A huge number of UK motorists are facing rapidly rising bailiffs’ fees as councils pursue them for unpaid motoring fines.
Over one million people (1,132,776) had debts registered against them at the Traffic Enforcement Centre in Northampton last year, according to figures released by the Ministry of Justice.
Motoring fines immediately increase by 50% when they are registered at the centre, which is part of Northampton County Court. When considering that this would see an already-expensive parking fine in London rise from £130 to £195, it is clear to see how bailiffs’ fees can become sizeable figures in short spaces of time.
Drivers are also at risk of having their credit rating ruined, and in some cases are unaware of the fines for which they are being pursued. This is typically the case if a person has moved house, or bought a car with an unpaid ticket pending.
Last year we told you about private parking companies harassing innocent motorists, and it appears councils are now doing the same.
Bailiffs are currently being handed more than 10% of council motoring fines, the majority of which are for parking. This is much to the fury of motoring campaigners who claim that drivers are being left at the mercy of bounty hunters, who scour the streets for cars with unpaid fines against them. The vans that they drive have automatic number plate recognition cameras.
The London Motorists’ Action Group told the Transport Select Committee earlier this year that bailiffs “frequently and fraudulently demand fees which are far in excess of the permitted statutory level.”
Several organisations have voiced concern over the way in which councils are currently going about their debt collecting.
An AA spokesman said: “It is disappointing that some mistakes are made yet councils seem to readily wash their hands of drivers trapped in a cycle of threats from debt collectors and bailiffs.
“The bailiff process is virtually unstoppable, even for the innocent and getting someone to listen is virtually impossible.
“The fact that bailiffs are now swanning around like bounty hunters in vehicles with ANPR cameras to find vehicles with outstanding warrants is sinister.”
Barrie Segal, who runs the AppealNow website, added: “It’s a bit like the Wild West, but there are no good guys out there to look after the motorist.
“I have had cases where motorists have appealed and the council has claimed never to have received it and gone to the enforcement centre.”
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, was also in disbelief about the current situation: “The numbers illustrate what a house of horrors the parking system has become and why it is time for a redesign.
“How have we descended to a situation where more than a million people have been pursued through the courts over a parking infringement?
“The industrial scale of this process reveals not its success but its utter failure.”
As could be expected however, a spokesman for the British Parking Association defended the industry. He said: “Over the last year, we have been actively engaged with the Ministry of Justice to work towards providing more protection against aggressive bailiffs and encourage more flexibility in bailiff collections.
“There is still a great deal of work to be done.
“It is essential that parking management is undertaken fairly, reasonably and responsibly and this includes the work of the bailiff when collecting unpaid parking tickets.
“Bailiffs undertake an important role in ensuring that penalty charges incurred by motorists who fail to comply with traffic and parking rules are properly enforced and collected.”
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