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Parking bailiffs may win right
to enter homes
David Millward
London
Telegraph
Tuesday April 10, 2007
More than a million motorists a year face having bailiffs force
their way into their homes to collect unpaid parking fines under
legislation before MPs.
Action could be taken even when the motorist is unaware that a
ticket has been issued or that the debt has been pursued through
the civil courts.
In such cases car owners have faced spiralling costs - including
bailiffs' fees - of hundreds of pounds.
The Department for Transport's feasibility study into "pay
as you drive" includes proposals to use debt collectors to
chase unpaid fees.
Motoring groups are alarmed at the proposals contained in the Tribunal
Courts and Enforcement Bill, which is designed to strengthen the
power of bailiffs to collect civil debts.
It will put town hall parking fines on the same basis as criminal
penalties, which means a bailiff will be able to force entry to
collect them.
Currently, their powers are limited to seizing a car or confiscating
goods from the debtor's home - having gained entry by consent.
The issue is particularly sensitive because of the move to hand
over parking control to an increasing number of local authorities.
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Giving town halls the right to keep the money raised from parking
fines has led to a surge in the number of tickets issued and the
growth of a lucrative enforcement and debt collection industry.
Some contractors hired by councils set performance targets with
incentives for parking attendants who are most "efficient".
The practice is discouraged by the British Parking Association,
the trade body, but motoring groups believe some abuses remain.
Earlier this week the High Court said that a parking ticket had
to be issued to a driver for it to be valid.
Such is the pressure on attendants to issue tickets that one tried
to serve it on a motorist by hurling it through his window as he
drove off.
The National Parking Adjudication Service ruled the ticket invalid
as it had not been properly served.
More than 200 local authorities have control over parking. Many
of them use Northampton County Court - which is near one of the
largest debt collection firms - to pursue unpaid fines.
During the current financial year the court has issued more than
one million warrants - all by computer and without the motorist
being in a position to contest the debt.
Once the warrant is issued, the matter is handed over to bailiffs
to collect the money on behalf of the council.
The debt collector also is entitled to levy additional fees on
top of the fine.
The prospect of the curbs preventing bailiffs forcing their way
into motorists' homes alarmed Edmund King, executive director of
the RAC Foundation.
"I think there is a real concern here," he said. "There
have been many cases where, for example, someone's car has been
stolen.
"They get a ticket, write on it that the car has been stolen
and send it back.
"The next thing they know is when a bailiff turns up on their
doorstep.
"We all know that databases are not always accurate and many
parking tickets are rightly contested.
"It would not be right to give bailiffs the divine right to
walk into your house to enforce a parking ticket."
Franklin Price, a solicitor who has represented a number of motorists,
was horrified at the proposals.
"If bailiffs are given these powers they are going to be forcing
their way into people's houses," he said.
A spokesman for the Department for Constitutional Affairs said
that there would be safeguards to protect motorists. But the nature
of these safeguards - such as whether a motorist would be entitled
to a special hearing to challenge the bailiff's right of entry -
had yet to be decided.
Henry Bellingham, the Tories' constitutional affairs spokesman,
said: "There is a danger this will be exploited by unscrupulous
bailiffs."
Alan Clark, a bailiff and a member of the British Parking Association,
played down the threat to motorists.
"These powers would be used very rarely. We would not seek
to use them unless it was necessary.
"The modern approach is to try to encourage people to pay
by persuasion."
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