Letter of Claim : bwlegal/Britannia

halsdad

Hi folks

I have spent a fair few hours reading up on the newbie threads - so go easy on me please if i have this wrong

- bwlegal have written 3 years after 'failure to make valid payment' on behalf of Brittania
- contravention location is an imprecise ANPR location
- change of address around offence date has meant no previous correspondance received
- new car registration last month may have triggered DVLA link...who knows?

the questions i have are as follows:

1. Is a 'letter OF claim' the same as a 'letter BEFORE claim'? This letter has 'Letter OF claim' stamped on the top

2. If so - the advice is (i think) to submit an SAR to Brittania - and i am ready to send the SAR as outlined in the newbie thread as follows:

To the Data Protection Officer

I am writing to you concerning your ‘letter of claim’ : Account number *******

Please view this email as a SUBJECT ACCESS REQUEST and provide me with the following information that you believe supports your case of a failure to make valid payment:

1. ALL photos taken of the vehicle that you say relates to this claim and details of which device(s) from which they were obtained

2. A close up of the signs on the day in question, taken at the time with supporting evidence that they were in force, legible, accessible and installed to cover the period in question

3. Physical evidence that you have paid monies to BWLEGAL in relation to the pursuance of this claim and the breakdown of such sums, when any monies were paid and for what service including a copy of the contract relating to your employment of BWLEGAL

4.Copies of all letters/emails you may have sent or received in relation to this matter from any party

5. A full record of the Pay and Display PDT machine record from the 24hr day in question, including records of all payments made to this machine, including partial or full VRNs.

6. All data, electronic and physical, including any internal emails, evidence of searches, requests for information, DVLA requests and any other information held by you in relation to this matter, in addition to a copy of all the evidence that you rely on in terms of pursuing this allegation. Please also provide a full copy of any notice to keeper that you hold on file.

7. A list and copies of all PCNs/NTKs that you consider are outstanding against me and/or this VRN

8. Contact details of the landowner to which the car park in question relates and the businesses that rely on it for customer use and a copy of the contract that you have with them that authorises you to operate, in place at the time at which this matter relates.

9. I authorise you to send me scanned copies of the documents and information that i have requested in relation to the above to this email address

For your information i have also sent a hard copy of this letter to the following address listed on your website

Britannia Parking
7th Floor
County Gates House
300 Poole Road
Poole
BH12 1AZ

by registered & signed for royal mail.

I have also advised BWLEGAL that i am awaiting the results of this subject access request and therefore to desist from any further correspondence until i am in receipt of the above information.

In expectation of your swift response

3. The thread relating to bwlegal threats and 'estimated legal costs' encourage me to ignore....
4. The newbie thread detailing the 'letter before claim' example encourages me to submit an SAR (hence ques.1)

I can follow the procedure of SAR and then QA the response, get ready to challenge etc but this rather depends on whether or not I should SAR it or ignore it i think....

As an aside...if i need to submit a SAR, should/could i ask for the calibration or service history of the devices at the carpark and any registered/serviced faults or does this open up the opportunity for them to state they were operating correctly?

Please could you confirm which way I should progress. I need to act swiftly - at least i think i do if a SAR is required - as the deadline set for a reply is 26/12

Thanks in advance for your advice (and undoubted humour!)

KeithP

Yes, a Letter of Claim is exactly the same as a Letter Before Claim.

Umkomaas

One of the main indicators of a legitimate LBC is the number of days provided for response. 30 days and it's likely to be a real LBC, anything else is likely to be a debt collector cage rattling attempt.

I can follow the procedure of SAR and then QA the response, get ready to challenge etc but this rather depends on whether or not I should SAR it or ignore it i think....

If someone is threatening you with court action, you need to try to ascertain what exactly they have on you - especially as there is a 3 years gap between events.

As an aside...if i need to submit a SAR, should/could i ask for the calibration or service history of the devices at the carpark and any registered/serviced faults or does this open up the opportunity for them to state they were operating correctly?

A SAR isn't like a Freedom of Information Request (to public bodies) where one can ask for almost anything. A SAR is about the data they hold about you. Calibration records (which, by the way, are a pretty lame duck in all of this stuff) are not directly related to you (and little point in splitting hairs with a debate about them).

Please could you confirm which way I should progress. I need to act swiftly - at least i think i do if a SAR is required - as the deadline set for a reply is 26/12

You won't get a SAR response by 26/12 - they have a full month to respond - but the SAR Information you glean is of importance further down the track of a court hearing (which won't be for at least 3-4 months if it gets that far) as you prepare your defence, and eventually your Witness Statement.

halsdad

KeithP, Umkomaas, thank you both for your swift replies

Yes - 30 days is the response limit so - SAR we go
I'll keep you posted

nosferatu1001

SAR AND a response to the LBA, and if using a solicitor a letter to them stating you require them to restrict data processing while the SAR response is being sent AND while you are considering it
Pooint out they have NO legitimate reason to continue to process your data, as they are not bound to a quick time fframe by the limitations act. A template response indicaitng otherwise will not be accepable, and will result in a complaint to the ICO.

halsdad

I received this back from BWLegal:


Thank you for contacting BW Legal.

Your email has been received and will be dealt with as soon as possible.

Before we are able to reply we need you to confirm a few Data Protection Questions which we have specified below.

If your email does not contain the below information, we kindly request you resend your email with the required information to enable us to deal with your query effectively.

BW Legal Reference:
Full Name:
First Line of Address:
Postcode:
Telephone Contact Number:
Authorised Email address:
Confirmation you wish for us to correspond with you via this address (Yes/No):


1. So - question is - do i provide the details they are asking for, seeing as the have their reference, Brittania's reference and a name on the email?

2. I will strengthen the email covering the additional point that you suggest about 'not processing whilst under consideration'...

3. What is the LBA? Must have missed that one...

halsdad

This was what i sent to BW Legal:
FAO: BWLegal

re: PCN/******* or a/c *******

This email is to advise that I have contacted Brittania Parking Ltd in relation to the above matter.
I have also copied them into this email.

I have sent sent your client a SAR and I therefore now require a restriction of data processing until such time that i receive a response. Your case should be put 'on hold' accordingly.

As you have no contact address other than the email address on your website, i am unable to send you a hard copy for proof of receipt.

I authorise you to use this email address for contact as you so wish and look forward to your confirmation of receipt of suspension

Redx

halsdad wrote: »

I received this back from BWLegal:


Thank you for contacting BW Legal.

Your email has been received and will be dealt with as soon as possible.

Before we are able to reply we need you to confirm a few Data Protection Questions which we have specified below.

If your email does not contain the below information, we kindly request you resend your email with the required information to enable us to deal with your query effectively.

BW Legal Reference:
Full Name:
First Line of Address:
Postcode:
Telephone Contact Number:
Authorised Email address:
Confirmation you wish for us to correspond with you via this address (Yes/No):


1. So - question is - do i provide the details they are asking for, seeing as the have their reference, Brittania's reference and a name on the email?

2. I will strengthen the email covering the additional point that you suggest about 'not processing whilst under consideration'...

3. What is the LBA? Must have missed that one...

1) most of it , so name , address , postcode , plus I would create a gmail email address just for this task and give them that one as the authorised email address for contacting you and say YES



and no phone number whatsoever


2) yes


3) LBA is Letter Before Action, another version of LBC, LOC , LBCCC , they are all exactly the same thing, a shame there isnt just ONE version that is the correct and legal and ONLY VERSION


lol

halsdad

Well - thankfully i'd read the blogs previously - so i had already created an email for just this purpose to correspond with them - and no, have not provided the phone number (so phew on that one!).


I guess we then just sit and wait and see what they have or have not got....and come back here to determine how to respond in due course? Thanks Redx

halsdad

I thought i would keep posting up my responses and receipts so that others can see the format i am using and can follow the thread/copy and paste as appropriate.... if that's ok with ADMIN?

FAO : BW LEGAL & BRITANNIA PARKING LTD

As requested:

Name : *****
Address: *****
Postcode : *****
Phone: N/A
email - this is the only authorised email for correspondence

PLEASE NOTE THAT WHILST YOU ARE CONSIDERING YOUR RESPONSE TO THE SAR YOU HAVE NO LEGITIMATE REASON TO CONTINUE TO PROCESS ANY DATA RELATING TO ME IN RELATION TO THIS MATTER AS YOU ARE NOT BOUND TO A QUICK TIME FRAME BY THE LIMITATIONS ACT.

A TEMPLATE RESPONSE INDICATING OTHERWISE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTABLE AND WILL RESULT IN AN IMMEDIATE COMPLAINT TO THE ICO

BRITTANIA : Please see below email trail in relation to the suspension of any data processing in relation to the matter in question whilst you are considering the SAR

*********

halsdad

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