Backdoor Excel windscreen PCN CCJ - Acknowleged defective machine - given code to put on windscreen - SA1 carpark in Swansea

[Turtleton]

Hi all,

 

• December 20th 2014 - August 1st 2016 I lived in Sxxxr Road

 

• August 1st 2016 I moved to 18 AXXX 

 

• September 6th 13:00, I parked in the SA1 carpark in Swansea that was managed by Excel.  The machine within the carpark was faulty and did not produce a ticket even after inserting money. I phoned the phone number that was located on the sign in the carpark and spoke to the operator named Sandra. Sandra gave me a fault code and was advised to place it on my windscreen (I wrote the fault code on a piece of paper and put it in my windscreen).Returned to the car at 15:00 to find I had a ticket. Found the car parking attendant, explained the situation and he said there was nothing he could do. I was issued with a PCN.

 

• I came home on the 6th September 2016 and sent an email to Excel Carparking advising them of the situation. Within the email I included the operator's name (Sandra), the employee number of the parking attendant and the fault code. 

 

• 9th October 2016, I replied to the automated email with my full details:  18 AXXX etc. I also included my car registration and again explained the issue. After this email was sent off, I did not hear anything else. 

 

Two and a half years later

 

• 16th February 2019 I moved from 18 AXXX to 14 BXXX Road, 

 

• 20th March 2020, I came across the owner of the cornershop (13-14 AXXX  on the road where I used to live) in the hospital. The owner said a letter had been delivered to the shop but was addressed to me.

 

• 23rd March 2020 I go to the cornershop after work to pick up the letter. The letter was addressed to me but the address on the envelope was '18 13 - 14 AXXX'. (In other words, the number of my old address plus the number of the Cornershop) It was from ELMS legal advising me that a judgement had been made against myself against myself by default on the 16th February

 

• 24th March 2020, I made a phone call to Northampton Court Business Centre and was advised a CCJ had been inputted against me by Excel

 

• 24th March 2020, I phoned up Excel and enquired what the CCJ was regarding. They said it was for a PCN dated 6th September 2016 in the SA1 carpark. They noted that they were in receipt of emails I had sent to them at the time (6th September 2016)

 

• 24th March 2020 SAR request sent off to EXCEL  via email and post.

 

• 25th March, SAR request signed for by Excel 

 

• 25th March 2020 SAR request sent off to ELMS Legal

 

• 26th March 2020, I phoned Excel and tried to obtain a copy of the CCJ. I spoke to an employee called Jake Burgess, the court site was down so he was unable to obtain a copy. He provided me with his personal email address to request a copy of the CCJ when the site was back up.

 

• 26th March 2020, I tried emailing the address Jake had given me but it was invalid, so instead I emailed the litigation department at Excel.

 

• 30th March 2020 SAR request received via post from ELMS Legal. Throughout the SAR documentation that had my address down as '18 13 - 14 The Avenue'. There were also some letters that I was in receipt of from ELMS that were not included in the communication log section of the SAR.

 

• 30th March 2020, I received an email of Ambreen Arshad, a paralegal for Excel. The email offered me the option to have the CCJ set aside by mutual consent as long as I paid the £155 to Excel. This was the first email I had had off Excel after sending the email requesting a copy of the CCJ to the litigation department. At this point I still had not seen a copy of the CCJ.

 

• 31st March, received a signed consent order from Excel. Still no sign of the copy of the CCJ I had requested

 

• 31st March 2020, I phoned Northampton Business Centre once again asking for a copy of the CCJ. They said that because they had already given Excel a copy, I would have to pay for one. 

 

• 31st March 2020, I emailed Ambreen asking for a copy of my CCJ

 

• 31st March 2020, I once again emailed Ambreen requesting that Excel file the consent order and pay any associated fees. This request was declined. 

 

• 1st April 2020, I received a copy of my CCJ from Excel via email. The address on the CCJ was '18 13 - 14 The Avenue'. An amalgamation of my old address and the corner shop address.

 

• 2nd April 2020, I send another email to Ambreen following up the SAR. I enquired about whether it had been received to which Ambreen replied 'Yes we have received it and it will be dealt with in a timely manner'. I have not heard anything off of Excel since this point. 

 

• 6th April 2020, I sent a SAR request off to the DVLA

 

• 7th April 2020, I was advised by the court there was no time frame in which I needed to submit the consent order. I advised the court I was still in the process of tying some loose ends up. 

 

• 20th April 2020, I received an email off the DVLA notifying me that they are currently dealing only with key workers. I replied that I am a key worker and that I would like to continue with the SAR.

 

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So the current state of play is that Excel issued a claim against the address which was not the registered address of my vehicle because I had moved home by the time they issue the claim – over two years after the PCN had been issued.
Furthermore, the address on the claim form is not a correct address because it is an amalgam of my old address and the address of the Cornershop

I'm trying to find out how how Excel came by this incorrect composite address.

I sent an SAR to ELMS legal – and they have already responded with the disclosure which suggests that they received the incorrect address from Excel.
I have sent an SAR to Excel and although it has been acknowledged, they have not yet complied. That SAR disclosure is due on 24 April.
I have sent an SAR to the DVLA on 6 April and that is due in about 6 May.

I have held off asking for the judgement to be set-aside on the basis of the consent order because it seems that Excel has probably issue the claim against the incorrect address – and also by effectively selling me a consent order, it is my view that they have abused the court process because they consented to the set-aside only on condition that I paid them the money that they were seeking under the claim. It seems to me that this is an abuse of process.

 

 Many thanks

[BankFodder]

This thread is a restart of an earlier thread which started to go badly astray and which is now locked.

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Assuming that you don't get the disclosure from Excel on Thursday, I suggest that you send them an email on Thursday evening telling them that they are now in breach of their statutory duty in respect of the SAR which you sent to them on X X X date and which was acknowledged by them and that they should now consider themselves on notice that if you don't have the disclosure within 14 days that you will issue proceedings against them in the County Court for damages caused by the distress of this data protection breach and without any further notice.

I would also send a reminding email to the DVLA immediately and tell them that despite the fact that you sent an SAR on X X X date, you have received no response – not even an acknowledgement and you are reminding them that the statutory deadline for compliance is X X X date (calculate 31 days after 6 April. Statutory period of 30 days – but give them an extra day.)

[dx100uk]

backdoor CCJ and sar failure are 2 sep issues.

 

 

[BankFodder]

Yes but this is what came up in the other thread and dragged it down. We are going to try and link them together. At the very least, we have to wait for the SAR to establish exactly what has happened and proceed from there. If we can serve a claim for breach of data protection rules on Excel then this will make them sit up.

[BankFodder]

I believe that today's the day that Excel are meant to come back with the SAR.

Frankly I think that if they don't come back by close of business today then you should send them a letter of claim. No point in beating around the bush any more. They are well aware of the SAR request.

 

Quote

Dear X X X
I sent you a subject access request on X X X date. I received an acknowledgement and a further response relating to it on X X X date.

Despite this – and despite the fact that the statutory deadline for complying with a subject access request is 30 days, I have not received anything from you.
I would point out to you that under the data protection rules, 30 days is intended to be the maximum – not a working standard.

If I do not receive the disclosure from you within the next 14 days and I shall issue proceedings against in the County Court and without any further notice.

 

Please notice that the disclosure must be complete and if I receive an incomplete disclosure then I shall also be bringing the legal action against you

Yours sincerely

 

[Turtleton]

 

Okay, will do just that. Nothing came in the post, but will hold on to see if anything comes via email by close today. 

 

Does it need to be an email or a typed up and signed letter? 

 

Thanks 

[BankFodder]

Email is fine – but you could follow it up with the letter if you want. In the letter refer to the email.

Incidentally, you are not sending this by way of a bluff. If you feel that you don't have the time et cetera to bring the action then don't send the letter. On day 15 you must be prepared to click this off. This means that in the intervening period you must read up a little bit on this forum about the steps needed to bring a small claim. You must register on the free government moneyclaim website and begin drafting your claim. You can save your work as you go. Post the draft claim here so that we can have a look. It's very simple it doesn't need to be very long. I would suggest that you claim 50 quid for distress suffered as a result of their breach. That will be enough to get the claim going and to put the ball very firmly in their court. Most big companies don't respond to a letter before claim – but in this case I suspect that once they receive it you will find that your disclosure arrives. However if it doesn't arrive or if it is incomplete then you must issue the papers.

[Mythescort]

On 21/04/2020 at 15:16, dx100uk said:

Hey I Like Your Comments And Other Info Know Visit My 

 

 

 

[Turtleton]

I waited until around 6pm today in order to receive any SAR documents off Excel. Nothing was received. I emailed a letter of claim over to their litigation department. 

[BankFodder]

Okay. As suggested, register an account with Moneyclaim and start getting your case ready. It will be very short. You don't need any special pompous form of words. Let us see the draft before you click it off.

Read up on the steps to bring a claim on this forum. It's very straightforward but you are better off knowing what happens.

What a nuisance. These people are really stupid time wasters. They don't have the good sense to recognise their mistake and sort it out before it gets out of control.

[BankFodder]

When you get an SAR disclosure, then it would be a good idea if you had a look at these suggestions we have made relating to dealing with a subject access request disclosure or how to deal with your court bundle. This will help you structure your approach

[Turtleton]

Okay great, will have a good read over everything this weekend so I know where I'm heading. Thanks 

[BankFodder]

Hopefully there should be some references as to how they came by your address, any interrogation they carried out of the DVLA database. There should also be copies of correspondence which has been sent to you over the years in order to chase the alleged debt. There should be evidence that they have satisfied the pre-action protocol and at least have sent you a letter of claim.

Also, the subject access disclosures from DVLA and also from ELMS legal should also reveal or give a hint as to other missing material.

 

[BankFodder]

Also, does the disclosure contain any information relating to the exchange between you in which Excel demanded payment of £155 in order to provide you with a signed consent order?

[Turtleton]

I sent a reminder email today to the DVLA regarding the SAR. Hopefully will soon receive a response.

 

I've also gone through the SAR from Excel and found a lot of inconsistencies, missing documents etc. I've compiled a list and will keep adding to it every time I feel something has not been included - started composing a file.

 

In regards to the £155, the only information on file is a note on the account from the 31/03/2020, that I phoned to make payment and they provided me with bank details via email. No notes at all acknowledging that I had emailed twice previously asking for a copy of the claim form.

 

There is nothing at all throughout the whole SAR which shows how Excel (paralegal) asked for payment before providing me with a consent order.

 

Thanks

[BankFodder]

The file should also include copies of your emails as well as theirs. Just because the emails came from you doesn't mean that they are not personal data

[Turtleton]

I'm hoping to send out an email today regarding the incomplete SAR, however I wasn't sure whether to hold fire on this until I received the DVLA SAR also? 

 

Thanks 

[BankFodder]

Maybe it's worth holding fire. There's no particular hurry and you never know the DVLA disclosure might turn up something useful.

[Turtleton]

A month has passed since I sent the request off to the DVLA regarding the SAR and nothing has returned so far. Would it be worth sending off a reminder to them? 

 

Thanks 

[BankFodder]

Yes absolutely. Do you have an email address for them?

I think that it is probably worth sending them quite a stern message. Would you be prepared to begin a legal action against them? I think it all depends on that kind of thing, quite frankly. People who aren't prepared to bring legal actions have to resort to complaining to the ICO and eventually getting into a queue and when eventually they get to the head of the queue, hardly anything is done.

It's certainly worth sending them a reminder but unless you're one of the fraction of a percentage of person that is prepared to take it to an extreme length – meaning a small claim in the County Court – you will just be seen as troublesome but of no import.

[Turtleton]

This was the last correspondence I received off of them (20th April 2020), around 16 days after I submitted the initial SAR. Does it make a difference at all that they've acknowledged there will be a delay due to COVID-19?

 

 

Quote

 

FW: Subject Access Request

Thank you for contacting the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the DVLA has reduced significantly the number of staff on site.  In line with the government guidance in place, only key workers are able to attend the office to provide our most critical services. In particular, we are prioritising applications relating to HGV drivers and critical workers to make sure they get the services and documentation they need as quickly as possible.

 

As a result of these unprecedented measures, I hope you will appreciate that SAR applications will be subject to significant and unavoidable delay until the situation returns to normal. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause and we thank you for your patience.

 

If your SAR is not urgent, you may wish to consider withdrawing it for now.  If you would like to do that, please let us know by replying to this email.

 

Should you wish to continue with your SAR, we ask you to provide the following additional information to allow your application to be given appropriate priority:

 

For key / essential workers please confirm the following by return of email and we will respond to you at the earliest possible opportunity:

 

Your role and any information to help understand why information from the DVLA is needed; and

What key information you require as a minimum?  Please note that we are unable to prioritise requests for “all information” the Agency may hold about you.

 

For non-key / essential workers – if you are able to specify what information you need, please reply to this email stating the information you require.  Again, requests for “all information” the Agency may hold about you will not be prioritised.

 

You can find more information in our privacy policy which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dvla-privacy-policy.   This policy explains the reasons why we collect and process personal data relating to you, who we may share it with, your rights, and gives the relevant legislation that allows us to do so.

 

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe that the DVLA has not handled your subject access request appropriately. You can contact the Information Commissioner's Office using the following link: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

 

As mentioned above, this email address does not deal with enquiries requesting any information other than your own details. If you want to request information about a vehicle registered to someone else, you must complete the relevant form available on GOV.UK at www.gov.uk/government/publications/v888-request-by-an-individual-for-information-about-a-vehicle and post it to the DVLA with the appropriate fee.

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

[BankFodder]

Quote

Dear X X X

SAR reference number X X X

I am writing in support of my subject access request which was made on X X X date and in respect of which I have to date received no response.

I understand that the DVLA is presently under resourced because of the continuing crisis. However, I would ask you to consider that firstly I am a key worker in that I occupy a position at X X X in X X X role.

I need the statutory disclosure rather urgently because I am currently involved in a legal action and to defend it I need data which you hold on me in respect of changes of address and date of those changes which were made in respect of my vehicle registration number X X X.

I'm asking for this data because the claimant in the case incorrectly addressed a county court claim against me and as a result obtained a default judgement without my knowledge. This has impacted my credit file and my ability to get credit in these difficult times as well as the distress caused by the fear of enforcement for what is effectively an unfair default judgement.

I am not asking you for all data which you hold on me – simply data relating to the address changes logged with you in respect of my ownership of the above vehicle – registration number X X X.

Yours sincerely

 

[BankFodder]

I think also in view of the DVLA delay, that it might be an idea to take up your suggestion which you made a few days ago to send Excel a complaint that there SAR is not complete.

I think things are starting to drag on because of the virus crisis and I think that maybe it would be a good idea if you move it on.

 

Would you mind just listing here the items which you consider are probably missing from the Excel SAR.

[Turtleton]

Yes, okay. 

 

I had a good look through the SAR once more last night. There was quite a lot of communication missing:

 

- Only one email was included in the SAR. This was on the 9th September 2016, the rest of the conversation was not included. Future emails and correspondence either from Excel or to myself were not included. 

 

-No documents relating to Excel's correspondence with ELMS Legal. 

 

- There was a query included in the SAR from Northampton County Court querying the address, however the SAR didn't include Excel's response back. 

 

- Many of the screen shots have been cut off so I'm not able to see the full text. 

 

Thanks 

 

 

 

 

[BankFodder]

Okay, well we will draft a letter but we don't want to give them too many clues. We just want to make them realise that they haven't complied with the Act.

Are you prepared to bring a small claim for a modest amount of compensation for distress caused by their failure to comply with the act?