Negligent Estate Agent got me Clamped!!

rizla01

Hi,

let me say that your experienceand treatment is disgusting.

I don't think that it would be 'your word against theirs' in a court of law. If you make the allegation it would be up to them to prove that they aren't liable. Your solicitor would ask them to provide their appointment book and your name would be shown as a viewer of that flat at that time. (They must keep records for their own reference).

It is inconceivable to expect them not to know about the parking probs in that area. every EA working in that location would know (Ask around other EAs).

If the EA then let you park there without notifying you of the risk then they are negligent.

Let me ask you this! If an agent told you that it was safe to walk across some boards covering a hole at the entrance of the flat and you subsequently fell down the hole and broke a leg, would you be able to sue them?

Write to them in the first instance suggesting that they pay the fee within 14 days or you will seek redress in the county court whereby, if found to be negligent, they will have to pay the fee plus solicitors costs and all of your out of pocket expenses plus compensation for the stress caused. Mention that the local newspaper would be very interested in publishing this story as it is 'of human interest' (Even if they are not).

I think that a cheque would be forthcoming in no time if they have any sense.

Good luck.

nrsql

Where you park your car is your responsibility.
The estate agent gave you an opinion but you say you had already seen signs to show that he was mistaken.

If I was being really cynical I could suggest that the agent has a deal with the clampers - tells them when people will be there to view, persuades them to park and get clamped (gets clamped himself but the clampers return that) then split the profit.

But I guess that doesn't make it any less annoying

Casual

Well to be honest nrsql I was worried about the parking. That's why we parked two spaces down from him.

The EA had parked in the 'Customer Parking' for a Furniture store and we parked near to him in an allotted space for the block of flats that we were going to.

I saw the clamping notices but thought that it was only applicable to the store parking - that's why I asked the EA for clarification. He said my spot was fine.

Apparently it's a notorious clamping spot and even MSE'rs know about the problem area. That's why I think
a) the EA should have known about it,
b) the vendor must have told the EA to be vigilant and to brief the clients about it - otherwise they're never going to sell their flat! I certainly don't want to buy it now after the horrible experience!

Coffeeman_3

It's an awful lot of trouble to take legal action here, small claims are a good deal of stress. You'd have to be able to prove the follow set himself out as an expert and you relied on that expert advice. Surely he'd just deny it, and given all the signs there wouldn't the court suggest you should have known better, and took the decision yourself?
If you want to claim, it would be in the small claims court. £80 for registering your claim, and then another £80 when you go to court. The claim form is available from the local court (near M&S / O'Neiles in Reading) or online.
On a happy note you can add the £160 to your claim. However you are gambling £160 against the lesser fine, and you're a bit stuck if they don't accept liability. You could pop into CAB (Minster Street in Reading I understand) and and see what they make of it once they hear all the details.

Complaining to the firm / national headquarters etc would appear to be the a good starting point as mentioned, or some of the other no-legal approaches.

spottydog

Coffeeman wrote:

It's an awful lot of trouble to take legal action here, small claims are a good deal of stress. You'd have to be able to prove the follow set himself out as an expert and you relied on that expert advice. Surely he'd just deny it, and given all the signs there wouldn't the court suggest you should have known better, and took the decision yourself?
If you want to claim, it would be in the small claims court. £80 for registering your claim, and then another £80 when you go to court. The claim form is available from the local court (near M&S / O'Neiles in Reading) or online.
On a happy note you can add the £160 to your claim. However you are gambling £160 against the lesser fine, and you're a bit stuck if they don't accept liability. You could pop into CAB (Minster Street in Reading I understand) and and see what they make of it once they hear all the details.

Complaining to the firm / national headquarters etc would appear to be the a good starting point as mentioned, or some of the other no-legal approaches.

I'm confused where you got your figures from According to Her Magisty's Courts Website the cost for putting in a claim for up to £300 is £30. Where do your figures come from?

Pal

While I have no doubt you are annoyed, it is your responsibility to park your car legally. The fact that you relied on the advice of an idiot before deliberately breaching the parking restrictions in that area is your fault.

"It's ok officer. I know that my shoplifting those CDs was illegal but I asked an estate agent before I did it and he said that HMV wouldn't mind."

There is no point in going to small claims or a solicitor to go after the estate agent as it was entirely your fault. Would you like it if someone took your parking space because the estate agent employed by someone else in your block of flats said it was OK?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

The alternative is to investigate the parking terms for that area, and review the ticket itself to find out whether or not it was properly issued. Sometimes you can appeal and get the ticket overturned.

Coffeeman_3

You are correct, sorry about that I ignored that the fees vary, the following is helpful for that:-

http://www.compactlaw.co.uk/compactlaw_admin/fees2.html

Fairdo_2

To add my two pennys worth, I would agree with lushwalrus and argue the toss in writing with the EA and if they are a corporate, cc it to their head office and ensure you name the negotiator and the manager who refused to help initially.

It does strike me that the negotiator was certainly not an expert if he got clamped himself aswell, unless you take nrsql's view that there is a conspiracy going on.

CAB will be a good starting point and if your friend from the BBC were to pop in there and ask for their version of events, then I'm sure they would be likely to dotheir best to rectify things, unless they think that all press is good press!

nelly_2

Ill bet the estate agent is halves on any money the clamper gets and he gives them the nod when hes on the way with another client

WHA

Casual wrote:

we parked near to him in an allotted space for the block of flats that we were going to

I'm sure that the occupant of the other flat would have been highly delighted (not) to have returned to find someone else in his parking space, which would have presumably meant he would have had to risk being clamped to park somewhere else to go to his own flat!

I'm afraid you should have known better regardless of what the EA told you.

Having said that, there's no harm in trying to get them to pay your fine.