ParkingEye Parking Charge Notice

Djubb78

Should I use this template as my LBC starting point and just remove/adjust the parts referencing a court claim form?

The Company Secretary
[Name of PPC]
[Address]
[Postcode] [DATE]


LETTER BEFORE COUNTY COURT CLAIM

Dear Sir or Madam,

First Defendant: [Name of PPC]
Second Defendant: [Name of Landowner]

This letter is sent in accordance with the Practice Directions on Pre-Action Conduct. The conjoined defendants named above are held to be jointly and severally liable for compensatory payments in respect of breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), as set out in the following paragraphs.

Facts of the Case

1. This matter arises from the issue of a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) by the First Defendant at [LOCATION], on [DATE]. The Second Defendant is the landowner of this property, and at all material times [Name of PPC] were acting with the authority of, and under instructions from, [Name of Landowner], so that the agent / principal relationship giving rise to joint and several liability is clearly established.

2. Subsequent to the incident, I received a Notice to Keeper from [Name of PPC], who had obtained my registered keeper details from the DVLA. Following my refusal to pay a charge of £100 for [INSERT REASON FOR CHARGE], and after protracted appeals processes with [Name of PPC] and an independent adjudicator, a court Claim Form was issued by [Name of PPC] on [DATE}, Claim Number [XXXXXXXX}.

3. The hearing of the Claim was listed for XXXXXXX County Court on [DATE], and at the Trial, the Claim was dismissed because [INSERT REASON CLAIM DISMISSED].

4. As evidenced by the above, there was clearly no reasonable cause for [Name of PPC] to request my keeper data from the DVLA, or to process the data for any lawful purpose..

Legal Issues Arising

5. It follows that, not only were [Name of PPC] in breach of their Keeper At Date Of Event (KADOE) contract with the DVLA by obtaining and processing my personal data when they clearly had no reasonable cause to do so, but they were also in breach of the Second Principle of Schedule 1 of the DPA, which states “Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes.”

6. Pursuant to s13 of the DPA, “Compensation for failure to comply with certain requirements”, the Act states at 13(1) that “An individual who suffers damage by reason of any contravention by a data controller of any of the requirements of this Act is entitled to compensation from the data controller for that damage”.


7. I rely on two significant authorities in support of my claim, which are Vidal-Hall v Google Inc [2015] EWCA 311, and Halliday v Creation Consumer Finance Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 333. In Vidal-Hall, it was held by the Court of Appeal that compensation was payable upon the fact of breach, and that it was not necessary to quantify a direct pecuniary loss. In Halliday, the Court of Appeal held that a compensatory sum of up to £750 was deemed ‘appropriate and sufficient’

8. Both of the above cases arose as a result of material breaches of the DPA by the respective defendants, and can be considered to provide binding precedents for my own situation. The consequences of the breach were perhaps less serious in my case than the two cited cases, and accordingly, my claim is for £250 at the lower end of the scale. A similar ruling was made by a District Judge at Liverpool County Court on 7 December 2016, in case no. C9DP2D6C, VCS v Mr. M.

Actions Required by Defendants

I now require you to remit the sum of £250 payable to me at the above address, within 14 days of your receipt of this letter, deemed to be two working days after the date of posting. Failure to pay the sum due, or to otherwise furnish a substantive response, will result in the issue of a Money Claim through the County Court Business Centre at Northampton without further reference to yourselves.

In the event that a Claim is issued, you may incur additional costs in the form of court filing fees, hearing fees, and such other costs as are recoverable on the small claims track of the County Court. A judgment against you may also result in a downgrading of your Company’s credit rating, and further costs for enforcement action, which may include seizure and disposal of your corporate assets by Court appointed bailiffs.

Yours faithfully,


[Your Name and Address]
cc: Company Secretary, [Name of Landowner]

Umkomaas

How long do I have to make a claim for compensation?

6 years. You need to fully understand what it is you are claiming for and on what legal grounds. It is early days in the strategy of (counter) claiming against PPCs on the back of DPA breach. Given that your Grace Period was just a couple of minutes out, you may have to work very hard to convince a judge that he should find in your favour. You've plenty of time, so I'd suggest you keep an eye on what's happening as early claims go forward (this forum, PePiPoo and The Parking Prankster's blog will carry information in due course).

Do I just send an LBC to the PCC and landowner?

A bit premature at this stage (in my opinion). Only send a LBC when all your ducks are in a row and you're ready to carry out the threat of issuing proceedings. I'd (eventually) include both - provided you are confident of making this 'stick'. Not something to issue willy-nilly.

Should I complain to the BPA?

Absolutely. Too many people are just so relieved that they have succeeded at POPLA and take things no further. A wasted opportunity in so many cases to 'return the compliment' to the PPC and give them some of their own grief to deal with. But again, you need to be able to argue your case from a position of being fully in charge of your brief. A 'rant-style' complaint will be fobbed off - they're on the side of the PPC, not you!

But this can be done now - it does not have to wait as per advice on pursuing under a breach of the DPA.

Should I complain to the DVLA?

As above. Even more so with the DVLA - they are in a position to make life even more difficult for the PPC.

Let us know how you progress.

[Deleted User]

You need to notify of the basis for a claim and to correspond first. The whole point of protocols etc is that no-one rushes in to proceedings.

You can make similar points, just not wrap it up as a letter of claim.

The complaints umkomaas highlights above should also yield helpful information.

Redx

ideally , you first need to know that the PPC accessed your details from the DVLA, so you want confirmation of when and how in writing from the DVLA

Then you would want to complain to the ICO about the DPA breach, because if they find in your favour it is evidence that is weighted in your favour for any claim you might make

once you have your duscks in a row you can then start with any LBC letters

but do not rush , do the research first, do it properly and gather your evidence , including any fob off by the BPA or by the DVLA

as mentioned above its early days and you have 6 years to pursue it , nobody is saying wait that long but rome wasnt built in a day either