Can a bailiff clamp a financed car?

The financed car is not the goods of the debtor until after the final payment has been made.^[1][2]

The bailiff may only take control of goods if they belong to the debtor.^[3]

The hirer of the financed car may also recover damages from being deprived of the use of the car.^[4][5]

From 2019, bailiffs work under a belief they could clamp cars on hire-purchase but could not remove them. The bailiff companies call this, keeping a vehicle "on clamp".

There are no regulations enabling bailiffs to keep hired goods "on clamp" in this way.

If your vehicle is "on clamp", then you may apply to the court for interlocutory action and get an injunction to make the bailiff release the vehicle.^[6]

When the injunction is served and the clamp is removed, the traffic contravention debts being recovered are usually a lost cause for the bailiff. That doesn't mean you are off the hook, but it is financially toxic for the bailiff to continue with enforcement.

The bailiff company is usually ordered to pay the hirer’s legal costs.^[7][8][9]

^{[1] Chitty on Contracts (32 ed.) ss39-307

[2] See Bailiffs and hire-purchase cars

[3] Paragraph 10 of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007

[4] Paragraph 66 of Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007

[5] Section 3 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977

[6] Section 4 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977

[7] Civil Procedure Rule 44.3

[8] Civil Procedure Rule 46.5

[9] Practice Direction 46.5 Rule 3.1}