Glastones/ES Parking DPA violation claim

[NorthWestITConsultant]

Dear all,

 

I'd greatly appreciate advice as I'm wanting to take ES Parking to court for breaching the DPA by claiming my details in the first place from the DVLA. I know this is going to be a long journey and lots of work but I'm willing to do it for the good of others and perhaps to teach them a lesson to stop harassing people when there is no basis for their claim.

 

I've been through the following so far:

 

 

Stage 1: Letter before claim:

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

(Sent mid December)

Letter Before Claim (Ref number: XX111111)

Dear ES Parking

 

In May 2016 you issued me with a parking charge for stopping/parking in a publicly accessible road where no contract was formed and for which there were no road markings (provided courtesy of your own witness statement).

 

It has been established that there can be no liability as you do not follow the protocols of the POFA and so it is not possible for a contract to be created. You have continued to pursue speculative charges despite it being firmly established that no charge could ever be due. I refer to case C8GF4C12 ES Parking Enforcement v Ms A. Manchester, in front of DH Iyah on 29/11/2016. It was established that there was inadequate signage and that you lost the case on the grounds that signage is forbidding.

 

You obtained my personal details from the DVLA for the purpose of pursuing a parking charge, However, there was never any possibility this charge could be valid.

 

My name and address information (together with other information) is classified as personal data within the meaning of s1(1) of the Data Protections Act (DPA). As there is no possibility that any monies were owed to you by myself, then attempting to charge a parking charge is caused harassment and personal distress to myself, is using it in ways which violate principles 1 and 2 of the DPA, and s13 of the DPA provides for financial compensation for this.

 

The case of Vidal-Hall v Google Inc [2014] EWHC 13 (QB) provides authority that misuse of personal data is a tort and that damages may be non-pecuniary. The case of Halliday v Creation Consumer Finance Ltd [2013] All ER (D) 199 provides authority that a reasonable sum for compensation would be £750.

 

I am therefore claiming £500 from yourself for misuse of my personal data under s13 of the DPA.

 

You have 14 days to remit this amount to myself. After that time I will file a claim without further correspondence.

 

The rules on pre-action conduct are here

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/pd_pre-action_conduct

 

I believe I have provided you with all necessary information.

I am willing to consider alternative dispute resolution and suggest the Consumer Ombudsman.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

Stage 2: Claim filed with MCOL with the following details:

 

In May 2016 ES Parking breached the Data

Protection Act by accessing my details from

the DVLA without reasonable cause. It has

been proven on numerous cases including

C8GF4C12 ES Parking Enforcement v Ms A.

Manchester, in front of DH Iyah on 29/11/2016

that they have no grounds for pursuing a

parking charge. I am claiming damages of £750

for misuse of my personal data under s13 of

the DPA. I attempted to resolve this out of

court with a letter before claim for which I have received no reply.

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

 

I've now received a defence which is attached

 

 

 

I'm willing to fight them to the death on this and money is no objective, this is purely about principle - ultimately this is going to cost me money because of time off.ClientDefenceDPA.pdf

[ericsbrother]

no defence attached. Also you asked for £500 in the LBA and £750 in the claim. Did they comment on this disparity

[NorthWestITConsultant]

no defence attached. Also you asked for £500 in the LBA and £750 in the claim. Did they comment on this disparity

 

I posted the claim form in stage 2 as stated. I kept it brief with some details as I thought I'd need all the details going into witness statement?

 

When they posted the claim form it had barely a line in it so I thought it would be enough! Can't believe the hypocrisy of them stating no details when they send me a one liner!

 

Do I need to resubmit it with a full defence as they have requested? Again - please be patient with me on this, I'm happy to spend as much time researching and reading as necessary but just need some legal guidance.

 

Thanks

[Oddfellow]

Why would you need to submit a defence? As I understand it, you are the claimant, not the defendant!

[ericsbrother]

no, they are trying it on as you seem to have noticed. They have done this before, see the pranksters blog. Anyway, you sent the lba so that will be part of your evidence.

 

You say do I need to resubmit a full defence? you are the plaintiff in this matter, are you asking about resubmitting a full particulars of claim? Well, what you say is clear enough for the particulars so it is clear that they are trying to get you to start again. If you get a case management order to submit a fuller explanation then do so, this wont happen until the matter is allocated a track and a court though.

 

So what exactly does their defence say? twice you have alluded to it but you havent posted it. Also, did they send their demand via the courts or is it from them to you and not via the courts? If the latter they know that it is meaningless and are hoping that you are daft enough to give it credence.

Edited February 13, 2017 by honeybee13
Paras.

[NorthWestITConsultant]

no, they are trying it on as you seem to have noticed. They have done this before, see the pranksters blog. Anyway, you sent the lba so that will be part of your evidence.

 

You say do I need to resubmit a full defence? you are the plaintiff in this matter, are you asking about resubmitting a full particulars of claim? Well, what you say is clear enough for the particulars so it is clear that they are trying to get you to start again. If you get a case management order to submit a fuller explanation then do so, this wont happen until the matter is allocated a track and a court though.

 

So what exactly does their defence say? twice you have alluded to it but you havent posted it. Also, did they send their demand via the courts or is it from them to you and not via the courts? If the latter they know that it is meaningless and are hoping that you are daft enough to give it credence.

 

 

Is their defence not attached to my initial message?

[NorthWestITConsultant]

Ericsbrother: the scanned file is attached right at the end of my first message as a pdf.

[NorthWestITConsultant]

Why would you need to submit a defence? As I understand it, you are the claimant, not the defendant!

 

Sorry I mean do I need to resubmit it with more details? I'd had thought not given the initial letter spells out the case.

[ericsbrother]

Well, talk about desperation. No paragraph numbers? If you only have 1 paragraph the it doesnt need numbering. Same goes for the rest, the allocation will be made in due course. It may well be decided that for £750 small claims is the appropriate track. Anyway, the matter of compensatory awards in small claims procedure has been dealt with by VCS v Philip. It was also accepted in another case I was involved with some time ago, if I still have the case files I will give you the case no, court etc so you can use that to show that it is the appropriate track.

It may be appropriate to send a letter to the court (copy to ES or their solicitor) just quoting the Philip desision and saying that it is the appropriate place. no need to start again, they are just hoping to bamboozle you into giving up.

[ericsbrother]

but note they are relying on not getting a new hole ripped into them when their claim against you is heard. They also mention trespass being a cause for them to access your details. NO, they have no rights or authority in amy matter of trespass, even if they are "agents" of the landlord. It is outside their authority. can you imaging trying to sell your house and a person viewing it parks on your drive when you dindt want tehm to, move the car whne asked to but theestate agnet then sues the viewer for tat parking event. You havet given the estate agent permission to do anything other than show people round the house so how vcan they say they have the authority to use details gathered for one purpose ( house view) for another ( suing of parking on your land). utterly ridiculous but there agin we are talking baout Gladstones Solicitors, people who tell lies to the DVLA.

[NorthWestITConsultant]

Just as I sent that last message I got the standard letter in the post from the courts with the questionnaire and stating the usual that it seems it is suitable for small claims etc.

 

Does this mean everything is going ahead and that letter was just one big fib?

[NorthWestITConsultant]

Just out of interest: What right do Gladstones have to claim £450 had my claim actually been unreasonable?

[ericsbrother]

It means that the courts service belive that there is a case to answer. It offers no judgemnt on the merits of either side's points at this stage, just that the small claims procedure is the correct way to hear the arguments.

As for asking for £450 costs, keep that piece of paper safe, you may well want to wave it in front of the judge who heards the ES claim as you can show that they are either undervaluing people's time as a LiP or they are filing claims that are losing them money so the only way of recovering their costs is by entering into a champertous agreement with ES ( read up on Champerty and Maintenance- bloody difficult to prove but you never know they may have just hanged themselves)

[NorthWestITConsultant]

It means that the courts service belive that there is a case to answer. It offers no judgemnt on the merits of either side's points at this stage, just that the small claims procedure is the correct way to hear the arguments.

As for asking for £450 costs, keep that piece of paper safe, you may well want to wave it in front of the judge who heards the ES claim as you can show that they are either undervaluing people's time as a LiP or they are filing claims that are losing them money so the only way of recovering their costs is by entering into a champertous agreement with ES ( read up on Champerty and Maintenance- bloody difficult to prove but you never know they may have just hanged themselves)

 

Really wanted to say thanks for all your help ericsbrother. I am keen to keep working on this and also hope it will help many others. I would be very interested in finding a 3rd way to sue them and take them down further. If you believe this is possible then I'd be more than happy to file a 3rd claim against them. I'd really appreciate your continued support on this and if you believe there is any ground for us to take this much further then work with me and we will hurt them bad.

[NorthWestITConsultant]

It means that the courts service belive that there is a case to answer. It offers no judgemnt on the merits of either side's points at this stage, just that the small claims procedure is the correct way to hear the arguments.

As for asking for £450 costs, keep that piece of paper safe, you may well want to wave it in front of the judge who heards the ES claim as you can show that they are either undervaluing people's time as a LiP or they are filing claims that are losing them money so the only way of recovering their costs is by entering into a champertous agreement with ES ( read up on Champerty and Maintenance- bloody difficult to prove but you never know they may have just hanged themselves)

 

What are the possible legal avenues at this stage? Honestly don't mind shelling out money at this stage if I have a good chance of winning.

[ericsbrother]

there is nothing further to do at this point. The case will be allocated to a court eventually and both parties will get a directions questionnaire.

 

the poit about this claim for £450 costs is that it is not the same as the costs they claim for the same amount of work with their claim against you so they are not being honest in one or other of the cases.

 

If they are telling the truth about costs when they sue you then thsi claim for costs wont stand up and if this is the true cost of proceeding against you then they must be taking on business that only pays when they win (as there is no money coming from client at outset) and that means they can only continue theiraction by taking the profits for themselves and that is likely to be Champerty as the original claimant no longer has an interest in the matter.

 

It is not a matter of money, it is a matter of knowledge. Unless someone accidentally provides copies of the ES and Gladstones accounts you will never really get the smoking gun you need so keep to what you can do.

Edited February 14, 2017 by honeybee13
Paras.