Parking bailiffs may win right to enter homes

London Telegraph  | April 10, 2007

By David Millward

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.

advertisement
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."