WHEEL-CLAMPING

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The fee was demanded from a driver who had parked his lorry while waiting to make a delivery of flour at Tilbury, Essex. Clive Warcup, the haulier whose company was hit with the charge, said the clamper threatened to increase the fee by £100 for each hour they had to wait. The Road Haulage Association condemned the penalty. A spokeswoman said, “The ‘No Parking’ sign was very small. It’s grossly unfair, especially as hauliers are working to the tightest possible margins and under tremendous pressure.” Clamping on private land by private contractors will be outlawed under the Freedom Bill, which is currently before MPs. South East Clamping and Associates, which clamped the lorry, refused to comment.

Meanwhile a businessman has won compensation from Transport for London after his Toyota pickup truck was towed away from a loading bay while making a delivery. Responding to the case a TfL spokesman said, “TfL is naturally disappointed with the final outcome in the Court of Appeal but will abide by the decision and will not be appealing. As the ruling demonstrates this case was very much decided on its specific facts. TfL does not believe that this ruling will impact on other cases because of changes to the legislation and it will not have any impact on our enforcement of the Red Route network.” (Source: Daily Telegraph, Nov/11)

Motorists who fall victim to rogue clampers will be entitled to claim compensation, under new powers brought in by the Government. They will be able to take their case to independent adjudicators who will have sweeping powers to act on behalf of drivers. The tribunals, which will cover London, England and Wales and Northern Ireland will be able to intervene on behalf of motorists who have been unfairly clamped. They are being established under an amendment to the Crime and Security Bill, currently going through Parliament, which will create a compulsory licensing scheme for all clamping firms.

Motorists will be able to challenge a clamping fee on a number of grounds, such as failing to comply with a code of practice setting out how much time must elapse before a car can be immobilised. They will also have to ensure that signs warning of the danger of being clamped meet minimum standards of visibility. The Bill will also set a ceiling on the release fee, which is likely to be slightly above the £70 maximum charged by local authorities. Clampers who try to charge more than this will be ordered to refund the excess.

A motorist who convinces a tribunal that the car has been unfairly clamped will be able to demand compensation for the costs they incurred, such as taking a taxi or hiring another vehicle. The compensation will be a debt enforceable in a civil court and, in addition, clamping firms which refuse to comply with a ruling could lose their operating licence. Alan Campbell, a Home Office Minister, said, "The introduction of an independent appeals process will for the first time provide independent recourse for motorists who feel aggrieved by unfair practices of rogue clamping businesses."

Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, welcomed the move. He said, “No longer will those drivers who are unfairly penalised have to fall on the mercy of unscrupulous clampers. An independent appeals system is fundamental to reform of this essentially unregulated business, and something we have been demanding for years. Finally ministers have acted, and the licence to print money which many cowboy clampers believe they have seems about to be revoked. Now the excesses of rogue operators are about to be stamped out once and for all.” (Source: Daily Telegraph, Jan/10)

Wheel clampers will be banned from working on private land to tackle rogue operators who exploit drivers by charging "exorbitant fees". Home Office minister Lynne Featherstone said previous efforts to curb the activities of unscrupulous clampers had failed. England and Wales would now follow Scotland, which introduced a ban nearly two decades ago. Motoring organisations hailed the "momentous" move that will be introduced in the Government's Freedom Bill in November and could be in place by early next year.

Ms Featherstone said, "For too long motorists have fallen victim to unscrupulous tactics by many clamping firms. Reports of motorists being marched to cash points or left stranded after their car has been towed are simply unacceptable. A ban on clamping and towing on private land will end this abuse and companies who decide to flout new laws will face severe penalties. Even though we have tried to make this work by licensing individuals, companies who are responsible for the setting of the fees and the putting of signage have not really responded. We keep trying to make this work but it doesn't."

Private firms will be banned from clamping or towing vehicles but would still be able to ticket parked cars. Ms Featherstone said some firms were operating a "sort of entrapment" and an outright ban was the right answer. More than 2,000 existing clamping licences will be revoked under the plans for England and Wales, with towing away also outlawed, as ministers act to end the "scourge" of so-called cowboy clampers. Only unlicensed vehicles are able to be clamped in Northern Ireland. Once in force, anyone who clamps a vehicle or tows it away on private land will face big fines or even jail.

AA president Edmund King said, "An outright ban on wheelclamping on private land is a victory for justice and common sense. We have been campaigning for a ban against this legalised mugging for many years. Too many clampers have been acting like modern-day highwaymen for too long. Many elderly and vulnerable people have been ripped off by these callous cowboys. Clamping has been banned in Scotland since 1991 without problems. We would also like to see restrictions on the companies that issue bogus tickets on private land so that these cowboys are also driven out of town."

Only police or councils will be allowed to immobilise or remove a car in exceptional circumstances, such as a car blocking a road. Private land clamping is said to be worth £1billion a year, but has generated widespread complaints that some parking enforcement companies are extorting money from unsuspecting drivers. The AA called clamping a "draconian punishment" which had "caused misery to motorists for often minor mistakes". Under current rules, wheel clampers must hold a frontline licence from the Security Industry Authority (SIA), with supervisors or directors holding a non-frontline licence. (Source: The Sun , Aug/10)

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