Cowboy Clampers
Posted by Lee Scott, MP for Ilford North, at 14:27, Thu 22 July 2010:
I am increasingly concerned by the actions of ‘cowboy’ car clampers who are making motorists lives a misery. I am being approached by more and more constituents who have become victims of wheel clamping companies while parked on private land.
I fully understand that a land owner might wish to restrict unauthorised parking. The problem is rogue clamping firms who conceal no parking signs, lure drivers to park through the use of decoy cars, charge ridiculously high release fees and target the vulnerable. In addition these firms do not answer complaints and have inadequate appeals procedures.
At present the law requires anyone who physically applies a clamp must hold a licence from the Security Industry Authority. I believe we must go further and that there should be a compulsory licensing scheme for wheel clamping companies, not just individuals. In addition all of the firm’s staff must undergo a full Criminal Records Bureau checks before they can start work.
There must be an end to the ludicrously high fees charged to release a clamped vehicle. In my view the fees charged by a clamping firm should be limited to a sum no higher than that charged by the areas local council. There need to be a fully independent process to allow motorists to appeal against the actions of car clamping companies on private land.
In many instances it is not clear who has instructed the clamping firm to operate in a particular location. Clearly only the owner of the land should be allowed to authorise a clamping firm to operate. Such an agreement must then be recorded with the local council. If the firm is instructed by someone who does not have authority then the contract is null and void, should be cancelled straight away and any fines paid must be returned.
I raised these concerns in parliament last Thursday and the view from members from both sides of the house was that the law on these matters needs to be tightened. I welcome the campaign by the Ilford Recorder to stop drivers being ‘held to ransom’ by rogue clamping firms.
(This article was published in the Ilford Recorder on 22nd July 2010)
Have you been a victim of cowboy clampers? Please let me have details.
Lee Scott.
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Posted by Mr D C Fellows, 14:56, Thu 22 July 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
It's good to see that my MP is working hard to redress things which affect a large number of people adversley and urgently need changing. Too many people take advantage of loopholes and inadequecies in the law to rip off other innocent who are, in fact, acting reasonably and honestly.
I fully support this examination of what can be done to make things fairer and cut out the cowboys.
Posted by Steve, 20:12, Thu 22 July 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
Ditto above message. Something should be done about these cowboy clampers.
Posted by M Sajid, 22:15, Thu 22 July 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
Agree, something needs to be done about these cowboys.
Posted by christine lourenco, 11:00, Fri 23 July 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
Dear Lee
The actions of a cowboy clamper contributed towards my husband's break down. I have done a lot of reasearch into the legality of clamping and found that the clamping company made several errors that would not stand in a Court of law. For instance there is a case going back three hundred years which says that you must not interfere with a workman's tools whilst he is working. This law has never been repealed. If a person is in a vehicle and he is working therefore it is illegal to clamp them. I could go on and on about laws that are already in existance which could combat clampers. Perhaps we should look again at the law of trespass in England and change it to the one they use in Scotland.
I hope that you are successful in fighting these people. Especially with regard to the exorbitant charges. My hubby's company had to pay the equivalent of one week's wages for his clamp and they were going to recharge this to him. The RAC Association have a barrister's report which makes extremely interesting reading.