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Does the clamping company or bailiff require an SIA Licence
to immobilise or clamp my car?

Under the Private Security Industry Act 2001, all vehicle immobilisers by law must hold a Vehicle Immobiliser Licence granted by The Security Industry Authority (SIA). This Act, which came into effect across England & Wales in May 2005, was set up to protect the public from abuses from unscrupulous owners of private land. The SIA has so far granted 1,508 licences.

We understand that in May 2007, there were changes to the SIA rules to exclude bailiffs from the requirement to have an SIA licence. As this information is very new, you will need to refer to the SIA website for further information.

What this means is that: if your car is clamped, immobilised, or towed away from private ground, not a public road…and you are charged a release fee, then the person carrying out the clamping, or contractor, must by law have a SIA Licence and to wear their licence when carrying out this role. A picture of the licence is shown above.

To carry out this work without a licence, is a criminal offence, punishable on conviction by a fine of up to £5,000 or 6 months imprisonment or both. In addition, there is a very severe penalty on the owner of the business that employed the individual also. Any licence holder who collects a release fee must provide a receipt, which must by law include the following:

• the location where the vehicle was clamped or towed.
• their own name and signature.
• their licence number.
• the date.

From many enquiries received from the public, some vehicle immobilisers have claimed that they are exempt from licensing; however upon checking this further we have proved that this was not the case.

If this situation does arise, it is worth noting that an exemption is applicable only where the employer, or company he works for, has been granted Approved Contractor Status by the SIA. To have this, the company that employs the individual, must have 80% of its staff already licensed and applications in the system, and pending, for the remaining staff who will be exempt only whilst their application is processed.

In this particular situation, our advice would be to contact SIA without delay to confirm whether or not; the individual is exempt, as he is working for a company that has Approved Contractor Status.

If the person clamping your vehicle does not hold the required licence, you can report the individual to the SIA using the complaint procedure on their website at www.the-sia-org.uk

Please note in the event that you wish to formally complain to the SIA they will not reveal to you the results of their findings, or whether or not they have prosecuted the individual. They can only deal with the matter of the individuals licence. Their complaints department cannot deal with the following:

• Lack of signs warning about parking.
• Amount of the fees that you have been charged.
• The manner in which the vehicle was clamped. This must be taken up with the company or land owner that instructed them.

If you have concerns about a wheel clamping firm, you may also report them to Trading Standards and you may have a case in civil law.

For full details on the SIA ruling for Vehicle Immobilisers, please read the following, by right clicking on your mouse and selecting: open hyperlink.

http://www.the-sia.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/05F9C778-3CF4-4B67-B576-
41D386D4E124/0/sia_vi_get_licensed.pdf


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