RAC to take on the wheel clampers

We've all come across them at some point and no doubt we've all been reduced to having to pay a lot of money to have our beloved cars restored to us.

But now the RAC has decided to take the fight to the clampers.

Yep the RAC says clamping firms who apply clamps to vehicles on private property could well be breaking the law themselves.

According to Dr Chris Elliot, clamping a vehicle left on private land is akin to the principle of one individual punishing another which is, believe it or not, contrary to the Human Rights Act, 1998.

Dr Elliot says clamping companies are acting illegally by imposing "an exorbitant charge for releasing cars" and says even though the courts uphold the right to clamp and charge, "even that is on shaky grounds".

Right now the law provides a licensing system for those companies that want to get into the business of clamping other people's cars. But crucially it doesn't set a limit for how much the clampers can charge. The result is that some firms can charge motorists upwards of £400 for the relatively minor offence of parking in someone else's private car park.

Dr Elliot said: "The Home Office is proposing a new licensing regime for private clampers, but it is arguable that, if the release fee is unreasonable, their actions are incompatible with the Human Rights Act 1998 which demands that punishment should only come after a proper legal process.

"The purpose of clamping is to prevent a vehicle being removed from land it should not be on. On the face of it, clamping is perverse since it causes the harm to the landowner to persist. It is in effect a 'self-inflicted wound.'

"The tactic only makes sense either to punish or deter. Both have little foundation in English law, since they are based on a notion that one person may punish another. But punishment is a power reserved to the State."

The RAC is calling on the government to carry out a fundamental review of the law.

The director of the RAC Foundation, Professor Stephen Glaister, said: "We recognise the right of a landowner to enjoy his property without unauthorised obstruction. However, for so many reasons clamping does not fit the bill as a method of enforcement.

"With depressing regularity the Foundation receives calls from distressed motorists who have fallen victim to cowboy clampers whose primary objective appears not to be to protect landowners' property, but simply to take large amounts of money from ordinary people who, for the most part, are doing little harm. Now it seems the actions of these rogue operators are not only disproportionate, but also probably illegal.

"The Home Office is currently consulting on how wheel clamping could be better regulated. This consultation closes on July 23rd, and will be the last opportunity for MPs and others to decide whether clamping actually has any future at all."

Dr Elliott has recommended the government ensure parliament defines the legal right to clamp cars on private land.

He has also suggested any organisation acting as an accrediting body for the parking industry has its performance monitored and audited by a government agency.

And, he is calling for an independent appeal mechanism or ombudsman for those who have been wrongly penalised by private parking enforcers.