Looking for reassurance - Flipped Ticket, "free parking" UKCPM letter Before Claim from Gladstones

Flakiesmum

Have been dilligently reading up and followed the Newbies thread, other posts on here and on the 'Pepi' site.
This is circumstances, where I'm at and I'd be very grateful for some reassurance that I'm on track with the best course of action. Thanks!
5/12/17 - Car was parked in 4hrs free, private pay and display car park. Have the flimsy ticket no glue, covering the time the charge was issued, which states 'Fix ticket inside window" (as an aside there are numerous contradicting signs in this car park including PAY and display, no parking and private land)
5/12/17 - Windscreen charge 'Not displaying a valid permit'
22/12 - The keeper of the vehicle sent written appeal using the appeal template as a basis - also advising and providing evidence that the photo taken by UKPCM clearly shows matching serial no of 'flipped' ticket on dashboard.
25/1/18 - Appeal denied letter from UKCPM. No information given on Contracted party, what the charge was based on etc.
8/2/18 - Formal demand letter from UKCPM (NOT A NTK)
15/5/18 - Threat letter No.1 from DRP
29/5/18 - Threat letter No.2 from DRP
12/6/18 - Threat letter No.3 from DRP
12/7/18 Gladstones' quoting Beavis' letter
14/11/18 Gladstones Letter Before Claim

There was no notice to keeper so I contacted the DVLA to ask who had accessed my records and they emailed refusing to provide this information quoting 'I am sorry, due to data protection we would be unable to provide the requested information.'

I'm planning to now send to Gladstones a slightly tailored version of the Loadsofchildren Letter Before Claim asap. Tailored to match the info requested in my appeal letter.

Would just appreciate some expert assurance that this is the right action to take as my confidence in this matter needs a boost! esp with the charge circumstances and absence of NTK. Plus the rational response is fight and the emotional one is wrong = pay to make this go away.

Thanks in advance

The_Deep

If they did take this to court they are likely to struggle. Many judges regard a flipped ticket claim as a trifling matter, and the law does not concern itself with trifles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_minimis

A judge recently dismissed such a claim as the ticket was very flimsy and was not stick backed.

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

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week, hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. It has even been suggested that some of these companies have links with organised crime.

Watch the video of the Second Reading and committee stage in the House of Commons recently. MPs have a very low opinion of this industry.

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

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-07-19/debates/2b90805c-bff8-4707-8bdc-b0bfae5a7ad5/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill(FirstSitting)

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by in the not too distant future..

Umkomaas

There was no notice to keeper so I contacted the DVLA to ask who had accessed my records and they emailed refusing to provide this information quoting 'I am sorry, due to data protection we would be unable to provide the requested information.'

You're entitled to that information - do it this way:

Email the DVLA and ask which organisations (and for what reason) accessed the registered keeper's data from them between a range of dates which includes the date(s) of the parking incident(s). You need to provide the registered keeper's full name and address, the address on the V5C logbook and the Vehicle Registration Mark of the vehicle involved in the parking incident.

SubjectAccess.Requests@dvla.gsi.gov.uk

Even though you email your request, the DVLA will respond via Royal Mail.

beamerguy

There was no notice to keeper so I contacted the DVLA to ask who had accessed my records and they emailed refusing to provide this information quoting 'I am sorry, due to data protection we would be unable to provide the requested information.'

Could you please let us see a copy of that email, just copy and paste on here.

Flakiesmum

Thank you for your enquiry received on 21/5/2018.
Your case reference number is XXXXXXX.

I am sorry, due to data protection we would be unable to provide the requested information.

Information about registered keepers of vehicles can be released by the DVLA under the provisions of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002. This legislation allows vehicle keeper details to be disclosed to third parties who can demonstrate that they have a reasonable cause to receive it. Reasonable cause is not defined in legislation but the Government’s policy is that it should relate to the vehicle or its use, following incidents where there may be liability on the part of the driver. Guidance on what constitutes reasonable cause is published online at DLVA (link deleted)

Drivers choosing to park a vehicle on private land do so subject to the terms and conditions set out on signage in the car park. The need to contact individuals who may not have complied with these conditions is, in most circumstances, considered to be a reasonable cause. Data is provided by the DVLA to enable landowners or their agents to pursue their legal rights and to address disputes. I trust you will appreciate that if this were not the case, motorists would be able to park with disregard for the conditions applying with little prospect of being held accountable.

The DVLA cannot regulate directly the manner in which a parking management company is operated. Therefore, it has no influence over the scale of charges, the length of time motorists are allowed to park or the hours the company operates parking conditions for. These are matters between the landowner and the company employed to manage the car park.

While seeking to ensure that vehicle keeper data is released only in appropriate circumstances, it's not a matter for the Agency to decide on the merits of individual cases or to arbitrate in any civil disputes between motorists and private car park enforcement companies. The DVLA can't regulate any aspect of a company’s business. Any representations should be made to the landowner or his agent. DVLA releases information on the basis that reasonable cause is demonstrated.

The law allows DVLA to disclose keeper details, from the vehicle database, to law enforcement authorities or private litigants as a first point of contact to establish where liability for an incident or event may lie. Only the registered keeper can then decide whether he/she is able or willing to assist. Disclosure in these circumstances does not breach the Data Protection Act (DPA) and the Information Commissioner’s Office is fully aware that the data held on the DVLA vehicle database is released in this way.

Do not reply to this email. If you wish to contact us again about this response then please use our reply form link or copy and paste the following URL in to your browser:

Link deleted as not allowed

Best Regards
K Hughes

DVLA

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The_Deep

Presumably you applied as a third party or anonymously. IIMU that anyone with just cause can apply

Flakiesmum

No, The Deep,
I made the request using the on line system. It was initially declined with a long email quoting the Law and Data Protection, etc. so I followed up, using the online system again as instructed in that first reply and emphasised that I was the registered keeper. This resulted in the email posted above.
Perhaps it happened as I did not quote SAR ?
I have now sent the SAR request by email as advised by Umkomaas. Also sending the recommended response to the letter before Claim to Gladstones.

Castle

Flakiesmum wrote: »

I have now sent the SAR request by email as advised by Umkomaas. Also sending the recommended response to the letter before Claim to Gladstones.

And also send UKCPM a SAR as well.

Flakiesmum

DVLA have just responded by email and confirmed there have been NO requests for my information for the period 1 day before the windscreen PCN to the day after receipt of the LBC.
Does this mean the keeper cannot be pursued?. Neither can the driver as they have not been named.

Castle

Flakiesmum wrote: »

DVLA have just responded by email and confirmed there have been NO requests for my information for the period 1 day before the windscreen PCN to the day after receipt of the LBC.
Does this mean the keeper cannot be pursued?. Neither can the driver as they have not been named.

No...UKCPM/Gladstones will simply presume that the RK was the driver and continue to court on that basis.

KeithP

Yes, that's exactly what it means.

However, as Castle says, it won't stop the PPC hounding the keeper.