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Clamping down on the dampers
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How many of you have been clamped unfairly? The answer is probably quite a few, so its high time something is done about the extortionate fees and 'cowboy' damping firms that pollute the industry.
uncovered
0 Wor o$1 Sally Nash Picture the scene: a lorry driver who needs to use the toilet has tried to park at a motorway services area, but the truck park is full. In desperation he uses a coach bay after all, he is only going to be gone for a few HGV driver Bob Painter minutes. On his return, he is annoyed to see that his vehicle had to pay a E250 release has been clamped. Not only that, but he has to fork out a fee after being clamped at hefty fee just to get his truck released. The load is due to be motorway services
delivered in the next half an hour, so he is forced to pay up.
Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common scenario, and CM has met many drivers who say they have been clamped unfairly. Some drivers argue that the warning signs are impossible to see, while others complain they only left the cab for a few minutes. Some, like Galashiels-based Bob Painter (pictured), have been charged £250 when all they did was stop to use a toilet. This is greater than the fine given for a number of more serious road traffic offences.
Rogue firms
Car drivers have also been left furious by the antics of dampers. Renowned victims have included a hearse with a body on-board, a Royal Mail van in the middle of making deliveries and a good samaritan who stopped to help a hitand-run victim. Examples of rogue firms include one that fined drivers £.100 if they swore at clamping staff.
Another charged motorists £125 to release clamps and then another £250 to cover the cost of the recovery truck having to come out.
In Scotland, wheel clamping on private land was banned overnight following a court case in 1992, when judges declared it to be nothing more than "extortion and theft': The UK government has finally responded to pressure, launching a public consultation on 30 April. The Home Office has asked the Security Industry Authority (STA), which regulates the private security industry in Great Britain under the Private Security Industry Act 2001, to look at a range of proposals for introducing compulsory licensing to tackle dodgy practices (see panel on page 30).
The 2001 Act requires the compulsory licensing of individuals undertaking designated activities This includes individuals in England and Wales involved in immobilising vehicles on private land with a view to charging a release fee. It also requires the licensing of anyone involved in blocking in or towing away vehicles for the same purpose, and of those who collect the fee. However, companies are not required to be licensed under the 2001 Act, although they can seek accreditation under the SIA's voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme.
Although the procedure includes criminal records checks, and instructs operators not to clamp disabled or emergency vehicles, it does not set maximum fines or provide ticketed or clamped motorists with an independent appeals process.
The tough new proposals would make it mandatory for the firm itself to be licensed to ensure it upholds standards of conduct, which will be enforced if they are not met.
The SIA claims that complaints about individual dampers have halved since the introduction of licensing, although there were still large numbers of complaints concerning "fees and signage'.'
SIA's chief executive, Bernard Herdan, says: "Vehicle immobilisation is a sector that faces criticism due to the nature of the work it does and the behaviour of some operatives in the industry In response to concerns over practices in the sector, we have set out how wheel dampers could be more tightly regulated through a new company licensing scheme."
No exceptions
A spokeswoman for the SIA says that most of the complaints it receives concern cars, but the new legislation would apply to anyone parked in a private road. "We have had complaints about disabled motorists with blue badges being clamped as well as ambulances being clamped. We will be looking at maximum payments and types of payments," continues the spokeswoman.
There has been some speculation that under the new plans, drivers clamped on private land anywhere in England or Wales would simply pay a flat-rate release fee of around £135.
Both the AA and the RAC have highlighted the inadequacies of the current system. According to a Populus poll of 100 MPs for the AA, 86% of MPs think that wheel clamping on private land in England and Wales should either be outlawed or more tightly regulated. MP Alan Campbell, minister for crime reduction, recently told the BBC Watchdog programme: "I think that some of the companies have acted in an outrageous way. We can't have a situation where it's just a revenue-raising exercise and that a motorist finds their vehicle being towed away if they weren't aware because there weren't any signs. They've no control over the level of fees that are charged and no way of redressing the situation. That's not right, which is why we intend to introduce legislation."
Neither the SIA nor the Home Office could provide a timeline for the introduction of the new regulations, although the consultation is expected to last three months and another three months will be spent analysing the responses. Some newspaper reports suggest legislation could be in place within a year.
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) believes firm action is needed to tackle cowboy operators. Natalie Chapman ,the FIA's policy manager for London and the South-East, says: "We welcome any serious attempt to toughen up regulations against rogue wheel-clamping firms because just being registered with the Security Industry Authority isn't enough to weed out the cowboys. Excessive fees levied by some private companies, who are more intent on making money than improving traffic flow, are totally unwarranted, especially in this current economic climate." She adds that the FTA would now like to see a maximum imit on removal fines and a facility for credit card payments .o be made "so that the number of clamped vehicles, which an cause severe disruption on our urban road networks themselves, are kept to an absolute minimum'.'
In the past, the British Parking Association, which represents parking companies such as NCP, Vinci Parking snd Apcoa, has called for private dampers to be bound to I code of conduct that requires clear warning
.iigns, reasonable penalties and a maximum
ape of no more than the equivalent levied by local councils.
Strong support
Patrick Troy, chief executive of the British Parking Assoc iation, says:"We strongly support the government's proposals to extend licensing to clamping companies. Members of our Approved Operator Scheme, who must comply with a robust code of practice when clamping on private land, back proposals that will drive out the rogues and create a fairer parking environment. While there is a clear need for parking enforcement on private land to deter unsociable parking, it is vital that operators are working in a fair and transparent manner, which is what we believe these proposals will deliver."
Operator Ken Devereux has been hit by extortionate clamping fees on several occasions. "One driver pulled into a services, which only has truck parking spaces," says Devereux. "He was desperate to use the toilet, but the truck parking was full so he parked on the coach site, which was empty. When he catne back, he'd been clamped. In another incident in 2006, a driver parked up on a Sunday at a service station traditionally, drivers didn't have to pay on a Sunday because it was quiet, but when our driver got up early at 4am to zip off and make his delivery, he'd been clamped."
Devereux says the fee can be as high as £300 once the clamping charge, release fee and additional fine for not buying a ticket are taken into account.
"I hope something is done about this because quite often it is legalised intimidation and the motorway service operators just aren't interested."