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Drivers to get clamping compensation rights
James Slack and Ray Massey, Daily Mail
29 January 2010 Reader comments (10)
Motorists will be able to claim back thousands of pounds in compensation from cowboy clampers in a major victory for the Daily Mail, This is Money's sister title.
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Home Office minister Alan Campbell last night tabled laws which will, for the first time, give drivers the right to an independent appeal if they are clamped on private land.
A tribunal, which will be funded by charges made against clamping companies, will have the power to order firms to repay in full unfair fines or towing charges.
Significantly, the panel will also be allowed to force the clampers to pay compensation to motorists who incur extra costs because of their actions.
This could range from taxi fares home because their car was clamped, to the cost of hiring a car while their vehicle was recovered from a pound - running to hundreds of pounds each case.
There is no upper limit on the amount of compensation. Any clamper which refuses to pay up will lose its licence - effectively forcing the firm out of business.
The announcement completes a resounding victory for our Curb the Cowboy Clampers campaign, which demanded the regulation of a 'legalised extortion' regime currently worth £1bn-a-year.
We have also secured a mandatory Security Industry Authority licensing regime, backed by a new code of conduct. It will fix maximum fines for having a clamp removed at £40 outside London, and £70 inside the capital.
The towing away of vehicles within minutes of them being clamped will be barred. The maximum charge for recovering a towed car will be fixed at around £105 outside London, or £200 within.
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Currently, total charges can top £500. The clampers will also be banned from marching terrified drivers to cash points, and will no longer be able to hide signs in an effort to catch them out.
Anybody breaching the code, which is being finalised by the Home Office, will face a three-strikes-and-you're-out punishment regime. If they continue to target drivers after their licence has been revoked, clampers face up to five years in jail and fines of up to £5,000.
Home Office Minister Alan Campbell, said: 'The Government is committed to preventing abuses by unscrupulous wheel-clamping firms.
'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.
'The process will form part of the Government's compulsory licensing scheme, which will further regulate-the industry and provide a fair system for motorists.' The absence of an independent appeals tribunal was arguably the greatest injustice of the private clamping system.
Motorists could appeal only to the firm which imposed the fine and which had a vested interest in turning down the appeal. The entirely independent tribunal will mirror the system which already exists for parking tickets issued on public land.
The bill for setting up the tribunal will be passed on to the clampers - who can expect sharp increases in their £2,000 annual licence fee. Motorists will have to pay a small fee of around £5 purely to discourage unfounded appeals.
RAC Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said: 'It seems ministers have at last listened to the hundreds of thousands of drivers who have been fleeced by rogue operators.
'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.
'Wheel clamping has been described in Parliament as something-akin to "legalised extortion". Now the excesses of rogue operators are about to be stamped out once and for all.'
Steve Fowler, editor What Car? magazine said: 'Motorists will be extremely pleased that the Daily Mail spearheading this initiative has borne fruit. This should have been tackled years ago. It's too easy for anyone to set up as a cowboy clamper'.
The changes are passing through Parliament as part of the Crime and Security Bill which is expected to become law before the General Election.
