedbailiffs.justice.gov.uk/CertificatedBailiffs/

What paperwork did the bailiff give you were you left a notice of seizure/distress listing your taxi




try these people they are very good at what they do (i have nothing to do with the company) its a premium number but well Worth the £10 it will cost you

http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/

peter_the_piper

Its all paid now so its unlikely that anything could be done about it. This is one of the problems that occur if an official ticket is inadvertantly ignored. The chances of BAO getting the loot back are very slim. Ensure that any future council tickets are checked out on pepipoo.com as a large percentage of appeals are accepted eventually.

Coupon-mad

yogibear75, you could try consulting Sheila on bailiffadviceonline an showing her the breakdown of costs. It will cost you a tenner to register & ask for help on that site but she can tell you what is OK and what is not OK about those costings. I think she can contact the right people and she has a lot of clout by all accounts.

Even if you just got the tow fee refunded then you'd be quids in and the bailiff would be pee'ed off!

halibut2209

If it is indeed illegal to clamp a hackney carriage (I've not heard that, but I'm sure the OP knows better than I!), then you should also get the clamp removal fee refunded as well. Might not be lucky with the attendance fee, but definitely contact BAO