I can’t afford to pay
for my car to be released.
Due to the costs involved, it can prove very difficult
to raise the money to pay for the car to be either unclamped,
or released from the pound. In the London Council’s draft
Code of Practice on Civil Parking & Traffic Enforcement (see
below) it states that local authorities should give consideration
to allowing motorists to sign a “promissory note”
if payment cannot be made, but in particular, where the motorist
was a “vulnerable person alone at night without sufficient
money”.
Also, if a vehicle is released without payment, the London Local
Authorities Act 2000 allows local authorities to collect the unpaid
charges (clamp, removal or storage fees as well as the penalty
charge) with the issue of a charge certificate and registration
of the unpaid charges as a debt at The Traffic Enforcement Centre.
Unfortunately, due to many motorists defaulting on payment of
their “promissory note” many local authorities, now
restrict this concession to exceptional circumstances only.
If you cannot pay for your vehicle to be released, you are then
in the unfortunate position of having to incur additional costs
for daily storage and possibly also of disposal fees. For this
reason, if you do wish to lodge a formal complaint, and your vehicle
was clamped or towed in the London area, you may wish to quote
the above regulations in any letter.
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