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    • the claimant in their WS can refer to whatever previous CC judgements they like, as we do in our WS's, but CC judgements do not set a legal precedence. however, they do often refer to judgements like Bevis, those cases do created a precedence as they were court of appeal rulings. as for if the defendant, prior to the raising of a claim, dobbed themselves in as the driver in writing during any appeal to the PPC, i don't think we've seen one case whereby the claimant referred to such in their WS.. ?? but they certainly typically include said appeal letters in their exhibits. i certainly dont think it's a good idea to 'remind' them of such at the defence stage, even if the defendant did admit such in a written appeal. i would further go as far to say, that could be even more damaging to the whole case than a judge admonishing a defendant for not appealing to the PPC in the 1st place. it sort of blows the defendant out the water before the judge reads anything else. dx  
    • Hi LFI, Your knowledge in this area is greater than I could possibly hope to have and as such I appreciate your feedback. I'm not sure that I agree the reason why a barrister would say that, only to get new customers, I'm sure he must have had professional experience in this area that qualifies him to make that point. 🙂 In your point 1 you mention: 1] there is a real danger that some part of the appeal will point out that the person appealing [the keeper ] is also the driver. I understand the point you are making but I was referring to when the keeper is also the driver and admits it later and only in this circumstance, but I understand what you are saying. I take on board the issues you raise in point 2. Is it possible that a PPC (claimant) could refer back to the case above as proof that the motorist should have appealed, like they refer back to other cases? Thanks once again for the feedback.
    • Well barristers would say that in the hope that motorists would go to them for advice -obviously paid advice.  The problem with appealing is at least twofold. 1] there is a real danger that some part of the appeal will point out that the person appealing [the keeper ] is also the driver.  And in a lot of cases the last thing the keeper wants when they are also the driver is that the parking company knows that. It makes it so much easier for them as the majority  of Judges do not accept that the keeper and the driver are the same person for obvious reasons. Often they are not the same person especially when it is a family car where the husband, wife and children are all insured to drive the same car. On top of that  just about every person who has a valid insurance policy is able to drive another person's vehicle. So there are many possibilities and it should be up to the parking company to prove it to some extent.  Most parking company's do not accept appeals under virtually any circumstances. But insist that you carry on and appeal to their so called impartial jury who are often anything but impartial. By turning down that second appeal, many motorists pay up because they don't know enough about PoFA to argue with those decisions which brings us to the second problem. 2] the major parking companies are mostly unscrupulous, lying cheating scrotes. So when you appeal and your reasons look as if they would have merit in Court, they then go about  concocting a Witness Statement to debunk that challenge. We feel that by leaving what we think are the strongest arguments to our Member's Witness Statements, it leaves insufficient time to be thwarted with their lies etc. And when the motorists defence is good enough to win, it should win regardless of when it is first produced.   
    • S13 (2)The creditor may not exercise the right under paragraph 4 to recover from the keeper any unpaid parking charges specified in the notice to keeper if, within the period of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which that notice was given, the creditor is given— (a)a statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement; (b)a copy of the hire agreement; and (c)a copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement. As  Arval has complied with the above they cannot be pursued by EC----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S14 [1]   the creditor may recover those charges (so far as they remain unpaid) from the hirer. (2)The conditions are that— (a)the creditor has within the relevant period given the hirer a notice in accordance with sub-paragraph (5) (a “notice to hirer”), together with a copy of the documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2) and the notice to keeper; (b)a period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the notice to hirer was given has elapsed;  As ECP did not send copies of the documents to your company and they have given 28 days instead of 21 days they have failed to comply with  the Act so you and your Company are absolved from paying. That is not to say that they won't continue asking to be paid as they do not have the faintest idea how PoFA works. 
    • Euro have got a lot wrong and have failed to comply with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Schedule 4.  According to Section 13 after ECP have written to Arval they should then send a NTH to the Hirer  which they have done.This eliminates Arval from any further pursuit by ECP. When they wrote to your company they should have sent copies of everything that they asked Arval for. This is to prove that your company agree what happened on the day of the breach. If ECP then comply with the Act they are allowed to pursue the hirer. If they fail, to comply they cannot make the hirer pay. They can pursue until they are blue in the face but the Hirer is not lawfully required to pay them and if it went to Court ECP would lose. Your company could say who was driving but the only person that can be pursued is the Hirer, there does not appear to be an extension for a driver to be pursued. Even if there was, because ECP have failed miserably to comply with the Act  they still have no chance of winning in Court. Here are the relevant Hire sections from the Act below.
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DCAs chasing previous tenant's debt - how do I stop this?


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I bought my house over 6 years ago and I still keep getting fairly regular letters from DCAs addressed to the previous owner's son, demanding payment of various debts.

 

Every time I get one of these letters, I phone the relevant company and inform them that this person does not live at this address, has not done for over 6 years and that I do not know them and do not have any forwarding address for them.

 

But I still keep getting letters... I can only assume that, because they cannot find any other address for this person (who, according to his mother when I bought the house, was living and working in Spain and using her address as a postal address), they are leaving my address on their files at his last known address or something.

 

This has now reached a point where I have received a letter from Meritforce threatening to send an "authorised collector" to my address to collect this debt. I have phoned them this morning and given them the same information and been informed that they will "pass this information to their tracing department for investigation" but that this person "must still be registered at the address somewhere" and that they cannot and will not prevent the doorstep collector from calling at my address. When I was not happy about this, their excuse was that the collector won't be coming to my address looking for me, they'll be coming looking for XXXX XXXX. Oh cos that makes it all better then! :eek::x

 

I asked if they can tell me when this collector will be calling and they said if the tracing department finds that XXXX XXXX is not registered at the address, then the collector won't be calling. But they've already told me that he must be registered at my address somewhere for them to have sent letters to him there! :confused: I also made the point to them that, as I routinely call DCAs and inform them that XXXX XXXX does not live at my address, whatever company passed them this debt must already have been thus informed by me - yet they are obviously still pursuing this debt at my address!

 

I am getting fed up with this now and it doesn't seem right that these companies can continue to chase a debt at my address despite having been informed that that person does not live at this address. Their attitude seems to be that my word is not good enough and they would have to verify themselves that he doesn't live here - which I suppose is fair enough except they obviously are either not bothering to investigate and verify that, or are for some reason unable to verify that (this concept of him still being registered at this address "somewhere").

 

How can I stop this? Is there any way I can force these companies to remove my address from this person's record? Or is there some central system/database where I can officially disassociate this person's name from my address?

 

I shouldn't have to be continually phoning DCAs for debts that aren't mine and having to deal with doorstep collectors!!

 

Edit: I've just realised from reading through another thread that Meritforce are the doorstep collections agency of Mackenzie Hall - is this right? In which case, I am even more annoyed because I know for a fact that I have called Mackenzie Hall on at least 3 separate occasions (I know because I clearly recall on the last 2 occasions telling them that I had already contacted them about this!) to inform them that this person does not live at my address. How can I stop these people?

Edited by Alipeeps
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I think you've allowed yourself to become a bit too involved.

I would just return all mail unopened as 'Not known at this address - return to sender'. Hang up on any phone calls. Leave it at that.

 

Doorstep collectors have no more rights than I do. You can quite legitimately tell them to go away (use you own words). They can't enter your house (unless you invite them in of course, but that's not likely, is it?) or take property. These things can only happen after a court case and then only by bailiffs. In your circumstances that will never happen.

 

Unsurprisingly your attempts to disclaim any responsibility have only flagged to the DCAs that someone there is paying attention - and just might be the person they want trying to evade them!

 

You've wasted a lot of time and telephone calls on this. Give up now for your own peace of mind.

I really do appreciate all those 'thank you' emails - I'm glad I've been able to help. Apologies if I haven't acknowledged all of them.

You can also ding my gong if you prefer. :)

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Thanks for your advice. I guess I thought I was being helpful by informing these people that they are wasting their time and the person they are looking for does not live at the address. At first I did ignore the letters and/or return them unopened but I got so fed up of getting them I ended up opening some to see what they were and contacting companies to try and stop the letters.

 

Is there really no way I can force companies like these to remove my address from this person's record?

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Guest Old_andrew2018

Hi

The action you need to take is really this, send all letters addressed to this person back to the originator, simply write on the unopened envolope NOT KNOWN AT THIS ADDRESS, RETURN TO SENDER, pop it in to the nearest post box.

 

A work colleague had a similar problem with mail adreessed to a prevoious tenant, this being opened by his OH (a right prying git), I advised he pop into to our legal department, they advised him that,

 

1. It is an offence to open another persons mail

2. To send all letters back to the originator

3. Most companies receiving calls from him, would believe that he was the individual they were trying to contact, as letters were intended for that person were opened by him.

 

He receives an occasional piece of junk mail address to this individual

 

Andy

Edited by old_andrew2007
typo
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Guest Old_andrew2018

Hi

You could [EDIT] them off in this way, put the unopened letter into an envelope with the return address, accidentally forget to place a stamp on it, this is my favorite way to annoy DCA's at present.

Edited by freakyleaky
Removed inappropriate language.
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Don't worry we've all been there.

 

 

... and now we're all cynics :D

I really do appreciate all those 'thank you' emails - I'm glad I've been able to help. Apologies if I haven't acknowledged all of them.

You can also ding my gong if you prefer. :)

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Hi

You could [EDIT] them off in this way, put the unopened letter into an envelope with the return address, accidentally forget to place a stamp on it, this is my favorite way to annoy DCA's at present.

 

Now that idea I like... ;)

 

Time for some payback I think! :D:p

Edited by freakyleaky
Removed inappropriate language.
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Ah well. Seems like it's my own fault for trying to be reasonable with these companies. :rolleyes:

 

I think you've learned a valuable lesson that everyone on here has learned; You CANNOT be reasonable with DCAs. They view everyone as a liar and a cheat without exception

I am a lawyer, but I am an academic lawyer. I do not practice as a barrister or solicitor. You should consult a practising Solicitor BEFORE taking any Court or other action

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I think you've learned a valuable lesson that everyone on here has learned; You CANNOT be reasonable with DCAs. They view everyone as a liar and a cheat without exception

 

Yeah, I've had my own dealings with companies like this for debts of my own - I guess I was foolish in thinking that they would stop chasing for unrelated debts once informed that the person they want is not there to be chased. *sigh*

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Guest forgottenone

I get this wherever I live ... mostly due to people knowing they can avoid debt by not giving forwarding details ... but not always. You may get the occasional situation where someone has died, they have no relatives ... so no one instructs the companies. Happens.

 

A few years back I had them coming regularly. I got so fed up with one lot ... a mobile phone company, seemed someone had been using my address to set up an account ... or they'd screwed up with their records ... was always getting mail for someone else from a nearby village for example, purely cos the street address was the same ... so much for postcodes!

 

Anyway, I got so annoyed with these people ... they said I had *overseas call centre; no idea about basic regulations in the UK at all* to provide them with proof. Er, get lost! So, I ended up telling them I would expose what they were doing in the papers, radio and TV. Well, they stopped sending them.

 

The funny thing is, the person who had lived at that address ... I later discovered where they had gone to live ... guess where? Same village as above. I was sorely tempted to inform the companies concerned where they were living. I never did. Not my responsibility to trace on their behalf. And it was very easy how I found out ... they were in the paper several times.

 

So, as everyone else has pointed out here ... I learned in the end ... I felt I had to do it, though ... now I just bin or return to sender. Nothing to do with me.

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What annoys me specifically about these idiots at Meritforce (although I know it's just the usual tactics by these firms and I shouldn't be surprised) is that, in making the point that I have previously notified any DCAs that the previous tenant no longer lives at the address, I specifically asked them if the account had been passed to them by another company and they agreed it had but claimed they didn't know/couldn't tell me what company it had come from. And then I read around on here and find that Meritforce are part of pigging Mackenzie Hall who I've definitely spoken to before (and who I've had my own issues with). God, these people are infuriating. :mad:

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Guest forgottenone

Er, yes, that's why you should NEVER EVER acknowledge someone elses debt.

 

I specifically asked them if the account had been passed to them by another company and they agreed it had but claimed they didn't know/couldn't tell me what company it had come from. And then I read around on here and find that Meritforce are part of pigging Mackenzie Hall who I've definitely spoken to before

 

I'm getting confused here? Are these debts belonging to previous tenants ...? So, why are you asking these DCAs these questions? I'm just curious.

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Er, yes, that's why you should NEVER EVER acknowledge someone elses debt.

 

Well perhaps foolishly I didn't think I was acknowledging the debt, I thought I was being helpful and informing them that the person they are trying to contact isn't at this address. Lesson learned. From now on everything addressed to that tenant goes in the bin or back in the post.

 

I'm getting confused here? Are these debts belonging to previous tenants ...? So, why are you asking these DCAs these questions? I'm just curious.

 

Yes, the debt I contacted them about today belongs to a previous tenant. I was just trying to make the point to these people that I knew for a fact I had already informed any DCAs chasing this person that he was not resident at the address - I was trying to point out to them my legitimate displeasure at the fact that this account had been passed to them to chase at my address despite the DCA knowing (due to having been informed by me) that the person they want is not living at the address.

 

Actually, finding and reading through this website has been an eye-opener and I'm rather glad this situation prompted me to find this place. I hadn't realised just how sneaky and conniving these companies are and I'm had my own problems with them on occasion and I will be much more aware of how to deal with these people in the future!

 

So in a way, I guess I could say this has ultimately been a good thing! :lol:

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hi- ive been reading through these forums about dca's and some of the advice is so silly, ignoring a debt is the worst thing you can do. i dont mean in your case as its not your debt.

 

i do agree with the others that you shouldnt have opened the mail and from now on send it back but by law if you ring a dca as a 3rd party and tell them its not your debt they have to RMDLR which is remove from dialler which removes your number permantly from the dialling system and also ICUGA which is an incoming call unconfirmed gone away. this then shoots the address to the trace department who will then get back to the client and inform them its a wrong address and they will find other goverment ways of tracking the person.

 

if you have advised the dcas that it is a wrong number + address therefore it is an unconfirmed gone away and they can NOT come round to your house nor can they save your details.

 

hope that helped :)

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Guest forgottenone
hi- ive been reading through these forums about dca's and some of the advice is so silly, ignoring a debt is the worst thing you can do.

 

Oh, here we go again. :D

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hi- ive been reading through these forums about dca's and some of the advice is so silly, ignoring a debt is the worst thing you can do. i dont mean in your case as its not your debt.

 

 

The advice isn't about ignoring the debt it is about ignoring your unreasonable and unlawful demands to enforce payment without the authority of the original credit agreement.

I really do appreciate all those 'thank you' emails - I'm glad I've been able to help. Apologies if I haven't acknowledged all of them.

You can also ding my gong if you prefer. :)

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Hello!

 

Alipeeps - DCA must not continue to chase people who they have been informed do not live there - by doing so they may (depending on what they saying to you etc) be breaking the DPA.

 

Have a read of this (my bible hehe)

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

Section 2.8

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by law if you ring a dca as a 3rd party and tell them its not your debt they have to RMDLR which is remove from dialler which removes your number permantly from the dialling system and also ICUGA which is an incoming call unconfirmed gone away. this then shoots the address to the trace department who will then get back to the client and inform them its a wrong address and they will find other goverment ways of tracking the person.

 

if you have advised the dcas that it is a wrong number + address therefore it is an unconfirmed gone away and they can NOT come round to your house nor can they save your details.

 

hope that helped :)

 

Hello!

 

Alipeeps - DCA must not continue to chase people who they have been informed do not live there - by doing so they may (depending on what they saying to you etc) be breaking the Data Protection Act.

 

Have a read of this (my bible hehe)

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

Section 2.8

 

Thanks for the advice both of you - this is the kind of thing I was wondering about... that surely there must be some system/legislation that says they have to stop sending mail etc to my house or sending agents to my house when they have been informed that the debtor they are looking for does not live there.

 

Off to read that link notsoevil.... :D

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