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Vehicle Control Services County Court Claim

Hi Experts!

I've read the newbie advice and have started a new thread.

I have a county court claim from Vehicle Control Services.

I have gone online and extended the 14 days to 28.

I was working for a company for a month and to park in the car park I had to display a piece of paper with the company logo on. On one occasion it had fallen off my dashboard . I appealed the ticket with VCS and explained I had the right to park there and could get my employer to verify this. They refused the appeal on the grounds than the paper to be displayed was not linked to my number plate. The rest of the company have the same passes and nobody for that business or any other based in the building has anything other than a piece of paper with the company name they work for on it. I looked briefly on here and made the decision not to pay. I did get a warning before court action letter but thought is was a scare tactic. They are trying to claim £185. I am not sure I have previous correspondence with them.

What do I do now?
Thanks in advance !
E
«1

Comments

  • Did you try and get the company you were working for to get it cancelled, either themselves OR by Landowner. This is the easiest and strongest way to get parking scammers to crawl back down the sewers where they live.
  • The_Deep
    The_Deep Posts: 16,830 Forumite
    What a waste of court time. How would a judge possibly agree that they had been damaged to the tune of £185? Complain to the SRA that this is vexatious.

    http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page

    and also complain to your MP

    This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

    Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P.
    for unprofessional conduct

    Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

    The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the House of Commons recently

    http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41 recently.

    and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.





    ax. teg
    You never know how far you can go until you go too far.
  • beamerguy
    beamerguy Posts: 17,587 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    meema925 wrote: »
    Hi Experts!

    I've read the newbie advice and have started a new thread.

    I have a county court claim from Vehicle Control Services.

    I have gone online and extended the 14 days to 28.

    I was working for a company for a month and to park in the car park I had to display a piece of paper with the company logo on. On one occasion it had fallen off my dashboard . I appealed the ticket with VCS and explained I had the right to park there and could get my employer to verify this. They refused the appeal on the grounds than the paper to be displayed was not linked to my number plate. The rest of the company have the same passes and nobody for that business or any other based in the building has anything other than a piece of paper with the company name they work for on it. I looked briefly on here and made the decision not to pay. I did get a warning before court action letter but thought is was a scare tactic. They are trying to claim £185. I am not sure I have previous correspondence with them.

    What do I do now?
    Thanks in advance !
    E

    You do not owe £185 ....... they are fake add-ons involved
    normally by idiot debt collectors.

    Shame you ignored the LBA but it seems you have proof
    that you were allowed to park.

    VCS were using BWLegal for their claims but seem to
    have dumped them of late.

    You should read about VCS and their sister company Excel
    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5672664/bwlegal-the-list-of-failures-growing

    ..... Just in case they are feeding you with the same rubbish
  • Thanks for replies so far. I now need to get evidence I think to stop CCJ. What do I need to do for that.
    No I didn't try and get the company I was working for to get it cancelled. Any yes I will complain to SRA and mp after I've sorted this.

    thanks
  • Redx
    Redx Posts: 38,084 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    you dont need the evidence for the defence, evidence comes later with the WS (a few weeks before the actual court date)

    by all means gather it beforehand, like dropping a SAR onto the PPC using the new GDPR, for docs, photos, signage , landowner contract etc

    read the GDPR 2018 FIGHTBACK thread by coupon_mad for help on SAR details etc

    and try and get pics of the car park , signage , google maps info etc too


    bargepole put a simple walkthrough on court claims 2 years ago on here, linked in that thread, study it carefully


    post the POC , DATE OF ISSUE and draft defence below , for help and critique
  • Thanks in advance.

    Date of issue 28.09.2018

    POC
    The claimant claims for the sum of £160 being monies due from the defendant due to claimant in respect of a charge notice (CN) for a contravention on 18/12/2017 at ***********. The CN relates to vehicle ******registration ******. The terms of the CN allowed the defendant 28 days from the issue of date to appeal the CN, but the defendant failed to do so. Despite demand having been made by the defendant has failed to settle the outstanding liability. The claimant seeks to recover the CN and interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% at the same time up to the date date of judgement or earlier payment.

    Defence
    The defendant was working for a business based in ****** for the month of December and was given a pass to display in their vehicle. Excel issued a CN as the pass was not adequately displayed on one occasion due to high winds. The defend appealed this charge but was refused on the basis that no registration details were linked with the pass. No registration details are linked with any of the passes for the company the defendent was working for or any other companies based at *******.
    I believe this statement of facts to be true.

    I think I've found the fightback thread from june , i get this is about data and the new rules. I don't know what SAR and PPC are , could you explain for me .

    Do I need to send my defence within 28 days? Is that what happened after acknowledgement of service?
  • KeithP
    KeithP Posts: 41,296 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    meema925 wrote: »
    Date of issue 28.09.2018

    Do I need to send my defence within 28 days? Is that what happened after acknowledgement of service?
    With a Claim Issue Date of 28th September, you have until Wednesday 17th October to do the Acknowledgement of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. To do the AoS, follow the guidance offered in a Dropbox link from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.

    Having done the AoS, you then have until 4pm on Wednesday 31sth October 2018 to file your Defence.

    That's over three weeks away. Plenty of time to compile a top class Defence.


    When you are happy with the content, your Defence should be filed via email as described here:

    1) Print your Defence.
    2) Sign it and date it.
    3) Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
    4) Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
    5) Just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.
    6) Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
    7) Wait for your Directions Questionnaire and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES thread to find out exactly what to do with it.
  • Redx
    Redx Posts: 38,084 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    meema925 wrote: »
    Defence
    The defendant was working for a business based in ****** for the month of December and was given a pass to display in their vehicle. Excel issued a CN as the pass was not adequately displayed on one occasion due to high winds. The defend appealed this charge but was refused on the basis that no registration details were linked with the pass. No registration details are linked with any of the passes for the company the defendent was working for or any other companies based at *******.
    I believe this statement of facts to be true.


    I think I've found the fightback thread from june , i get this is about data and the new rules. I don't know what SAR and PPC are , could you explain for me .

    Do I need to send my defence within 28 days? Is that what happened after acknowledgement of service?

    IMHO , that is a WS , not a DEFENCE

    read the BARGEPOLE CONCISE DEFENCE and other similar ones where legal arguments prevail, then adapt one and post it for critique below

    SAR can be googled (like GDPR) and is also in the NEWBIES thread post #5 , acronyms post

    PPC is also mentioned in that acronyms post , please read it


    KeithP has told you when it needs to be submitted by, plus how to do it by email + attachment (its slightly longer than 28 days, but DO NOT miss the deadline for submission, the deadline KeithP posted above)
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 153,290 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    i get this is about data and the new rules. I don't know what SAR and PPC are , could you explain for me .
    I'm afraid this and your very short and weak draft defence (which you must bin and start again) tells us you have not read NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST, where all acronyms are explained in post #5, and there is an entire post (the second post of that sticky thread) devoted to how to defend!

    All will be revealed if you simply (please) read the sticky thread first, top of the forum.

    No link to it needed, see my signature, it's 2 clicks back.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • System
    System Posts: 178,355 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    and could get my employer to verify this

    The best defence is not based on a choice of words but the evidence to back these up.

    You offered to get a letter from your employer about the scheme and your authority to be there. Did you? And can you get the evidence you offered at the beginning?
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
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