Appealing a parking fine - advice on the law

pearso

I need some advice on a parking fine I got at work whilst parked in my parking space. I have parked there no for a year displaying a permit and the one day the non sticky permit had fell off my dadhboard onto my seat National CLamps show up and immeadiately put a clamp on my car along with the notice. I ran out of work and immeadiately picked my permit off the seat and onto the dashboard. The clampers then took a photo with my permit displayed on the dashboard. The two men were so rude, I told them I had no money but needed my car back. They just told me to get my mam to pay over and over again. I told them I didn't have a mam, which I don't and they said it was not there fault. They left before it was resolved. I rang the company and asked them to bring the photos they had of my car, when they brought them back they didn't have one without my permit but they said that didn't matter. I can't find any laws at all about wheel clamping but really want to know if they need to possess evidence of the permit. I had to get a pay day loan to get this money and want it back does anyone know what I can write in the appeal letter to get this money back .:(:(:(:(

DaveF327

The clamping industry is very poorly regulated and is not subject to road traffic law, only a very wishy-washy "law of contract". The contract in this case, is that you "agreed" to park your car on private land either by displaying a permit or paying a "charge". When they didn't see the permit, they applied the charge. To hold you to ransom, they stick a clamp on your car to stop you doing a runner before paying up. Unfortunately, this is currently legal and they don't have to prove a thing. It stinks.

You've as much chance of getting your money back by "appeal letter" as I have of getting a Ferrari by writing a letter to Santa.

Your only chance is to sue the parking company in the small claims court, but private parking companies are notorious for ignoring county court judgements and "rising from the ashes" under a new name.

If your only question was how to avoid having to pay for the yellow sticker on your car (it's not a fine by the way, merely an invoice) then we can offer lots of advice, but once the clamp is on, they have you over a barrel.

pearso

Thanks for getting back to me. Which angle do you think I should take. I see what you're saying but I still need to appeal before I take them to court. What arguement do you think I should focus on? The act they have no evidence?

pearso

And do they have to hav ethe notice on for a set period of time becuase the two were intstantaneous.

DaveF327

pearso wrote: »

Which angle do you think I should take.

Angle grinder springs to mind.. the next time you find a wheelclamp.

It won't make any difference whether or not you appeal to the company, as private parking companies file all appeals in the shredder, then send you the template "appeal unsuccessful" letter. That's the way they work, I'm afraid.

The court can only consider whether or not you really agreed to a contract when parking your car at work, whether you breached that contract (this is where your evidence of permit placement comes in), whether any terms of the contract were unfair, and whether the sum they charged for releasing the clamp was proportionate for the breach of contract or punitive and amounts to a "penalty" charge. The legal premise here is that private companies cannot make "penalty charges"; only councils, government agencies and police can do that.

If you really want to pursue this seriously through the county court, I suggest you post on http://forums.pepipoo.com/ as there are experts there far more experienced in this sort of thing than I. Good luck!

Notmyrealname

DaveF327 wrote: »

Angle grinder springs to mind.. the next time you find a wheelclamp.

And then they get done for criminal damage by a real proper police man and via a proper criminal court.