Please help! Private residents' parking £300 fine!

mark_dumpleton

Hope somebody can help...
I moved into a new flat on the 25th Feb and was allocated a parking space as part of my lease. I used this space and, on the evening of the 27th (i had been out in my car 2 hours previous) got clamped and my car was moved for 'not in your bay' . This Is the only reason I was given. I am 99.999% sure I parked In my allocated bay.
As the car was moved 10ft out of the bay by the clampers I have had to pay £300 to have it released. The firm (NTC) will not provide me with what bay I was parked In until I appeal, and any appeal will take 28 days. Is it legal to make me pay before providing evidence to show I was in the wrong bay?
The receipt given was a card machine print-out and the actual ticket I had stuck to my car says It is a receipt, even though It does not have the name, signsture or date of when I paid the fine (just for when it was originally clamped).

I do not think I parked in the wrong bay, but even If I did is £300 for 2 hours really acceptable? They made no effort to get In contact with me - I was in all night so could have moved the car myself! Is there not even a case for mitigating circumstances as I had just moved?

Please, please provide any help possible asap. Ive just moved flat and this fine is pushing me to the limit of money I have!

HO87

Can you confirm that the only receipt you were given was from a card machine and that you did not get one identifying (by SIA licence number) the operator?

If this is the case then you should report the matter to the police and the SIA as a criminal offence has been commited.

AlexisV

1. Find and post the exact wording of any lease where it refers to parking
2. Contact both the clampers and the management company demanding a refund within 7 days. There is no 'appeals procedure' and any 28 period is arbitrary.
3. Ultimately you may have to sue both the clampers and company that hired them (presumably the management co.) in order to get a refund

mark_dumpleton

HO87 wrote: »

Can you confirm that the only receipt you were given was from a card machine and that you did not get one identifying (by SIA licence number) the operator?

If this is the case then you should report the matter to the police and the SIA as a criminal offence has been commited.

I have a receipt from a card machine and the initial ticket Itself - this has the SIA licence number of their employees - the person that clamped it ticked and signed It, but the 'released by' box has not been ticked or signed.

peter_the_piper

I suggest you also post this in pepipoo.com, if you see the tow truck again, get a look and see if has an O license, many tow trucks don't and this is illegal. Won't help you get the money back (Sueing clampers and land owner is the only way here) but its satisfying to set VOSA onto them.

The_Slithy_Tove

Once you have this sorted (or at least the legal process set in motion), you need to go on the offensive to ensure this doesn't happen again. Since you state that you have an allocated parking space as part of your lease, you need to make it quite clear to the management company and their parking goons that any interference with your car consitiutes an unlawful trespass, and that they must keep their grubby mitts off. Is there a "permit" scheme? If so, you can also tell them that you will not participate in such, as your lease does not stipulate it, and there's nothing they can do about it.

mark_dumpleton

I have no specific wording in my lease (I have been provided with a permit though and the management company have my space allocated to my flat on their system).
The headlease for the block says under 'rights granted' "The right to park a domestic vehicle in any Parking Space specified as falling within the definition of the premises in LCR of the Particulars subject to the regulations set out in Schedule 3"
which says
"Not to leave or park on so as to cause any obstruction to any roads parking spaces or passageways forming part of the Estate any motor vehicle motor cycle electric carraige bicycle or other vehicle and observe all regulations made by the Landlord or Manager from time to time relating to the parking of vehicles (and the tenant acknowledges the right of the Manager to apply wheel clamps to vehicles parked in contravention of such regulations and to charge a fee for removal"

Does this help?!

mark_dumpleton

AlexisV wrote: »

1. Find and post the exact wording of any lease where it refers to parking
2. Contact both the clampers and the management company demanding a refund within 7 days. There is no 'appeals procedure' and any 28 period is arbitrary.
3. Ultimately you may have to sue both the clampers and company that hired them (presumably the management co.) in order to get a refund

Also - what does point 2 mean? There being no appeals procedure and the 28 day period being arbitrary?

mark_dumpleton

I've also had an answer from the block's management company, and I apparently parked in the wrong bay - the car was there for an hour before it was clamped.

Must have been the stress of moving house!

I'm guessing there's nothing I can now do?

give_them_FA

"Appeals procedures" with private parking/clamping companie are generally a meaningless sham. You will be wasting your time dealing with the company, your main point of attack is whover hired them as agent, i.e. your landlord or management company, who will be liable for their activities.

Yet another illustration, if any more were needed, that letting parking parasites into residential premises causes grief only for the residents.

You should make it plain that you either get a full refund or you sue. You should, if you do that, get more than you paid, by the time you add damages for stress and mental anguish caused by their unjustified actions.

Edit for new post: Of course there's something you can do. At the very least, the fees demanded were far, far in excess of what was reasonable in the circumstances. I wish I could earn £300 for half an hours work.

hbkidf

mark_dumpleton wrote: »

Also - what does point 2 mean? There being no appeals procedure and the 28 day period being arbitrary?

Alexis means no matter what you say the clampers will reject your appeal. They're a private firm, they have no interest in giving money back.

The 28 day period is also a false flag.

BPA Code of Practice Appendix B Section 14.3 states:

B14.3 If you receive a challenge or appeal about the issue of a
parking charge, you must stop work on processing the
charge immediately and the charge must not be escalated
until you have responded to the challenge. You must
acknowledge or reply to the challenge within 14 days of
receiving it. If you only acknowledged the challenge or
appeal you must accept or reject the challenge or appeal
in writing within 35 days of receiving it. We may require
you to demonstrate that you are keeping to these targets


The simplest way of dealing with this is issuing a Notice Before Action to the clamper himself, the company he works for and the management company of your block, demanding you be reimbursed the full sum or you'll proceed with court action against them.

They'll likely deny the debt and you'll end up in small claims court - which you should win as £300 is excessive.

Might be best to go on to Pepipoo.com and post your story on there with some pictures of the signage around the place.

EDIT for OP's new post - there is ALWAYS something you can do. With this being in your residence you can even take it to the local council as it is preventing your enjoyment of your home. I'm not saying you should do it, but you've got lots and lots of options. But it is a process and not a snap of the fingers to fix it.