VCS SpyCar PCN claimform - Bristol Airport - PCN No. 2

[southwestram]

I have now received, in order of receipt

1. The company received a NTK dated 4th Feb 2022 providing details of their allegation of stopping in a zone where stopping is prohibited. The time of the alleged offence is 18:18pm on 1st Feb 2022. - ONE MINUTE AFTER CHARGE NUMBER ONE
The company responded, providing my name and address as the driver of their vehicle

2. VCS then sent me a CHARGE NOTICE (NTD) dated 17th February asking for £100, reduced to £60 if paid early.

I wrote an appeal letter dated 8th March 2022, stamped as received by VCS 9th March 2022, explaining that I stopped to avoid driving my car into the intended passenger, who was running down the entrance ramp to the drop off car park. To have continued would have caused an accident. While I was trying to explain that I needed to pick him up from within the car park, his fellow passengers opened the boot hatch and threw in their bags. They all got into the taxi and we drove off.

The passenger, a doctor, has already provided me with a Witness Statement via email, confirming what I said in my appeal letter.

 I also enclosed a photo of the parking receipt for the drop-off car park (receipt issued 18:14).

3. VCS replied to me on the 24th March 2022, rejecting the appeal. In their rejection, they state that their reflective signage is 'positioned to face oncoming vehicles'. This is not the case, as signage is affixed to the railings facing out onto the road, and not legible until alongside the sign, thereby nullifying the reflective nature of the sign. Note that I was on the feeder road at 18:18pm on a February evening). I believe the signs would be legible only if they were erected onto posts to face oncoming drivers. In any event, deliberately driving into a pedestrian is illegal, even if it avoids stopping in a no stopping zone!

4. On the 26th of April 2022, VCS sent me a DEMAND FOR PAYMENT letter. The amount they claim had risen to £170, the additional costs for 'debt collection' and the opportunity to pay a 'reduced amount' had now lapsed.

5. On the 18th May, VCS sent a FINAL DEMAND letter

6. On the 24th of May, VCS sent a LETTER BEFORE CLAIM for £170, plus a warning that court fees of £35 and interest would be added.
I made a Subject Access Request on the 21st June
 

Please supply the data about me that I am entitled to under data protection law relating to myself.

Specifically:

- ALL photos taken
- all letters/emails sent and received, including any appeal correspondence earlier
- all data held, all evidence that you will rely on, and a full copy of the PCN, NTK
- and a list of all PCNs outstanding against this VRN,

Any claim must be for all PCNs, not several separate claims.

If you need any more data from me to confirm my identity please let me know as soon as possible. It may be helpful for you to know that data protection law requires you to respond to a request for data within one calendar month.

If you do not normally deal with these requests, please pass this letter to your Data Protection Officer, or relevant staff member. If you need advice on dealing with this request, the Information Commissioner’s Office can assist you. Its website is ico.org.uk or it can be contacted on 0303 123 1113.

I am seeking debt advice but I deny any debt and the case must be put 'on hold' for not less than 30 days under the PAP for debt claims 2017. Please forward a copy of this email to your Legal Department [email protected] as a matter of urgency.

Yours faithfully

To which they replied on 7th July

 

Dear Sir

 

With reference to your request for a copy of your personal data held on our system in-line with GDPR legislation; please find attached a copy of the information held.

 

Photographic evidence and data is held on file in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and is used for the sole purpose of pursuing settlement of a Parking Charge.

 

We comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulations to uphold your rights to Privacy.

 

Our Privacy Notice gives clear reasons for why, from where, and how we obtain and use your Personal Data, under what circumstances we may retain and share your data with third parties and for how long that data may be retained. 

 

Please refer to: http://www.vehiclecontrolservices.co.uk and follow the links for our Privacy Notices in respect of any questions you may have and your rights in respect of your data.

 

The information sent is contained in a PDF document and/or zip file. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are able to both receive and open the files and to check your spam/junk folders at regular intervals, in case the attachment(s) has been filtered out by your mail server. 

Yours Sincerely

7 On the 24th June, ELMS legal sent me a NOTIFICATION OF INSTRUCTION in which they state that there is now an unpaid PARKING Charge Notice (PCN)

8. I was issued with a County Court Claim Form on the 27th July from the Northampton County Court

I have replied, using the Acknowledgement of Service form, stating that I intend to defend all of this claim, and on the Defence Form, I have ticked the box stating that I dispute the full amount

How best to state my defence?

[southwestram]

I would like to go to court, but would prefer the case to be heard much closer to home as I live in the Southwest of England. How would I go about having the case moved here?

[FTMDave]

Will scribble more later, but there is a part of the legal process called Directions Questionnaire, where you as the defendant will get to choose the court.

 

So don't worry.

 

This is later on though, after you file your defence.

Edited August 1, 2022 by FTMDave
Typo

[southwestram]

Which Court have you received the claim from ?

 

MCOL Northampton NN1 ?

Manual Claim CCMCC (Salford) ?

New beta WWW.MONEYCLAIMS.SERVICE.GOV.UK ?

 

If possible please scan redact and upload a full page copy of page 1 of the claim form. (not the response page or AOS)

 

 

Name of the Claimant :

 

Claimants Solicitors: ELMS LEGAL LTD

 

Date of issue – 26 JULY 2022

 

Date for AOS - 13th AUGUST 2022

 

Date to submit Defence - 26th AUGUST 2022

 

What is the claim for – The claim is for a breach of contract for breaching the terms and conditions set on private land. The defendant's vehicle XXXXXXX was identified in the Bristol Airport on the 01/02/2022 in breach of the advertised terms and conditions; namely, stopping in a zone where stopping is prohibited. At all material times the Defendant was the registered keeper and/or driver. The Terms and Conditions upon entering private land were clearly displayed at the entrance and in prominent locations. The sign was the offer, and the act of entering private land was acceptance of the offer hereby entering into a contract by conduct. The signs specifically detail the terms and conditions and the consequences of failure to comply, anmely a parking charge notice will be issued and the defendant has failed to settle the outstanding liability. The claimant seeks the recovery of the parking charge notice, contractual costs and interest.

 

 

What is the value of the claim?

 

 

Amount Claimed 170.00

court fees 35.00

legal rep fees 50.00

Total Amount 265.00

[FTMDave]

Did you use MCOL to file the AOS?

 

You need to get a CPR request off to Elms  https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/409718-cpr-3114-request-to-use-on-receipt-of-a-ppc-private-land-parking-court-claim/

 

If you scoll down to  Q2) How should I defend?  at  https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/393251-received-a-court-claim-from-a-private-parking-speculative-invoice-how-to-deal-with-it-hereupdated-dec-2021/  you will see the generic defence we normally use.  You still have plenty of time to file it though.

 

[southwestram]

I hadn't filed the AOS - waiting for a response from you guys before I did something wrong, but had noted that on another topic, the defendant had been recommended to use the MCOL route, and figured I would be better doing that than trying to organise myself into buying envelopes and stamps etc.

I will file the AoS for both charges right now, and send off a CPR request to ELMS this evening.

Thanks

[dx100uk]

pop up on the MCOL website detailed on the claimform

.

register as an individual on the Gov't Gateway Site
Go to HMRC's login page.

Click the GREEN sign in button.
Click “Create sign in details”
Enter your email address where asked.
You will now be emailed a confirmation code. ...

You will now be issued with a User ID for your government gateway account.
 note down your details inc the long gateway number given, you might need it later.
 

then log in to the MCOL Website

.

select respond to a claim and select the start AOS box.

.

then using the details required from the claimform

.

defend all

leave jurisdiction unticked.

click thru to the end

confirm and exit MCOL.

.

get a CPR 31:14 request running to the solicitors

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?486334-CPR-31.14-Request-to-use-on-receipt-of-a-PPC-(-Private-Land-Parking-Court-Claim

type your name ONLY

no need to sign anything

.

you DO NOT await the return of paperwork.

you MUST file a defence regardless by day 33 from the date on the claimform.

………….
 

[southwestram]

Both AoS done, and pdfs saved to my laptop

Both CPR requests transposed and completed, ready for printing and posting tomorrow.

I'm shortly leaving the house to drive to Bristol Airport to video the signage, and highlight how difficult it is to see it when it's facing outwards onto the road, and not along the road towards the oncoming driver.

I'm also of the opinion that the use of a mobile phone whilst driving is not permitted on the airport feeder road as it comes under the Highways Act, and therefore the Highway Code which says; 

You can get 6 penalty points and a £200 fine if you hold and use a phone, sat nav, tablet, or any device that can send and receive data while driving or riding a motorcycle.

I have a Witness Statement from our taxi controller, stating that only in extreme circumstances would she phone a driver.

It would be fair for me to assume that there had been a problem with the previous customer - that perhaps they had left something in the car. It would be impracticable to leave the airport to find a place where stopping is permitted, call the office, return to the airport, drive to the drop-off car park and then meet up with the customer.

Also, at no point did I cause an obstruction or prevent any vehicle from passing mine.

Furthermore, as shown by the issuance of the SECOND PCN, it can be proven that I had stopped for far less than one minute - the first PCN being issued at 18:17, the second at 18:18, a period of one minute apart, which must have included the time needed to drive to the roundabout, go around the roundabout and return to the drop-off car park entrance where I successfully avoided murdering the second passenger.
 

[FTMDave]

1 hour ago, southwestram said:

I'm shortly leaving the house to drive to Bristol Airport to video the signage, and highlight how bloody diffcult it is to see it when it's facing outwards onto the road, and not along the road towards the oncoming driver.

Good idea.  If you can show that Simon's signs are carp it will help, especially as he will lie and say the opposite in his WS.

 

1 hour ago, southwestram said:

Both CPR requests transposed and completed, ready for printing and posting tomorrow.

Well done.  Get free Certificates of Posting from the post office.  Elms will either not reply or will reply partially, they certainly won't send the contract (coming out with some nonsense about confidentiality) or the planning permission (because VCS don't have it).  All this will help you in court.

 

1 hour ago, southwestram said:

I'm also of the opinion that the use of a mobile phone whilst driving is not permitted on the airport feeder road as it comes under the Highways Act

Spot on.  And also begs the question of how the spy car took their photos.  Someone who also stopped in a no stopping area, not in an emergency but to try to make money.

 

1 hour ago, southwestram said:

where I successfully avoided murdering the second passenger.

Tough.  You should have killed the passenger.  Had he survived, no way should you have stopped to help or phone an ambulance.  You ought to have excited the area.  Dead passengers are a necessary result of obeying Simon's signs.  Omelette, crack, egg, etc.

 

 

Just joking.

 

Can you really imagine a judge finding for VCS when someone jumped in front of your car?  But they are chancers, and send out these claims like confetti hoping you will be terrified of the idea of court and will give in.

[dx100uk]

so what happened?

 

dx

 

[FTMDave]

We know what's happening with your other ticket, but what about this one?

 

Have you received the Directions Questionnaire?

[FTMDave]

I gather from your other thread that you did the DQ, then the case was transferred to Taunton CC.

 

You'll have to wait till the case crawls its way through the court process.

[southwestram]

• In their rejection of my appeal, VCS state that they show a CLEARWAY sign on the main entrance sign upon which they base their alleged contract with me.
  • On my video, it shows a blue circle with a red edge and a red diagonal cross, all on a white background. This is also the sign that is used on all of their repeater signs along the feeder road.
    
    This is NOT a Clearway sign. A Clearway sign (or an Urban Clearway) has only one red line crossing the blue circle. And it should be displayed on a yellow background.
    
    It's a Red Route sign.
    
    Taken from; https://autodaynews.com/car-reviews/what-is-a-clearway-urban-clearways-clearways-and-red-routes-explained-2/#:~:text=If the urban clearway is a clearway with,footpath as well as to the carriageway itself.
     

• URBAN CLEARWAY
• During the hours of enforcement for an urban clearway, you cannot stop or park your vehicle except briefly to pick-up or drop-off passengers.
•  
• RED ROUTE
• If the urban clearway is a clearway with a bit more room for manoeuvre, the red route is a clearway with a bit less. On red routes, which are typically found in cities and often along major bus routes, you cannot stop or park your car at any time and, unlike a standard clearway, the rules extend to the verge or footpath as well as to the carriageway itself.
• The only vehicles that can stop on a red route are licenced taxis or disabled blue badge holders, but they can only do so for the purpose of picking up or dropping off – there’s no parking allowed. Red routes, or red route clearways to give them their proper name, are marked by rectangular ‘red route clearway’ signs at the beginning and end but also, crucially, by double red lines along the sides of the road.

So they rely upon one or the other, and as a taxi driver, I am completely free to pick up or drop off passengers along the entirety of the route.

[FTMDave]

It's a bit strange that this case is still lost in the labyrinth of Taunton county court.

[lookinforinfo]

This is perhaps a more definitive picture of the road signs

 

What is a clearway? Urban clearways, clearways and red routes explained - pictures | Auto Express

WWW.AUTOEXPRESS.CO.UK

---

Images of UK road signs used for marking Urban clearways, clearways and red routes

 

[FTMDave]

As an aside, did the vehicle that followed you have any markings?

 

I fly in to East Midlands airport on Friday, intend to take photos of Simple Simon's signs, and if possible wind up the creep who takes the photos by taking photos of the creep.

[dx100uk]

film them too and make it obvious too walking around the car with a gimbal phone.

 

it would seriously be interesting what reaction you get....you can't do that this is private property....is it really i thought these were public access roads and id really really love you to call the police to arrest me...

 

dx