Taking the Clampers to Court...

13

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  • waamo
    waamo Posts: 10,298
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    Swinglebum wrote: »
    Following the criminal investigation, all private clamping and vehicle confiscation mysteriously stopped and hasn't happened again in the past 4 years..

    I clearly understand very little of the Law and the Court System and assumed that Judge Rinder would analyses the circumstances and agree that what happened should not have happened.. My claim form is somewhat embarrassing, knowing what I know now..

    If the Police had come back and said that that this chap was protecting his land and not merely the easement, I would have accepted that it was all my own fault..

    I know many believe that I should abandon, but surely if I do that I have an even greater financial liability.. At best, I don't think he'll be able to demonstrate that the £130 clamper's fee was justified, unless he can prove that he owns the land..

    It is not for the court to investigate. It is for you to demonstrate that what you say is correct and there are legal reasons as to why you are owed the money.

    You appear to have shown no cause of action. You "believing" he has no power to instruct clampers doesn't really cut it. You need to show its more likely than not he had no authority.

    The judge has been generous in allowing you an opportunity to amend this however I fear your research is, at best, poor and doomed to fail.
  • Herzlos
    Herzlos Posts: 14,662
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    Swinglebum wrote: »
    My claim form merely describes that I have researched the ownership of the land and this I don't believe that 'he' Mr Company is in a position to instruct clampers to act 'in good faith'..
    I've been given a second opportunity to get it right..
    Can you see a way ahead?

    You'd need to prove that the company wasn't in a position to instruct the clampers, or that there was no valid contract.

    You'd also want to try and convince the judge that the clamping wasn't valid (it was legal at the time), that you were somehow entrapped, or there was insufficient signage etc, and that you were somehow innocently caught up in it.

    You'd also need to prove the damage was caused by the clamper and not you trying to drive off whilst getting clamped.


    In short, you've had it. I'd give up and move on with life. Even if you win this (unlikely), you stand to regain a fraction of what you'll spend, and since the claim is against a ltd company they'll probably just phoenix and you get nothing. So you've got an uphill struggle for a Pyrrhic victory at best.

    Someone drove badly, you nearly got injured due to poor observation, and then in a subsequent road rage incident your own car got damaged and you had to pay to get your car released, with even the police disagreeing with you. Treat it as a learning exercise and stop wasting your time trying to get vengeance.

    I'm all for starting small claims action for clamping incidents that are still within statutes, but this is as bad a test case as possible., and if you pursue it badly you'll end off admitting to road rage to a judge.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189
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    Herzlos wrote: »
    ...and since the claim is against a ltd company they'll probably just phoenix and you get nothing.

    TBH, I'm surprised a clamping company didn't simply get closed way back when their activities were banned.
    Someone drove badly, you nearly got injured due to poor observation, and then in a subsequent road rage incident your own car got damaged and you had to pay to get your car released...

    That's the sum of it.
  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863
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    AdrianC wrote: »
    TBH, I'm surprised a clamping company didn't simply get closed way back when their activities were banned.

    When clamping was banned Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act came into force (October 1st 2012). This meant the clamping companies simply changed their business model from clamping to scamming registered keepers, as POFA allowed liability for parking charges to be transferred from driver to keeper (in England and Wales. Scotland and NI don't have POFA, but clamping is still banned, so these areas are less profitable for scammers).
  • OP - As others here have suggested I think you are leading yourself down the garden path by making the very big assumption that because the land is unregistered the clamping was unlawful. Somebody owns the land and you would have to establish that whoever authorised/ordered the clamping was not that person. (The fact that the police say it was someone enforcing an easement over the land does not mean they are correct. They are not property lawyers).


    You do not seem to know who the landowner is (or rather was) so you seem to be taking rather a large open-ended risk here. It's not advisable to start court proceedings unless you know all the answers, and you seem to actually know precious little here.


    As Waamo and others have asked, what were the particulars of your claim? What didn't the judge like?
  • Oh ye of little faith.. They settled out of court for £2,000.00.
  • FlameCloud
    FlameCloud Posts: 1,953
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    Of course they did.
  • photome
    photome Posts: 16,351
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    Swinglebum wrote: »
    Oh ye of little faith.. They settled out of court for £2,000.00.
    Does that mean the floodgates are open for everyone else to claim
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189
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    Swinglebum wrote: »
    Oh ye of little faith.. They settled out of court for £2,000.00.
    If they settled out of court for such a substantial sum, there would have certainly been a silence clause in the settlement. Which you've just breached...
  • Johno100
    Johno100 Posts: 5,259
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    photome wrote: »
    Does that mean the floodgates are open for everyone else to claim

    No, because if something is settled out of court, regardless of what tier of the court it was due to have been heard in, then as the court doesn't get to pass a judgement there is no case law or precedent set.

    So much for the OP's altruistic motive - " I thought if I won my day in Court, all of these other people would be able to recover their costs." That clearly went out of the window when two grand in compo was waved in his face.
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