Private towing without statutory authority — POFA Schedule 4 limits remedy to charge recovery
PoFA 2012 Schedule 4 only authorises a private parking operator to recover a parking charge from the keeper. It does NOT authorise removal/towing of the vehicle. If a private operator (or their agent) towed your car from private land without your consent, that is conversion / trespass to goods at common law. Any towing or storage fee charged is recoverable. The only lawful private-land removals are: (a) by police under Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986 where the vehicle is abandoned or causing obstruction on a road or public place; (b) by the landowner under specific statutory powers (e.g., Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 for abandoned vehicles, after notice); (c) under a court order. A parking operator's contractual signage cannot create a self-help right of removal.
Legal basis
PoFA 2012 Schedule 4 (only confers right to recover unpaid parking charges, not to remove vehicle); Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 s.3; Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 (conversion); common law trespass to goods; Vine v Waltham Forest LBC [2000] 1 WLR 2383 (clamping/removal must be lawful and notice adequate)
How to identify this in your case
Vehicle was towed from private land (car park, retail park, private road, residential block) by a private operator or their contractor and you were charged a release/storage fee. No court order, no police involvement, no statutory abandoned-vehicle notice procedure followed.
Sample appeal wording
Dear [OPERATOR], Re: Vehicle [REG] removed from [LOCATION] on [DATE] — Demand for return / refund of release and storage fees totalling £[AMOUNT] On [DATE] my vehicle was removed from the above location by [you / your contractor]. I dispute the legality of the removal and demand a full refund of £[AMOUNT]. 1. There is no statutory power for a private parking operator to remove a vehicle from private land. Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 confers only a right to recover unpaid parking charges from the keeper; it does NOT confer any right of removal, towing, or storage. 2. Removal of my vehicle without lawful authority is conversion under the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 and trespass to goods. 3. Signage purporting to authorise 'removal at owner's expense' cannot create a right of self-help removal: see by analogy Vine v Waltham Forest LBC [2000] 1 WLR 2383 — adequate notice and lawful authority are required, and consent obtained by reading prohibitive signage is not consent to tortious interference with goods. 4. Any release or storage fee charged is unenforceable as (a) it secures release of goods unlawfully detained, (b) it is a penalty within the Beavis test (ParkingEye v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67) where it is extravagant or unconscionable and not commensurate with a legitimate interest, and (c) it is an unfair term under sections 62-64 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. I require: (a) Full refund of £[AMOUNT] within 14 days; (b) Disclosure under UK GDPR Article 15 of: contract with the landowner authorising removal; the recovery operator's licence and certificate; photographs taken at the time of removal; signage location plan and audit; storage records; (c) Confirmation you will not pursue any further charge. If not refunded within 14 days, I will issue a claim in the County Court for conversion, demand interest under s.69 County Courts Act 1984, and complain to [BPA / IPC / Trading Standards / ICO]. Yours faithfully, [NAME]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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Scan my ticketSources
- PoFA 2012 Schedule 4
- Vine v Waltham Forest LBC [2000] 1 WLR 2383
- Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977
- Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978