Hi there. Thanks for your question, I will help you with this.

What would you like to know specifically with regards XX XXXX?

Okay. Some questions:

(a) was it parked somewhere it shouldn't have been; and

(b) were there signs saying that they would tow and at what cost etc?

That does seem a bit harsh then! Well, had you abandoned the car though?

I'm here - sorry.

Did you leave it for 45 seconds or 30 minutes?

Okay. Well, they're going to argue that you were permitted to be there subject to paying the "agreed" fees on the notices.

And even through you left for such a short period, you're going to find it difficult to resist the charges if you parked where you shouldn't have been.

The fact that so many dodgy companies do this kind of thing is one of the reasons they're looking to change the law on this, but for now, I'm afraid we're stuck with the system we have.

Why so much?

Wheel clampers used by landowners need a licence from the SIA. It is a criminal offence for an unlicenced person to clamp/tow your vehicle. When you pay to have your vehicle released, the wheel-clamper must provide a receipt which includes the the place where the vehicle was clamped, their name and signature, their SIA licence number. Armed with this, you could then refer the matter to the SIA from a licensing perspective: www.the-sia.org.uk

Only a reasonable fee should be charged. The charges that you've mentioned do not sound particularly excessive for London in the grand scheme of things.

How strange ....

Well, you might want to inform them that those who were caught clamping on CCTV and were not regulated, will have committed a criminal offence.

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Sometimes, to avoid the costs going up and the argument escalating, unjust though it might seem, the most cost effective approach is to pay the sums demanded and then seek to recover it in the small claims court.

You can argue its unreasonable later - and effectively extortion! But, as I mentioned, if you don't pay, they are going to demand more and more, and you sound as though you need the vehicle quickly. As such, you can still issue against them in the county court to try to reclaim it - you might be able to do a deal with them once you issue - you could issue here: www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

In all honestly, probably very little, but that's not to say the claim wouldn't have a nuisance value to them, and they might just do a deal to get rid of you.

But that assumes it was lawfully clamped and towed away. If not, due to no licence etc., then you might have a good claim.

Thank you too!

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