My car got a PCN after a bailiff clamped it on the street. Am I liable?

No

When bailiffs clamp a vehicle on the street, in what is usually a drive-by enforcement,^[1] you no longer have control of the vehicle.^[2]

If the clamped vehicle gets a penalty charge notice, then the owner or keeper names the bailiff whose name is on the Warning of Immobilisation attached to the driver's door window, on the Notice to Owner (NTO).

When you get the Notice to Owner (NTO), complete the notice naming the bailiff and the bailiff company address.^[3]

The authority will pursue the bailiff or his firm for the traffic contravention debt.

If you still get notices, or enforcement demands about a traffic contravention debt, you can complete the appropriate forms to stop the enforcement, and name the bailiff and give the address of his firm as the respondent.^[4] This is called making a late witness statement, or an out of time statutory declaration.

If your late witness statement or statutory declaration is rejected, then you will have to pay the debt, then recover it, along with your expenses together with your costs from the bailiff company by making an online money claim.^[5]

In your claim, you must prove that you were not in control of the vehicle at the time of the traffic contravention.

Exhibit a photograph of the clamped car showing the number plate and wheel clamp in the same picture, and a photograph of the Warning of Immobilisation notice attached to the vehicle drivers door window.

^{[1] See Bailiffs and drive-by clamping and enforcement
[2] Paragraph 13(1)(b) of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
[3] Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988
[4] See Making a late witness statement of out of time statutory declaration, appeal a traffic debt
[5] See Money Claim online (MCOL)}