Clamping refund letter being ignored - is this standard?

foo1962

I was clamped in February 2012, I had to pay £80 to be released, despite the fact I produced a valid permit, I was told "clamp is on, pay the fee, appeal and you'll get your money back". Yeah right, have sent a letter from this site demanding a refund and threatened court action. I even sent an sae but have been ignored, not even an acknowledgment of my letter.

My question is, is this fairly standard practice?, should I now take them to the small claims court?

Thanks for any advice

ManxRed

They have mugged you now, no chance they are happy to give it back.

Yes, this is absolutely standard practice.

However, in addition to taking them to the small claims court, you also need to take the people / company who hired them too. The clampers will also ignore any court claim, and any subsequent CCJ. They will not have any assets worth seizing so even if you appoint a bailiff with a warrant, you won't get anywhere.

You need to find out who hired them, send them a letter before action demanding a full refund and that you hold them 'jointly and severally liable for the actions of their agent, the clampers' and then name them as co-defendants on the claim.

SodG24

foo1962 wrote: »

I was clamped in February 2012, I had to pay £80 to be released, despite the fact I produced a valid permit, I was told "clamp is on, pay the fee, appeal and you'll get your money back". Yeah right, have sent a letter from this site demanding a refund and threatened court action. I even sent an sae but have been ignored, not even an acknowledgment of my letter.

My question is, is this fairly standard practice?, should I now take them to the small claims court?

Thanks for any advice

They have your money - criminals and scammers tend not to provide refunds ! Yes it's standard. You'll need to sue the clamping company AND the landowner jointly to have any chance of getting your money back.

Trebor16

Can you tell us more about the circumstances of the clamping such as where the car was clamped (not the full address but if it was a work car park or car park adjacent to a block of flats) as this will help us give the correct advice to you.

give_them_FA

Just sue the landowner. Don't waste any further time with the crooks.

One letter before action, don't forget to tack on £50 for trouble and expenses, then issue a claim. Only thing these people understand.

Did you SERIOUSLY think that a firm of cowboys was just going to give your money back because you asked nicely?

foo1962

Trebor16 wrote: »

Can you tell us more about the circumstances of the clamping such as where the car was clamped (not the full address but if it was a work car park or car park adjacent to a block of flats) as this will help us give the correct advice to you.

Its a bit complicated... but here goes. I parked my car in the courtyard at work, it is a large building but 3/4 of it belongs to a housing association, it has only 7 parking spaces and their elderly residents are issued with a permit. We own the last 1/4 and have one space allocated to us which is not part of their clamping agreement with National Clamps. However, we are also given a permit in case we need to use one of their spaces. My old permit was on display (eventhough I didn't need it for our space) but I had forgotten to put my new one in. The clampers turned up, clamped and were gone in a matter of less than three minutes. When they came back I produced my permit, I even got the landowners to speak to the clamper on site to tell them that that particular space wasn't covered by the clamping agreement. The clamper on site was quite pleasant and was persuaded by my permit but he rang their head office and they were adamant that I stayed clamped until I paid up.

give_them_FA

Well, you have learned the hard way they are lying crooks. For a start they are supposed to be employed by the landowner so if he said remove the clamp they should have done it. But no, of course they didn't, this is why we call them parasites, only interested in themselves.

Repeat, you need to approach the landowner and make it clear that you hold them liable- which they are in law. It is up to them to either make their agents pay up, or to do it themselves. Why should you go to all this trouble when it is not your fault in any way?

foo1962

give_them_FA wrote: »

Just sue the landowner. Don't waste any further time with the crooks.

One letter before action, don't forget to tack on £50 for trouble and expenses, then issue a claim. Only thing these people understand.

Did you SERIOUSLY think that a firm of cowboys was just going to give your money back because you asked nicely?

I wasn't exactly pleasant but as I had evidence that I was entitled to park there, therefore shouldn't have been clamped, I refrained from shouting because I desperately needed my car back!:mad:. Thanks for the advice about the £50.

Coupon-mad

foo1962 wrote: »

Its a bit complicated... but here goes. I parked my car in the courtyard at work, it is a large building but 3/4 of it belongs to a housing association, it has only 7 parking spaces and their elderly residents are issued with a permit. We own the last 1/4 and have one space allocated to us which is not part of their clamping agreement with National Clamps. However, we are also given a permit in case we need to use one of their spaces. My old permit was on display (eventhough I didn't need it for our space) but I had forgotten to put my new one in. The clampers turned up, clamped and were gone in a matter of less than three minutes. When they came back I produced my permit, I even got the landowners to speak to the clamper on site to tell them that that particular space wasn't covered by the clamping agreement. The clamper on site was quite pleasant and was persuaded by my permit but he rang their head office and they were adamant that I stayed clamped until I paid up.

Definitely sue the clampers and whoever contracted them as they have clamped in a space they have no right to be in. They trespassed by going into that space and they caused you loss (clamp fee forced out of you) and distress, embarrassment and significant inconvenience when just going about your normal business at work.

If you know who contracted them to cover those other spaces then you need to send a very clear Letter before Action to them (Housing Association, managing agent, landowner?) as well as to the clampers. Not an appeal.

Pepipoo is the place for you to post for help, there are plenty of other clamping threads to read first with examples of nice short but assertive Letters/Notices Before Action:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=60

Read some other experiences with suing clampers & their contractors, then register and start your own pepipoo thread to see this through.

You can possibly get refunded out of Court if you really rattle the cage of the other party (not the clamper, the Housing Association or managing agent). Find out the name of the top dog there, maybe by phoning first to ask assertively but politely where legal Court papers have to be sent...that will worry them...if they ask tell them you are about to sue and need to know who to address the Court papers to. Then - unless they jump and refund you as a result of the telephone call - send the Letter Before Action. There's even a version on a couple of threads on pepipoo with a draft (blank) Court claim attached which has worked before!

You can say they are fully responsible for the actions of their agent and they should have ensured that the spaces covered by their cosy arrengement were very, very clear because anything else is trespass. If they say no money changes hands and/or it's nothing to do with them, correct them - it is EVERYTHING to do with them as the clamper is their agent and there does not have to be a monetary contract.

And tell the top person there that they are going to be dragged to Court for it if they do not refund you in full plus £50 (possibly just say £80, like you were made to pay) on top. Say that if it goes to Court there will also be a Court fee of about £50 and costs/expenses and interest on top so to avoid the amount increasing, you are giving them 7 days to pay the £160 (£80 plus £80) to close the matter out of Court.