beSmart Training specialise in training people who wish to become Vehicle Immobilisers (or “wheel clampers”) and who require a Level 2 BTEC Award in Vehicle Immobilisation in order to apply for a Front Line Immoblisation Licence from the Security Industry Authority (SIA).
If you would like the dates of our next courses, please click here. We also offer a “One Stop Shop” option where we help our clients to fill in the necessary paperwork.
Once you have this particular SIA license, you can clamp, block or tow vehicles on private land. The key words being “private land”.
There has been much bad press recently about wheel clamping, clampers and clamping companies. It is very easy to complain and kick-up about these organisations (our clients), but at the end of the day they do provide a very real and necessary service.
If you are one of those who complain about them, think on this….. what would you do if someone parks in your driveway? It is private property so the police won’t be interested… a civil matter. What if they continue to park in your driveway day after day? You would be pretty fed up, wouldn’t you? Well, it is exactly the same for other peoples “private land”.
However, if you have recently fallen foul and truly feel that it was not your fault, the following tips may be useful for you.
- Do not try to cut the clamp off.
If you are caught cutting or damaging a wheel clamp you are committing a criminal offence (criminal damage) and the clamping company could prosecute you. If you decide it is worth the risk and do cut the clamp off, make sure you leave it behind. If you remove the clamp you have also committed theft as well as criminal damage. - Remember: you can’t hide
Bear in mind the clamping company will have your vehicle details so if you do either of the above they will be able to trace the vehicle. If they are a legitimate clamping company working within the rules, they will also have photographs of your vehicle committing the parking violation and they will have pictures of your vehicle before and after being clamped. - Stay calm
Please remember not to abuse the person who comes to declamp your vehicle. This person wants to help you by removing the offending article – they may not be the person who affixed it. If you verbally or physically abuse the person who has come to declamp your vehicle they may call the police. They may also just leave without declamping the vehicle. Some companies have recently introduced a policy to tow away the vehicles of abusive people as a matter of course. - Ask to see their SIA Vehicle Immobiliser Licenses
If you are clamped you should request to see the SIA vehicle immobiliser licence for ALL of the clampers who attend you and your vehicle for declamping. You should make a note of the name and licence number and the expiry date and then check them on the SIA website at www.the-sia.org.uk. This also applied to anyone who tries to remove your vehicle. The vehicle immobiliser licence is valid for one year only so many clampers forget to put in their renewals and could therefore be working on an expired licence. If this is found to be the case, you have grounds for getting your money back as the clamping is illegal. - Check for clear signage
If clamping warning signs are covered or unreadable you should take photographs to prove this and you may have grounds for appeal. Remember that the clamping company will have pictures too, or they should have. - Formalise your complaint
You cannot appeal a clamping/blocking or towing until after you get your vehicle back. This means paying up and then fighting for your money back. When you pay to be declamped you MUST ask for and receive from the company a receipt for your payment and you MUST also get an appeals notice which will give you details on how to appeal your penalty charge. If you do not receive this information you MUST contact the Security Industry Authority and make a formal complaint against the company who made the charge.
There are two legal precedents used in the industry. One is Arthur versus Anker and the other is Vine versus London Borough of Waltham Forest.
Arthur versus Anker (Court of Appeal 1996) addresses the laws of consent and distress/damage and lays down guidelines as to when clamping is permissible. This case highlighted that the vehicle owner had knowingly parked in violation of restrictions and was correctly clamped. The court of appeal rejected the vehicle owners (Mr Arthur’s), claim and laid down the principles of law which now govern modern wheel clamping.
Vine versus London Borough of Waltham Forest (Court of Appeal 2000) addresses the law of contract. Ms Vine won her case against the London Borough because the clamp warning signs were hidden and she did not see them. Therefore, she could not have consented to the clamping. The case also highlighted the requirement for penalty fees to be reasonable. Many councils have since stopped using clamping techniques and now rely on penalty charge notices, so council run car parks are probably safer than an unknown private car park.
Remember the most important thing of all: if you don’t contravene parking restrictions you shouldn’t get clamped.
LOOK for the signs and remember to alway make sure any permits or tickets are adquately displayed.
DOUBLE CHECK that you are parked within marked bays within a parking area
NEVER park in a disabled or reserved space
ALWAYS if in doubt, find somewhere else to park!
November 8th, 2009 at 23:53
I believe your last paragraph to be very good advice, but what happens if you have a motorbike. I left two permits in the windscreen of the car, parked the bike in the same parking space and was still clamped. They claim I should have left the permit on top of the bike.
November 10th, 2009 at 11:29
Andy, Thanks for your comment and that is a very good question. What I suggest is that you talk to the person who issues the permits and request that they intervene on your behalf as the two permits were valid and in situ (albeit both in a car). Also ask what is the preferred method for a motorbike as quite obviously you cannot leave the permit on the bike as it will get stolen. I personally would appeal, especially if there are no clear guidelines on how to display a valid permit on a bike. I would suggest the landowner is definitely your first point of call though.
Please let me know how you get on. It will be good advice for others if you get a good outcome.
Regards
Sue
beSmart Training
November 18th, 2009 at 12:20
Hi I have a question. My fathers car was clamped last week in our housing ass car park. He was coming into to get the visitors permit when he was clamped. The company Park Direct refused to remove the clamp, and I was informed that the money £172.50 needed to be paid within an hour or the charge would be raised to £335.00 as a tow truck would be called and the car removed. Lucky for us the land is private and the sign did not state cars needed to be parked in a bay. So another residents car was parked in frount of the clamped car stopping the car being towed. They then gave in and agreed to accept the original payment of £172.50. As they could not remove the car without damage to the other. I have appealed with in the 10 days allowed (by recorded delivery). How long do the company have to reply? And where do I go from there if they turn me down.
Thank you
Lucy
November 19th, 2009 at 10:32
Hi Lucy,
I cannot say whether the company will uphold your appeal or how long it will take them to respond as all companies have their own procedures. I doubt they will uphold your appeal as they are very money-driven. You should check with the landowner (or any documentation you got with your permit) the exact contract details for the clamping contract and check if they are working within their contractual limits ie., whether clamping can be immediate or if the company is supposed to allow a period of grace so that people can get their permit.
If the company is breaking it’s contractual terms you should complain to the landowner and the Security Industry Authority on http://www.the-sia.org.uk. If they are breaking their contractual terms you could take them to small claims court if they don’t uphold your appeal.
December 28th, 2009 at 22:22
I parked my bike in a local car park, previously to doing this i checked for any deposit boxes for parking tickets as some places require you to write your registration number on pay and display for motorbikes, i was gone 2 hours and came back with 10 mins to have find £69 cash to get the clamp released from my bike, there was no set rate for bikes in the car park and i couldn’t very well stick a ticket on the bike so i didn’t buy one i just parked up at the end by a wall ! I also believe that in most places you don’t have to pay for parking on like sundays or bank holidays like boxing day! today is 28th dec 09 its offically boxing day.
Do you think i have a good case of appeal on these grounds?
March 1st, 2010 at 15:27
I recently parked my car in a car park of a bankrupt company, there were two signs one saying that there was parking and one saying no parking, so no clear clarification. i returned later to find my car had been towed. I phoned the number to which i was told it would be £380 to release the car, when i arrived to pick up the car i asked for a reciept, the times on the reciept said i was clamped a 6 and towed at 7. All the other cars at the impound had big yellow stickers notifying the driver they had been clamped, i asked the clamper where my stickers was, he replied, “well it must have blown off” despite the fact they were firmly stuck on, i dont believe he evened clamped it. how do i go about getting evidence of the clamping?
March 11th, 2010 at 10:22
Lewis,
The clamping operator are supposed to take photographs of your vehicle before the clamp is affixed, showing the offence. They are then supposed to take a photo showing the vehicle with the clamp attached. You must write to the operator insisting they provide photographic evidence and that if they don’t you will report them to the SIA and the police and will take them to court to reclaim your money. You also need to ask for the SIA licence number of the clamper. By law they must issue you a receipt for the payment you made to secure the release of your vehicle. That receipt MUST show the SIA licence number of the person that issued it. If not, report them to the police and the SIA. Hope that helps.
June 29th, 2010 at 04:41
In February I purchased my Bmw 5 series car. On Monday 28th June 5am I came out of my house to find my car had been clamped by a wheel clamp company, when contacting them they informed me that the release fee would be in access of £650 and nothing would be done until 8am that morning after the three hour wait, three wheel clampers in their van turned up and informed me that my vehicle had a possession
Warrant on it and had to be clamped for a non payment of a parking fine issued November 2009 by Uxbridge council.
I explained to the wheel clampers that the car had been purchased in February 2010 of this year and I could prove ownership from this time but was still told that a payment in full had to be made in order for the clamp to be removed.
I had to make payment of £704.76 using my own credit card and the credit card of my partner which was phoned through to the clampers main HQ, and a receipt was
given to me (receipt No.124936).
June 29th, 2010 at 09:08
Hi Mr Brown,
Unfortunately, this incident does not come under the law relating to wheel-clamping on private land. If you were clamped as a result of a court order/warrant and you were not the owner of the vehicle at the time the original offence was committed (and can prove it), I suggest you go to a solicitor as you will probably have to go to court to get your money back. The cost of the clamp probably reflects the original fine amount plus the clampers costs.