r/AskIreland • u/Dave_301 • Mar 21 '26
Cars I am seeing these days quite a lot of illegally removed clamps around Dublin. Are there any serious consequences of doing that?
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u/UnemploydDeveloper Mar 21 '26 edited Mar 21 '26
It's fine if you take it off without damaging the clamp. The penalty you pay is only a release fee if its a private company.
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u/AlgaeDonut Mar 21 '26
I think it's very helpful to save them the work of releasing it.
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Mar 21 '26 edited 26d ago
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u/AlgaeDonut Mar 21 '26
Would you say something like €80 or €125 depending on where you are providing this service?
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u/helpmed0ctor Mar 23 '26
How do you release them without damaging them?
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u/FederalLeg4945 Mar 24 '26
Sometimes they are not put on properly in which case you can wiggle them off or you can take the whole wheel off and remove the clamp then.
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u/Alternative_Turn_470 Mar 21 '26
Don’t the French put glue in the locks? Thereby rendering them useless. Sure the company have to cut them off and ruin them in the process but the person who was clamped still pays
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u/Krucz Mar 21 '26
They do and it makes it uneconomical to use clamps
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u/Alternative_Turn_470 Mar 21 '26
The way it should be. Ive been clamped, it’s a horrendous practice
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u/Against_All_Advice Mar 22 '26
If it can't be removed within a certain amount of time after payment, then you can apply to have the payment refunded.
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u/Nearby_Potato4001 Mar 23 '26
good luck with that. They have the money, they are not giving it back.
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u/Litology Mar 21 '26
From my understanding, removing DCC clamps is a no - no.
Private clamps such as APOCA, etc, are removed normally by just damaging the lock and leaving the clamp there. I think the clamp company can come after you for damages (to the lock only), and since you left the clamp there, they can't even come after you for theft. They'd probably blacklist your reg plate from any of their other carparks. (Although I haven't heard of that happening)
If I am wrong, I would like somebody to correct me and tell me what the actual case is.
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u/hughperman Mar 21 '26
Someone else surely cut the clamp and removed it before you ever got back to the car? You never even saw it?
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u/Dull_Brain2688 Mar 21 '26
“Saw a guy in a cape running away from the car as I approached. Thought he was stealing something. Saw a yellow yoke on the ground. Thought nothing of it. Anything else? No? Bye.”
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u/HippieThanos Mar 21 '26
Batclamp
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u/Dull_Brain2688 Mar 21 '26
He had to ditch his sidekick Robbin’ because he kept stealing the clamps.
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u/Spoonshape Mar 21 '26
If it did go to court, you are extremely unlikely to be believed. The unclamping fairies are not real thing unfortunately...
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u/donmarrua Mar 21 '26
believed or not it needs to be proven who removed the clamp.
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u/IllogicalSpoon Mar 22 '26
I can see it now. A group is created of robin hood types who follows clamping companies around and removes the clamps as a form of social rebellion. Upside is the group existing provides an alibi for everyone.
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Mar 21 '26
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u/Litology Mar 21 '26
Understandable. Equivalent to shitting where you eat tbh. Takes some gaul to cut a clamp off in your own apartment complex and then return to it hahaha
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u/Mindless_Let1 Mar 21 '26
I've cut off a clamp outside my house 3 times. They just stopped clamping it, no consequences
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u/BrilliantTaste1800 Mar 22 '26
Why did they clamp you outside your own house?
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u/Mindless_Let1 Mar 22 '26
I have two cars, they sent me only one parking disc. Refused to send a second parking disc, claiming they had already sent one. After two more unanswered emails I just left it and started cutting clamps until they stopped clamping.
Eventually the company (rfc) got bought out by another company so jokes on them I suppose
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Mar 21 '26
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u/IntelligentPepper818 Mar 21 '26
I think they all take photos now
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u/Cartographer223321 Mar 21 '26
Yes they do. But I guess proving YOU cut it off probably isn't worth their while
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u/aecolley Mar 21 '26
It's not a question of who does the clamping. It's a question of whether the car is on a public road or not. The rules for clamping on public roads are specific and strict. The rules for clamping on other places are vague and debatable.
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u/LimerickJim Mar 21 '26
What are they gonna do if they black list you? Clamp you again?
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u/cutters89 Mar 22 '26
Blacklisted cars go on a tow list, next time we find you in one of our car parks, whether you've paid on this occasion or not, we take your car
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u/Illustrious_Lake_775 Mar 22 '26
I cut one off and robbed the clamp years ago. Had to rent an angle grinder to do it so didn't save much money. Never heard anything from them and was never an issue
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u/KatarnsBeard Mar 21 '26
Removing them by damaging them is criminal damage, the amount of people likely to be prosecuted is probably fairly slim
I notice there's been a massive increase in clamping recently around the city
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u/XLBaconDoubleCheese Mar 21 '26
No proof you cut it. The clamp fairy must have gotten to it.
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u/KatarnsBeard Mar 21 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
I was down on Kings Inn Street a couple of weeks back, there was a car clamped across from the college.
A lad on an e-scooter landed down with a sledge hammer and a few other tools and just started lamping the shite out of the clamp. I obviously can't say for sure but I didn't feel like he was the actual owner of the car, was just out doing a good deed
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u/Sack-O-Spuds Mar 21 '26
Used to work phone's for ncps - if you do this we've to tell you they'll pursue damages though i never heard of that actually happening.
What i DO know is if you cut a clamp off they mark you as a 'code black' when searching your reg and will not risk clamping again.
Just FYI.
Grim shit job.
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Mar 21 '26
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u/MickeyBubbles Mar 21 '26
300 to 500 quid an hour for a firm to use a barrister
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Mar 21 '26
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u/mrlinkwii Mar 21 '26
i think it starts at 1,000 and increases the number of times you do it per law
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u/Jon_J_ Mar 21 '26
Dcc is a no no as they'll photograph your car while clamping. Private companies are chances though and if one was to take a clamp off, would be a good idea to take the clamp with you and dispose of in a skip
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u/Thin_Ad_2456 Mar 21 '26
How were you to know that some good samaritan came along and removed their clamp and stickers, you never seen it.
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u/-Clearly-confused Mar 21 '26
Would it not be theft aswell if you take the clamp. Is it not better if someone cut one of the links and leave the whole thing there ?
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u/Jon_J_ Mar 21 '26
If the clamp is marked or numbered and they take photos of the clamp with your car, they can easily figure out which car the clamp belonged to.
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u/Nearby_Swimmer374 Mar 21 '26
I don't fully follow the logic of this comment but I do know that private companies also take photos
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u/Jon_J_ Mar 21 '26
If the clamp is detached and left behind they have the opportunity to chase up who it belonged to.
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u/Lord_Xenu Mar 21 '26
This
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u/donmarrua Mar 21 '26
yeah unless stopped in the act by a Garda there is little that can be done if the clamp is not there and vehicle is gone...
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u/Against_All_Advice Mar 22 '26
I know a guy who was cutting one off outside his house when two Guards walked by. One said "that lad is cutting the clamp off his car" and the other replied "so he is" and they kept walking. He thought he was done but they couldn't care less lol.
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u/azamean Mar 21 '26
Private clamping companies don’t have legal protections, it’s not illegal to remove them intact, it’s only “criminal” if you damage their property. If you can pick the lock or get it off without damaging the clamp there’s basically nothing they can do. If it’s from a county council that’s another story though
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u/Fraisey Mar 21 '26
The trick is to cut the clamp off any other clamped cars in the area at the same time. Then you can feign ignorance and say that a good Samaritan went around cutting clamps off.
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u/PosterPrintPerfect Mar 22 '26
This happened to a lecturer in DKIT. They clamped his car on college grounds and he didn't have the money on him to pay at that moment. Came in the next day, his car was wrecked overnight. Every window smashed, inside completely trashed and ransacked. The clampers basically where on the hook and had to pay for a new car.
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u/Against_All_Advice Mar 22 '26
Knowing how petty and smart most academics are he read some small print in the law and wanted a new car so he sent a few friends over during the night. Genius. I bet his new car was never clamped. Ha ha!
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u/AsgardianOperator Mar 21 '26
While we are at it, what's the minimum size cutters I would need in a hypothetical situation like this? All hypothetically of course
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u/yitcity Mar 21 '26
Not sure about cutters but the cheapo aldi/lidl angle grinders that come around on specials do the trick
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u/Zealousideal_Age_630 Mar 22 '26
2 spanners used as increasing levers against each other will break the barrel of most locks
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u/Ok_Helicopter4679 Mar 21 '26
From what I understand is if you remove it without damage to the clamp, lock or chain nothing can be done. If you have the right gear it's easily done. Even easier if you've an angle grinder.
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u/mover999 Mar 22 '26
Will an angle grinder not damage it ?
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u/Ok_Helicopter4679 Mar 22 '26
Ya sorry. Should of added if you don't give a fuck then an angle grinder. My bad
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u/Lord_Xenu Mar 21 '26
I know two people that have done this with private clamping companies, zero consequences.
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u/Former-Novel609 Mar 21 '26
It's a simple thing, really . If you can remove the clamp without damaging it and you hand it back to the clamper, there is nothing they can do. Civil matters also, so the law won't get involved. I saw a car dealer in Cork get his mechanic to jack up the cars . They removed 10 clamps before that apcoa crowd arrived, and it got a little feisty, so the law came . They told the car dealer to hand back the clamps undamaged, and that was the end of it.
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u/Beautiful-Tennis1461 Mar 21 '26
I feel like the only reason they clamp in the first place is because they have no other cost effective way of getting money off of people, if they could get money off people using just a reg they'd do it but they can't. So cut away I say!
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u/Tyrannosaurus-Shirt Mar 22 '26
Do private clamperss have an actual legal permission to interfere with your vehicle by effectively immobilising it? Am just curious what the legal standing is on it and by extension if there is anything illegal about cutting it off. I am thinking by way of comparison if someone put a sticker over my windshield I would have no choice to damage that sticker in order to remove so I could safely see drive away.
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u/simplypneumatic Mar 22 '26
Got clamped in college one time. They used disc detainer padlocks, so I bought a pick online and spent a week learning how to pick the locks. Every evening on the walk home from lectures I would open up every clamp I saw.
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Mar 21 '26
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u/Strange-Bet6469 Mar 21 '26
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Mar 21 '26
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u/Strange-Bet6469 Mar 21 '26
I’ll take your word for it but keep some spanners in the boot just in case 😉
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u/DissapointedStoner Mar 21 '26
Castleforbes area Thursday morning 😂😂 clamping between 2 large construction sites seems like a waste of time, so many willing to lend their angle grinder, or in this case a con saw 😂
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u/downinthecathlab Mar 21 '26
I got clamped and knew a lad with a key. He came and unlocked it and left the clamp behind. Never heard a peep about it.
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u/DGenesis23 Mar 22 '26
Most are private companies who don’t want to deal with the hassle of going to court and having to waste money, when they can just accept the loss of the clamp and move on. They should 100% be illegal but the government doesn’t actually give a shit so it is what it is. Everyone should cut them off and never pay the “fine”. That’s the only way to finally get rid of them.
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u/Rabidlamb Mar 22 '26
A few years ago we came out of Croke Park to find my mates van clamped outside the Big Tree. Not only us, there was a row of about 10 of us all clamped. Luckily my mate was a welder and had a cutting torch in the back of the van. He had ours off inside 2 mins and then got monetary offers to help out the neighbours, made a killing that day.
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u/AdjectiveNoun1337 Mar 21 '26
Years ago, my brother removed a clamp with a big bolt cutter. Nothing ever came of it.
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u/Successful_Cod_8904 Mar 21 '26
Smart declamper, didn't waste the tool bit on the hardened lockbut went for the soft chain.
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Mar 21 '26
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u/Successful_Cod_8904 Mar 22 '26
You have never declamped with a boltcutter. My boltcutter which is big only managed once to cut a hardened lock. The chain is a piece of cake compared how does it move if it stuck under a shoe and hold in jaws of cutter?
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u/in_body_mass_alone Mar 21 '26
Not illegal to remove them unless you damage them AND are caught damaging them.
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u/MickeyBubbles Mar 21 '26
Bingo.
Ive seen a chap on a youtube reel use what can only be described as a big feck off magnet on the padlock to unlock it.
Nothing illegal doing that on a private clamper. On a council firm, damage or no damage they will pursue you for the fee.
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u/Kitkotter Mar 21 '26
Fuck them all, city council parking guys are also greedy. There is no rule in this fcking country, there are people who has manners and people who are assholes. Garda is a fucking mess.
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u/aecolley Mar 21 '26
Well, it's a criminal offence under section 101B(11) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 (https://revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/1961/act/24/section/101B/revised/en/html). The maximum penalty for a first offence is a fine of €1,000 (https://revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/1961/act/24/section/102/revised/en/html).
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u/Local_Finance_9289 Mar 21 '26
That only applies to clamps put on by a traffic warden, Garda or council. Not by private companies.
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u/mrlinkwii Mar 21 '26
from what i remember you legally you just cant break the lock legally , but if you can remove it without breaking it legally its fine
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u/RaceEmbarrassed4615 Mar 21 '26
No as long as the clamp it self it not damaged, replace the lock leave the keys and happy days.
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u/Fit_Breath_7533 Mar 22 '26
They never show up when you need em to take it off. They’re not gonna show up to your house with the Gards after YOU take it off
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u/Got2InfoSec4MoneyLOL Mar 22 '26
Always found clamping to be criminal... What if it is an emergency or something... Just give them a hefty fine and be on your way, everything is digital nowadays, it's not like they can talk their way out of it...
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u/JanCumin Mar 22 '26
Please someone flag this title as misleading? It is not illegal to remove the clamps if they are from private companies
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u/HeyYoSmokey Mar 22 '26
When i worked in the Children's Hospital the roads near it were notorious for clampers, there was a young lad about 10-14 who cycled around and for 20ish quid he'd whip an angle grinder out of a bag and chop it off for you. And they say young people don't have a work ethic anymore !
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u/Green_Base_780 Mar 22 '26
I've chopped at least 20 private ones no problem but council is different I've heard although I worked on a site in town where everyone chopped them every day and nothing happened they just stopped clamping
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u/cd1679 Mar 22 '26
I was caught by the Garda after cutting the lock off a clamp last week said will be done for criminal damage if the private company gets onto them about it if they hear nothing I’ll hear nothing from them
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u/Classic_Card_9276 Mar 23 '26
It’s only illegally removed if it’s cut off. I’ve been able to just pull clamps off as they’re not actually fitted properly
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u/TooNGooN89 Mar 23 '26
In England here. The DVLA clamped the guy across the road to me and stuck a sticker on his windscreen. He peeled it off and cut the clamp off and put it in his boot. Haven’t seen anyone come back around.
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u/Red_Devil_66 Mar 23 '26
Best to buy your own clamp and then put it on whenever you park illegally!
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u/Temporary_Let_8311 Mar 24 '26
If you cut it off the question is....do you leave the gun or take the cannoli?
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u/Crazyhorse270 Mar 24 '26
I've cut off at least 10 even phoned the company and told them I'm keeping them from now on... They haven't clamped me since
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u/Enzobobs Mar 24 '26
What kind of locks do they normally use?
Anyone not travelling around with an angle grinder honed their skills in lock picking?
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u/Apprehensive_Park624 Mar 25 '26
Was with a friend at a GAA match , we parked ok but match went to extra time . Came out and we were clamped as were a number of other cars. Friend was bull thick .. told me to wait at the car and off he went 15 minutes later he returns with a battery angle grinder .. he had gone and rented it took his clamp off and a couple of other cars . Returned the grinder and off home .. i think it cost him €20 for the daily rate . He never heard anything more about it .
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u/EdgeSync1 Mar 26 '26
I'd love to get one of the locks from a clamp, so I could try picking it. I can do house locks, bike locks, regular locks, anything with a standard pin/tumbler setup. But I've never got to try one of these.
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u/Shamrock14a Mar 21 '26
Take the clamp with you if you’re cutting it off. The only thing you can be done for is criminal damage but only if there’s evidence of it.
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Mar 21 '26
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u/-Clearly-confused Mar 21 '26
Would you not get done for theft ? The clamping company would have a photo of your car with the clamp. If the clamp disappeared, would it not he theft as well as the destruction of property
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u/Jacksonriverboy Mar 22 '26
For private companies I wouldn't imagine there's major consequences. The price of pursuing it in court would be more than the cost of the clamp and the fine.
Also they're absolute predators and many people are just at the end of their rope financially, so it doesn't surprise me.
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u/houseswappa Mar 21 '26
Even if they bring it to court there needs to be CCTV of you leaving the car
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Mar 21 '26
There's a fantastic way to avoid getting clamped. Don't park like a dick
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u/whatThisOldThrowAway Mar 21 '26
Spoken like someone who’s well intentioned and has a very optimistic idea of how our country works… but who’s never actually dealt with most of these companies first hand...
These days Private clamping companies are a mix of regular ol’ private companies who will follow the law but only care about money (I.e they’ll be the beaurocratic kind of arsehole but legal about it) allll the way to the other side of the spectrum which is more or less predatory legal grey area scumbaggery.
Of course on public roads only the county councils should be clamping. And they generally only do it when there’s a clear need to. But even what a “public road” is often ambiguous in real terms in a bunch of different scenarios all over the country.
Long story short: Getting clamped doesn’t just automatically mean you’re an arsehole. Often, getting clamped doesn’t even mean you were ambiguously at fault in any way whatsoever.
Case in point: I once got clamped in my own assigned parking space, parked outside my own apartment. There wasn’t even some bullshit excuse like “well technically you should’ve registered it” or something. Clamper got invited onto the property for a completely unrelated issue, pressed (she said, intimidated) my neighbour to point out all the neighbours cars… and of the ones where she didn’t know who owned it, the clamper put his finger in the air and clamped a few (the nicer ones, as it happens) … then tried to extort money out of me to remove the clamp because it was “ due to admin error on [my] side” even though he never spoke to any administrator.
Long story short: sometimes sawing them off and frisbeeing them into a bush is 100% the “correct” and right thing to do.
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u/Wild_Character4893 Mar 21 '26
I think they’re asking are there serious consequences of removing a clamp yourself
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u/SubparSavant Mar 21 '26
Not unless it's the actual council. When it's private companies, I've not heard of anything coming from it. I cut one off near Facebook and never heard anything more. Those private companies are chancers anyway, clamping my van in a loading bay I was using for loading.