Clamped in my own parking space! Or not as it seems...

drewsterboy

Recently I was clamped in my own car park! But can I claim back from my letting agent? Here's the full story:

I recently moved into a rented apartment in a city centre location. The building has 26 apartments labelled from A to Z and on the ground floor there are 26 secure parking spaces, also marked A to Z. The apartment was advertised with a parking space, the agent who conducted the viewing assured me that there was a parking space, and I was given a key fob for the car park on the day I moved in. My apartment is Apartment B so I assumed that I could park in parking space B. I parked there every day for the first month with no trouble.

Day 1: One evening I arrived home to find a letter on my car windscreen from a property management company called "Allied Residential Service Enterprises" (names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent). In the letter, A.R.S.E. stated that the car parking space belonged to another individual who had bought six parking spaces in this building with the intention of letting them out to commuters (the building is in a very central location, parking spaces go for £100 a month or more). A.R.S.E. warned that if my car was not moved, it would be clamped and removed. There was a contact telephone number in the letter.

Day 2: I called A.R.S.E. the next day and told them that I lived in Apartment B and parking space B was therefore mine too. Over the telephone, A.R.S.E. explained that in fact the parking space numbers bore no relation to the apartment numbers, and that space B most definitely belonged to their client. I called my letting agent for an explanation, but was unable to get through. In the end I sent an email instead, explaining the situation.

In the evening I returned home to find my car had been clamped with a demand for a £70 release fee (I know that's quite low compared to what some cowboys charge, but still...). Not wishing to incur further charges, I paid the release fee that evening and moved my car to a public car park for the next 24 hours (at a cost of £10).

Day 3: The next morning I woke up to find an email from my letting agent, explaining that Apartment B has parking space Q. From that it seems clear to me that I was illegally parked and the clamping company were right to clamp my car.

My question now is: should I try to claim the £70 clamping fee and the £10 parking cost back from my letting agent? While it wasn't their fault that I parked there, it is their fault for not telling me which space was mine. Should I try to claim back from A.R.S.E. instead? Should I claim against the clamping company, who were only doing their job? I have kept all the evidence: the letter, my receipt from the clamping company, etc. There are several witnesses to the incident, including the on-site security staff.

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated!

clutton_2

why did you not ask which was your parking space when you rented the flat ?

- i think it was up to you to make sure, and not make assumptions.

i don't suppose this is what you want to hear......

Crabman

I'd approach the letting agent as it should have been made clear. :rolleyes:

david29dpo

from what you have said, clearly the agents fault. but..... they may have not been told this by the owner of the flat.

silvercar

My apartment is Apartment B so I assumed that I could park in parking space B.

You assumed as opposed to the letting agent assumed and gave you wrong information.

Seems to me, your assumption so your fault - however reasonable the assumption.

clutton_2

as i said before, if you did not ask the question "which is my spot" how can you now want to be blaming someone else ?

Rick62

Of course the agent should have told you which space was yours. Knock it off the rent.

Spangled

In my girlfriend's block, the flats are numbered from 1-150. Yet each flat's parking space is numbered two higher. ie flat 56 has parking space 58, flat 103 has parking space 105. Although your assumption was logical, in my experience private apartment blocks and their parking spaces are never managed logically.

irnbru_2

clutton wrote:

as i said before, if you did not ask the question "which is my spot" how can you now want to be blaming someone else ?

Unless told otherwise, a reasonable person would assume a direct correlation between appartment and parking space.

OP was it a verbal or written assurance you had a parking spot?

Robert_Sterling

What if the letting agent had told you your parking space was Q and so you moved into Flat Q?

A,R.S.E. should cough up.

clutton_2

i have come across many new developments and oft-times some flats don't have a space (they can cost £10k+) and some flats have two where familiies have more than one car. i would have thought it common sense to ask - none of us like parking tickets/clamping fees, sometimes we just have to bite the bullet.

why doesn't anyone want to take personal responsibility for their own actions any more ?