PPS - dark car park

Coupon-mad

To any newbies reading this, please be aware that the regulars on here and another similar site are amazing but incredibly busy. They were answering questions all over the Christmas and New Year period and handle dozens of posts every day, so try to do as much of your own research as you can, especially by reading the Newbies' Thread, to help them out.

That's good advice.

Umkomaas

The other regulars handled everything in December which is when I took a break, so it's good to be back posting and see everything ticking over nicely, with confident newbies!

And an encouraging cohort of new posters offering ongoing good advice to help others, hopefully becoming future regulars. Good early signs ....

Coupon-mad

I noticed and it's great!

System

To any newbies reading this, please be aware that the regulars on here and another similar site are amazing but incredibly busy. They were answering questions all over the Christmas and New Year period and handle dozens of posts every day, so try to do as much of your own research as you can, especially by reading the Newbies' Thread, to help them out.

I'll second that. Charities like CAB can't help as it falls outside their insurance cover/ funding / charter so it is up to the volunteers here to help people that would otherwise not be helped.

DammitChloe

Coupon-mad wrote: »

No such thing.

Suspected as much.

Umkomaas wrote: »

And an encouraging cohort of new posters offering ongoing good advice to help others, hopefully becoming future regulars. Good early signs ....

Would like to pay it forward more than I currently have time to do, even if my talents don't extend much beyond proofreading for typos!

DammitChloe

Claim stayed pending a further DQ from the Claimant. A little research reveals that the PPC and this DJ have had at least one run-in before. Pleased to say they lost.

DammitChloe

I have received a Notice of Discontinuance from PPS and BW Legal, which was confirmed as genuine when I rang the court this morning. Massive thanks to numerous posters on here, whose threads are a treasure trove of information, and to the experts who so generously give up their time to advise. To Coupon-mad in particular, you are a legend!

Obviously I kept some details of my case off the public forum, but others are following the thread with relation to their own situations so I'll add a bit more detail which may be useful now. Also, there is a bit of a gap in this thread over the Christmas period. For anyone wishing to follow the whole thing, I posted on PePiPoo during that time (as Chloe O'Brian) because one of the most valued advisers was on 'holiday' over there!

I cannot emphasise enough the value of issuing a well-written SAR at an early stage. I was lucky that the PPC replied promptly and I had invaluable information to include in my defence, but if possible do this well before court papers are issued. Remember, the PPC have 30 days in which to reply! In my case, photos were received showing that the signage did not meet CoP standards in daylight. The really damning evidence however was the photos of my vehicle on the night in question. Premier Parking Solutions' own photographs proved that signs were not visible in the dark. One even showed that the main sign is sited behind a light - all you can see from where my vehicle was parked is glare, like looking into low sun. The same photo shows that the parking meter was hidden behind several industrial waste bins

Another photo shows a large lorry in the car park, yet in small print on the 'daylight' sign it is stated that vehicles over a certain length and weight are not permitted to park. I intended to use this in my WS to argue that another driver had clearly been unable to see the signs, and also that a large vehicle could easily have blocked the only light source while turning. Also, when I later received a site plan from BW Legal, it was clear that the signage on the night did not match the plan.

Although the experts on PePiPoo don't seem very hopeful that it will do any good, I will be putting in a strong complaint to the bank which is the leaseholder of the car park. PPS are very obviously stepping outside their contractual obligations by taking legal action in their own right and the bank manager told me months ago, when I was trying to find the identity of the landowner, that he is fed up with employees receiving tickets.

Unfortunately I have a series of professional exams over the next few weeks, but once those are over I will attempt to see my MP to discuss the scam in person. The ICO are currently investigating the matter of the missing PCN and the 'reprint' that later appeared. I will post the result here when I hear back from them.

I will also be complaining to the SRA and I note that recent posters here are getting a response from them. If any of the experts/legally qualified people on here would be interested in advising how to word this, on the forum or privately so that I can give more detail and make this as effective as possible, I would be very grateful. Besides the usual BW letters which regulars are familiar with, I exchanged several emails with them to 'show willing' should the matter have gone before a judge. It seems that some of the replies include lies, according to Coupon's earlier posts.

To anyone currently going through the process, be very careful how you word any correspondence with solicitors - they will try to twist your words and get you to bite back, potentially giving away valuable information. Stick to the legal arguments and don't rant. I virtually copied Loadsofchildren123's letter about intent to ask the judge for full costs due to unreasonable behaviour, as she is legally qualified and worded it far better than I could.

I would love to know how much all of this has actually cost the PPC. I actually ended up making a profit, if I don't count my time in monetary terms (I'm a geek for research anyway!). Following SingStar101's lead months ago, I kicked off about the CCBC's failure to send out court papers and the CCJ which inevitably followed. They tried to wriggle a bit as unlike that poster, I didn't suffer financial loss as a result. I fired back that I had suffered distress due to receiving the judgement and they coughed up financial compensation.

Good luck to everyone who is fighting a case at the moment and I hope that some of the information in my thread helps your cause.

Coupon-mad

Woohoo! Another one bites the dust!

LOVE your fightback and complaints, Chloe.

This is even better news, for anyone who had one of those September claims that the CCBC/MCOL system never sent out.

I know of one like this, must tell them to claim compensation!

I actually ended up making a profit, if I don't count my time in monetary terms (I'm a geek for research anyway!). Following SingStar101's lead months ago, I kicked off about the CCBC's failure to send out court papers and the CCJ which inevitably followed. They tried to wriggle a bit as unlike that poster, I didn't suffer financial loss as a result. I fired back that I had suffered distress due to receiving the judgment and they coughed up financial compensation.

DammitChloe

Thanks Coupon. I hope the person that you mention is able to get compensation. My argument was that I received the inexplicable CCJ on a Saturday, with no warning or opportunity to defend myself, and then had to wait until 9 on the Monday morning when the CCBC opened to find out what the hell was going on. I also pointed out that I had to waste my time signing up to the various credit reference agencies and checking my reports. It was pure luck that no checks had been run and my credit rating wasn't affected.

When I have time, I may take my BW paperwork to the law department of the university that I'm attached to for scrutiny, although I expect some of the posters here are more aware of the finer details in these matters. I'm happy to make complaints based on knowledge gleaned here but it would be very interesting to get a professional opinion. These companies should not be allowed to get away with their tactics, which are clearly designed to target people who are unlikely to have legal training or seek professional advice.

I will keep the forum posted if anything interesting develops. Hopefully the ICO investigation will give PPS a headache at least.

DammitChloe

It gives me great satisfaction to report that the ICO have kicked Premier Parking Solutions up the backside. They were told to supply me with a copy of the original PCN and were given 'guidance' on which correspondence between themselves and third parties may be withheld on the grounds of legal and professional privilege. I actually already received an apology, with the now irrelevant ticket attached, from the PPC before hearing back from the ICO. Of course, they claim it was an 'oversight' on their part...:rotfl:

The final paragraph of the ICO email makes for interesting reading:

'Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We keep a record of all the complaints raised with us about personal information. The information we gather from complaints may form the basis for action in the future where appropriate.'

I've seen at least one other post on here mentioning that a copy of the PCN was not provided in response to a SAR, so get complaining if your data has been withheld! Hopefully the ICO will take a dim view of PPCs that are serial offenders.