Car clamped in private car park £180

mobileuser

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dk7a95u844iduh2/photo1.jpg

JagDriver

SIA regulations mean that the clamper has to sign and print their name, it's not good enough to have just the SIA number (can some one check it?)

Was the clamper showing his SIA badge?

AlexisV

0230014603619839
STEPHEN DUFF Vehicle Immobilisation Frontline
24/10/2012 Active 22/09/2011

The problem with making a claim based on a receipt that doesn't quite meet the requirements is that any judge will be unlikely to pay it much attention.

mobileuser

He had a badge thing around his neck but he didn't present it to me or do anything with it.

The_Slithy_Tove

mobileuser wrote: »

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dk7a95u844iduh2/photo1.jpg

What's that the receipt is sitting on top of? Looks like an amount and then a VAT amount. I.e. they charged VAT but didn't provide a VAT receipt. Naughty naughty. HMRC should be informed.

And is that a paper credit card receipt (i.e. old fashioned, paper-based, and not chip'n'PIN)? If so, that strengthens your case for chargeback, as they often use "you entered your PIN, therefore we can do nothing" excuse.

mobileuser

I didn't enter the pin i had to sign as it was like you said old fashioned paper based one.

Coupon-mad

mobileuser wrote: »

One thing I'm worried about is if i try to sue them without a solicitor could I end up messing it up and incur more costs? As The £180 has pushed me over the limit let alone if i was charged any more. I really think people should earn a honesty days living this just feels like they've mugged me of my money!

I will try and get the receipt scanned and post it up later on.

Everyone who uses Small Claims Court is best not to use a solicitor. It's designed to be a simple way for people to legally reclaim money owed:

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/making-a-complaint/taking-a-dispute-to-the-small-claims-court/

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4069937

The only exception when a person might use a Solicitor would be if they have legal cover on their contents insurance or on another policy. I did and I used a Solicitor to threaten Monarch over the Ash Cloud issue, it was free because of my legal cover. If I had not had that I was ready to take Monarch to Court myself - and I have never done it either. It looked pretty straightforward and I'm certain I would have won (I did get fully paid out of court, as it happens).

It was a matter of sending a Letter before Action to the parties involved (in your case NOT JUST the clamper, you must also name whoever contracted them there, and S Duff himself because his company may well be about to shut up shop).

But do check your policies for Legal Cover!

Anyhoo, whether you do this yourself or not, you can get help on pepipoo with this, they have helped lots of people to sue to reclaim clamping money. They can advise you for free about the process:

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

Look how many other clamping threads there are at the moment!

mobileuser

Thanks for you help

STchancers

mobileuser wrote: »

Thanks for you help

Have you done the chargeback yet, I would just to annoy the lowlife:

STchancers

mobileuser wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I wonder if you could give me some advice.

I made the stupid mistake of parking over night in a private car park. When I came back to my car it had been clamped. There was a ticket on my drivers door saying i had been clamped and had to pay £150 plus VAT and to pay as soon as possible and any delay would result in the charge being raised to £245 + vat

I had not choice but to phone the number on the ticket. They came back in 15 minutes and told me i had to pay otherwise it would get towed and the fee would be even more. I had no other way of paying for this but to use my credit card. So I was forced to pay £180. I can't afford this either and there seemed no option as I need my car for work. Is this legal it seems a huge fee to pay! One which has pushed me even more into debt.

I now know I shouldn't of parked there but it wasn't very clearly marked not to and other cars were there which don't seem to have been clamped. The company involved is Proserve in Ipswich Suffolk.

Thanks for you help!

Why did you know you shouldn't of parked there ? The reason the other cars were parked there would be I imagine they had the right to be there. I would still make it difficult for these low life and do a chargeback