Successful PCN outcome via DVLA

MSDoodle

Hi,

I wanted to share my recent experience with a Parking Charge Notice that I have finally managed to successfully get cancelled.

The alleged incident was in January 2018 but there was no windscreen ticket issued. The first letter came through from the ticket company around 2 months later, however it was headed up as the Final Notice and looking for full payment of the ticket without the early pay discount. I responded with a formal online appeal via their website, using the resources here on MSE. Within a few weeks I also received a second ticket with the same reference number, the same photos but different dates and times of the alleged incident! When I questioned the parking company directly they conjured up some ridiculous reason as to why this was, claiming that the dates meant different things on each ticket. So even though the format of each letter was exactly the same, I am supposed to believe that I must read them differently. They rejected my appeal and refused to cancel the ticket even in the face of such blatant inconsistencies and said they would be sharing this with their solicitors to pursue full payment and costs.

Over the next couple of months it was a struggle to get help from anywhere. I was put off appealing to IAS as per the guidance on this website. I did email the landowner's managing agent who refused to share it with the landowner but did send it to the head of the parking company (obviously I had no response to this). I contacted the IPC twice by email and had no response, even when presented with information that showed their member breaching their code of practice. I called the DVLA to explain the situation and they did nothing to help.

Finally as a last ditch attempt to quash this ticket, I contacted the DVLA complaints department by their online webform to explain that I was angry they were sharing our contact details with a parking company who blatantly issued bogus tickets. They have to be very careful about their responsibility around sharing our data with organisations where proof can be provided about their lack of integrity and (potentially) illegal practices. About a month later I finally got a response saying they had arranged for the ticket to be cancelled and were launching an investigation into the practices of the parking company. Obviously I'm really pleased with the outcome, albeit this has been a stressful 5 months and I wanted to share it in case it brought someone out there a little bit of luck too.

campbell19925

Well done!

Is there any way to stop the DVLA sharing our details for parking tickets to bogus companies?

beamerguy

Well done for doing this.

Care to name the parking company please

As we know the IPC/IAS is a scam just supporting their
scam members and bogus tickets

This Gladstones invented scam is the biggest joke ever

waamo

Well done with your persistence. It possibly helps that the gaze of parliament has fallen on both the DVLA and the IPC especially.

Whilst the DVLA want their pieces of silver they know all too well that ultimately they serve their political masters.

nosferatu1001

campbell19925 wrote: »

Well done!

Is there any way to stop the DVLA sharing our details for parking tickets to bogus companies?

Not as long as said companies are members of a recognised ATA and arent under suspension
The DVLA LOVES its £2.50.

Coupon-mad

About a month later I finally got a response saying they had arranged for the ticket to be cancelled and were launching an investigation into the practices of the parking company.

Great, as already asked, which parking firm?

And can we see the DVLA letter please, in a link so we can see what they said and who said it (cover your name & address of course).

You could try replying and telling the DVLA that you now consider yourself and your family 'vulnerable' to a repeat of this scam from a parking firm and that you outright refuse and hereby formally remove and rescind any implied consent for the DVLA to release your data based on automated decisions in the KADOE process.

And that you require that every time a PPC tries to get your keeper data from now on, you require the DVLA to inform you first, and give you 14 days to object or respond before they release the data. Tell them if they refuse you will be reporting the DVLA to the ICO for refusal to handle your data with human intervention and in the way that most protects you from a repeat of a scam you have already suffered, and wish to avoid.

Not saying they will agree but I'd like to see someone see this through then complain to the ICO online, when the DVLA refuse what is a perfectly reasonable request about data processing. You would need to word your ICO complaint well and show them how reasonably you acted in requesting the DVLA to mark your data file for human intervention to protect you, and look at the GDPR to see what has been breached and push the ICO on that point.

Look at the GDPR/PPC threads on here (only on this board) for information!

Ralph-y

well done ... please follow CM's advice above ... it will help the cause....


and


after reading / watching the below kindly consider writing to your MP to let him/her know how much grief you have had






https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-02-02/debates/CC84AF5E-AC6E-4E14-81B1-066E6A892807/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill

and slightly longer, the committee stage

https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/d5550515-cce9-4185-83ec-754dadb7524a

''Rip-offs from car park Cowboys must stop''; unfair treatment; signage deliberately confusing to ensure a PCN is issued; ''years of abuse by rogue parking companies''; bloodsuckers; ''the current system of regulation is hopeless, like putting Dracula in charge of the blood-bank''; extortionate fines; rogue operators; ''sense of injustice''; unfair charges and notices; wilfully misleading; signage is a deliberate act to deceive or mislead; ''confusing signs are often deliberate, to trap innocent drivers''; unreasonable; a curse; harassing; operating in a disgusting way; appeals service is no guarantee of a fair hearing; loathed; outrageous scam; dodgy practice; outrageous abuse; unscrupulous practices; ''the British Parking Association is as much use as a multi-storey car park in the Gobi desert''; and finally, by way of unanimous conclusion: ''we need to crack down on these rogue companies. They are an absolute disgrace to this country. Ordinary motorists and ordinary residents should not have to put up with this''.

These are the exact words used, so you should quote them to your MP in a complaint and ask him/her to contact Sir Greg Knight MP if he wants further information about this scam.

and some quotes from the committe stage

"The other area is hospital parking, and I want to single out one company for some pretty shady practices. That is ParkingEye"
" is very clear to me that there is collusion between parking companies and solicitors’ firms—so-called roboclaims companies. "
"They are often set up adjacently and involve the same directors and personnel. Incidentally, the same personnel get involved in the so-called appeals bodies."
"Essentially, it is a money-making enterprise that takes advantage of motorists up and down the country. They operate in a very business-like fashion, which is why I call them roboclaims companies."
"The companies are jamming up parts of our legal system."
“I now pretty much know exactly how the parking companies and in particular the IPC have been running this scam for the past 5 years. Basically both of the appeals processes are a complete and utter sham, (and part of that sham is Gladstones Solicitors itself)”
"The appeals process at Excel/VCS is run by a team of minimum wage office workers with no legal knowledge or experience whatsoever,"
" It is claimed by the head of the appeals service (retired Judge Bryn Holloway) that this is a completely independent fair process, it is not”
"The letter mentions two individuals—Will Hurley and Bryn Holloway—and concludes this is a typical example of the clear collusion between the IPC, their members and the IAS"
"what we can do about roboclaims companies and solicitors firms that profit, often in shady ways"
" the very large amounts of money that can be involved in such scams—a company called Smart Parking was involved in one such scam on my patch"
"tightening up the rules regarding the unfair use of automatic number plate recognition" "BW Legal, regularly issues 10,000 county court judgments a month, and is known to have issued 28,000 in one month"
"They are jamming up our court system, and are often totally unjustified."
" because the lifeblood of trying to extort money from people is having access to their details."

All from Parking (Code of Practice) Bill (First sitting) Hansard







Ralph:cool:

nosferatu1001

14 days woudl "time out" any ANPR PCN, so I can see the DVLA stating they HAVe to relaase data faster than that.

Coupon-mad

Tough, let the DVLA say that. They would, wouldn't they, because IMHO their priorities are wrong and they need pulling up on their 'let's do what the companies want' bias.

But then, let's see what the ICO says about that, weighing up the rights of a data subject versus the bleatings of a scammer, when the DVLA is playing fast & loose with the balance tipped to the wrong side, and has done for years.