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    • 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.
    • Thank-you FTMDave for your feedback. May I take this opportunity to say that after reading numerous threads to which you are a contributor, I have great admiration for you. You really do go above and beyond in your efforts to help other people. The time you put in to help, in particular with witness statements is incredible. I am also impressed by the way in which you will defer to others with more experience should there be a particular point that you are not 100% clear on and return with answers or advice that you have sought. I wish I had the ability to help others as you do. There is another forum expert that I must also thank for his time and patience answering my questions and allowing me to come to a “penny drops” moment on one particular issue. I believe he has helped me immensely to understand and to strengthen my own case. I shall not mention who it is here at the moment just in case he would rather I didn't but I greatly appreciate the time he took working through that issue with me. I spent 20+ years of working in an industry that rules and regulations had to be strictly adhered to, indeed, exams had to be taken in order that one had to become qualified in those rules and regulations in order to carry out the duties of the post. In a way, such things as PoFA 2012 are rules and regulations that are not completely alien to me. It has been very enjoyable for me to learn these regulations and the law surrounding them. I wish I had found this forum years ago. I admit that perhaps I had been too keen to express my opinions given that I am still in the learning process. After a suitable period in this industry I became Qualified to teach the rules and regulations and I always said to those I taught that there is no such thing as a stupid question. If opinions, theories and observations are put forward, discussion can take place and as long as the result is that the student is able to clearly see where they went wrong and got to that moment where the penny drops then that is a valuable learning experience. No matter how experienced one is, there is always something to learn and if I did not know the answer to a question, I would say, I don't know the answer to that question but I will go and find out what the answer is. In any posts I have made, I have stated, “unless I am wrong” or “as far as I can see” awaiting a response telling me what I got wrong, if it was wrong. If I am wrong I am only too happy to admit it and take it as a valuable learning experience. I take the point that perhaps I should not post on other peoples threads and I shall refrain from doing so going forward. 🤐 As alluded to, circumstances can change, FTMDave made the following point that it had been boasted that no Caggers, over two years, who had sent a PPC the wrong registration snotty letter, had even been taken to court, let alone lost a court hearing .... but now they have. I too used the word "seemed" because it is true, we haven't had all the details. After perusing this forum I believe certain advice changed here after the Beavis case, I could be wrong but that is what I seem to remember reading. Could it be that after winning the above case in question, a claimant could refer back to this case and claim that a defendant had not made use of the appeal process, therefore allowing the claimant to win? Again, in this instance only, I do not know what is to be gained by not making an appeal or concealing the identity of the driver, especially if it is later admitted that the defendant was the driver and was the one to input the incorrect VRN in error. So far no one has educated me as to the reason why. But, of course, when making an appeal, it should be worded carefully so that an error in the appeal process cannot be referred back to. I thought long and hard about whether or not to post here but I wanted to bring up this point for discussion. Yes, I admit I have limited knowledge, but does that mean I should have kept silent? After I posted that I moved away from this forum slightly to find other avenues to increase my knowledge. I bought a law book and am now following certain lawyers on Youtube in the hope of arming myself with enough ammunition to use in my own case. In one video titled “7 Reasons You Will LOSE Your Court Case (and how to avoid them)” by Black Belt Barrister I believe he makes my point by saying the following, and I quote: “If you ignore the complaint in the first instance and it does eventually end up in court then it's going to look bad that you didn't co-operate in the first place. The court is not going to look kindly on you simply ignoring the company and not, let's say, availing yourself of any kind of appeal opportunities, particularly if we are talking about parking charge notices and things like that.” This point makes me think that, it is not such a bizarre judgement in the end. Only in the case of having proof of payment and inputting an incorrect VRN .... could it be worthwhile making a carefully worded appeal in the first instance? .... If the appeal fails, depending on the reason, surely this could only help if it went to court? As always, any feedback gratefully received.
    • To which official body does one make a formal complaint about a LPA fixed charge receiver? Does one make a complaint first to the company employing the appointed individuals?    Or can one complain immediately to an official body, such as nara?    I've tried researching but there doesn't seem a very clear route on how to legally hold them to account for wrongful behaviour.  It seems frustratingly complicated because they are considered to be officers of the court and held in high esteem - and the borrower is deemed liable for their actions.  Yet what does the borrower do when disclosure shows clear evidence of wrong-doing? Does anyone have any pointers please?
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    • We have finally managed to obtain the transcript of this case.

      The judge's reasoning is very useful and will certainly be helpful in any other cases relating to third-party rights where the customer has contracted with the courier company by using a broker.
      This is generally speaking the problem with using PackLink who are domiciled in Spain and very conveniently out of reach of the British justice system.

      Frankly I don't think that is any accident.

      One of the points that the judge made was that the customers contract with the broker specifically refers to the courier – and it is clear that the courier knows that they are acting for a third party. There is no need to name the third party. They just have to be recognisably part of a class of person – such as a sender or a recipient of the parcel.

      Please note that a recent case against UPS failed on exactly the same issue with the judge held that the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 did not apply.

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      This is good ethical practice.

      It would be very nice if the parcel delivery companies – including EVRi – practised this kind of thing as well.

       

      OT APPROVED, 365MC637, FAROOQ, EVRi, 12.07.23 (BRENT) - J v4.pdf
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under investigation for housing benefit fraud


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Hello, I am hoping someone can explain things to me.

 

Me and my partner separated back in 2006. He moved into a flat which he lived in untill nov 2010. During those years he has had unlimited access to his son, visiting quite regularly.

 

A few days ago i had a visit from an investigations officer from the housing benefit, who informed me someone had phoned the hot line stating he was living here, which at the time i was upset obviously, but not too concerned as he wasnt living here, they told me they just need his address as they couldnt find him, only at his previous address he had left Nov 2010, then they can close the case. That was easy enough, i just needed to give him a ring and get his girlfriends full address who he is currently residing with.

 

I phoned him to get this info, he came round, and announced to me his ex-girlfriend had threatened to do this as she wasnt happy about him visiting us, which he had failed to tell me before, at least i would not have had such a shock!!

 

He gave me the address, and casually told me he has been staying with her for a few months, as he is searching for another flat, but his name wasnt on any bills or anything, so obviously there is no evidence of him living there, i was horrified!!!!

 

My question is what happens now? when i give them his address, will they be happy with this address. I have now gone from being not so worried to feeling very sick worried.......i have never done anything wrong in my life through fear of consequences, and here i am dealing with all this after 6 years of separation.

 

He informs me his driving licence, bank address, everything is all still registered at his previous address, he wasnt going to bother changing anything until he got another flat which was obviously put on hold when he was living with his girlfriends.

 

Please, what can I do now I am so scared.

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If all his records are registered at his previous address and not to your address, he cannot be presumed to be living with you.

My advice is based on my opinion, my experience and my education. I do not profess to be an expert in any given field. If requested, I will provide a link where possible to relevant legislation or guidance, so that advice provided can be confirmed and I do encourage others to follow those links for their own peace of mind. Sometimes my advice is not what people necesserily want to hear, but I will advise on facts as I know them - although it may not be what a person wants to hear it helps to know where you stand. Advice on the internet should never be a substitute for advice from your own legal professional with full knowledge of your individual case.

 

 

Please do not seek, offer or produce advice on a consumer issue via private message; it is against

forum rules to advise via private message, therefore pm's requesting private advice will not receive a response.

(exceptions for prior authorisation)

 

 

 

 

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his bank, licence etc are at an address that he lived at 12 months ago. I can give them an address, but he has no paperwork to prove he lives there, which means i have no proof. I have been here bringing up his son since he left 6 years ago, and he has been living the free life.

 

I am so desparate to know what will happen now i have no proof, worst case senario, so i at least know what to expect.

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At the moment, the onus is not on you, regardless of what they may say. It's not for you to prove he doesn't live with you - it's for them to prove that he does.

 

If they are determined to lauch a full blown investigation then they will use their authorised officers to trace his data. Authorised officers can access his bank records, DVLA records, employment records, credit applications all without his knowledge or consent. If they choose to do this, and he has everything registered to another address then they will see that for themselves.

 

If they are able to provide evidence of him living with you, it is only then that the onus shifts onto you, to prove different.

My advice is based on my opinion, my experience and my education. I do not profess to be an expert in any given field. If requested, I will provide a link where possible to relevant legislation or guidance, so that advice provided can be confirmed and I do encourage others to follow those links for their own peace of mind. Sometimes my advice is not what people necesserily want to hear, but I will advise on facts as I know them - although it may not be what a person wants to hear it helps to know where you stand. Advice on the internet should never be a substitute for advice from your own legal professional with full knowledge of your individual case.

 

 

Please do not seek, offer or produce advice on a consumer issue via private message; it is against

forum rules to advise via private message, therefore pm's requesting private advice will not receive a response.

(exceptions for prior authorisation)

 

 

 

 

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All there is is an old joint account that he uses. He used this account after we spit up then opened a new account at his new address, his new account was an electron account, which at that time a few retailers didnt except electron cards so he would use the old joint account as it was visa debit and he still does.

 

We both do everything online, so do not receive statements, and after checking this morning that joint account is still registered at my address, but i do not use it, that is the only link.

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All there is is an old joint account that he uses. He used this account after we spit up then opened a new account at his new address, his new account was an electron account, which at that time a few retailers didnt except electron cards so he would use the old joint account as it was visa debit and he still does.

 

We both do everything online, so do not receive statements, and after checking this morning that joint account is still registered at my address, but i do not use it, that is the only link.

 

I had a joint account with my kids dad for about 9 years after we split, registered at my address, also was rarely used. But occasionally was. I wouldn't worry too much about that one. Your case sounds pretty cut n dried to me & hopefully will be straightened out by the sounds of it.

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thx for your advice all.....i will give them his address on monday even though doesnt look like he is registered there, and hopefully that will be the end of it, do you think it will be? and will they tell me so i can finally get some sleep and eat? i am not coping very well i cant handle the fact i have done nothing wrong and im going through this.

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Put it this way, they would need a lot more than that to prosecute you. And if they have been watching your home they won't have any evidence there. Easy to say, but I shouldn't worry too much. They can't get enough evidence of something that isn't happening, to take you to court.

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I phoned them on monday, gave them his address, she said she would look into it and call me back if the case is closed. Its now Wed night and not heard anything.

 

In the meantime, my ex and his girlfriend are arguing and she is threatening to throw him out, and he is blaming me. I really want to get off benefits cause i cant cope with all this and i am now seriously thinking about letting him move in here so i can break from benefits, at least until i can find a full time job to support me and my son without benefits.

 

I dont know whether i am coming or going, my job is suffering, i am loosing weight, i dont feel well and wishing my family were close by as i so desperately need their support.

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I phoned them on monday, gave them his address, she said she would look into it and call me back if the case is closed. Its now Wed night and not heard anything.

 

In the meantime, my ex and his girlfriend are arguing and she is threatening to throw him out, and he is blaming me. I really want to get off benefits cause i cant cope with all this and i am now seriously thinking about letting him move in here so i can break from benefits, at least until i can find a full time job to support me and my son without benefits.

 

I dont know whether i am coming or going, my job is suffering, i am loosing weight, i dont feel well and wishing my family were close by as i so desperately need their support.

 

I totally know how you feel about that. I gave up housing benefit when they turned me over last year, I upped my hours at work & lived on beans on toast for a few months until I got my finances sorted, so I could pay all the rent myself. With CSA payments & tax credits, it was possible. Depends how many expenses you have really though I guess, as to if you could manage.

Would he move in with you though? If this is upsetting his girlfriend, is it likely that he would move in with you & know he'll have no chance of making it work with her again? I don't personally think they have much on you, if he doesn't live there, stick to your guns.

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Christy, you'll get good advice and support here. Honestly, if I were you, I'd go and find something that you know relaxes you and do it for an hour or two, to try and take your mind off this for a while. Don't make any long-term decisions while you're this stressed, either! Give them another call tomorrow by all means, but take tonight off from worrying about it.

 

Seriously...go and take a warm bath, have nice cup of tea and settle down with a good book for the evening (I'm assuming you don't find paint-balling or jujitsu relaxing here!) . :-)

"Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me". Martin Niemöller

 

"A vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you're attempting can't be done. A person ignorant of the possibility of failure can be a half-brick in the path of the bicycle of history". - Terry Pratchett

 

If I've been helpful, please click my star. :oops:

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Thank you so much for your kind words it so nice to have you all to talk to.

 

I am not sure whether he would move in with me without discussing it with him, and from what he is telling me his relationship is over. I could not afford to survive without financial help at the moment I only work part-time as it is all I have been able to find after searching for jobs for nearly 2 years, if i could i would believe me. I have rheumatoid arthritis and it has taken a number of years for the specialists to find drugs that work for me, so i didnt work for several years after the birth of my son (it was the pregnancy that bought it on). Before i had my son i had a very good job which i was to return to after his birth but things took a turn for the worst when i found within months of having him i could barely change his nappy, feed him, pick him up as well as walk, drive, do my hair or even feed myself! and had to rely solely on his dad and family to help, when my son was 5 we separated, and i had to turn to benefits for help.

 

At present my only way out of benefits is to have him move in with me, and boy do i want out, i never ever ever want to go through this again, if i could i would give it all up and go and live with my sister, but i have a job here, and it took so long to get it, and has made me feel alive again, until now.

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Just an update....jadey u are right, he wants to try to patch things up with his girlfriend, but has stated that if at any time my benefits are suspended he will try and cover what i loose or move in for our sons sake as he has to put him first.

 

I spoke to the investigating officer this morning asking if there had been any progress, she said she just needs to verify he is there with the council tax payer at his address and then she will write to me informing me the case is closed. Can she just say that, and not lead me into a false sense of security? as if this is the case everything should be ok?

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thx jadey, i really hope so, i dont trust her, when she first sent me the letter to say she was coming round i phoned her to ask what it was concerning, she told me it was nothing to worry about, so it put my mind at rest, then when she came and told me i nearly fell off the sofa, i was horrified. This is why i was so unsure whether she was telling the truth, and if she was allowed to say that if it wasnt true.

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I'm not sure they are the decision makers, the one that came to mine certainly wasn't, but of course they'll have some influence, as you're never likely to meet that person. And yes, for some reason they are very snake like, don't like giving it away why they're visiting, or going to interview you, & I can understand that at times that's for the best, but lets be honest, if someone is up to no good, at that piont if they are going to try hiding evidence they will, & by the time they actually invite you for an IUC, they have, or think they have enough evidence against you anyway.

I personally think it's to unerve people, well, no, everyone knows it actually is lol

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it does seem strange that all she needs to do is get confirmation from the tax payer he lives there, probably a letter or phone call, and its been a week and she said she hasnt even sent it out yet. It would take 5 mins for a call or to type a letter?

 

They are not going to leave it there r they?

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