Britannia Parking /BW Legal & SAR received (Letter before Claim)

DISCOE

I have received correspondence from BW Legal on behalf Britannia Parking for a PCN received in August 2016 (date of contravention 27 July 2016).

The correspondence was sent to my previous address and addressed to myself. I was the keeper of this vehicle at the time of the offence but I don't know who was in charge of the vehicle on this evening. I do not recall getting this information back in 2016 & there were several adults with access to this car.

I have since received a LETTER BEFORE CLAIM from BW Legal. I then requested a SAR from them and requested that they restrict processing whilst this information was received.

BW have sent me photos of the vehicle in question entering a parking site at 20.12 and leaving 0.06 - I believe a parking ticket was paid for but not for the whole duration of the stay. They are however claiming the contravention was FAILED TO MAKE A VALID PAYMENT

They have asked me to contact them to discuss an affordable payment plan for the £160.

I am not clear on how to proceed. I don't really want to pay £160. I don't have any proof of any payment for the night in question (it was 3 years ago nearly).

I would be very grateful for any advice. Thank you.

Le_Kirk

Your GO TO place is the NEWBIE sticky, one click back and read the thread starting: -
**NEWBIES!! PRIVATE PARKING TICKET? OLD OR NEW? **READ THESE FAQS FIRST!** Thank you!

Coupon-mad

The SAR needs to go the Britannia, not BW Legal, and insist on seeing the payment that matched the VRN (or a near-match if the allegation is that the VRN was recorded wrongly on the keypad).

Tell Britannia that they must look at the data from the machine relating to this vehicle, which is your personal data, and that you do not have to pay £10 for this so to spare you their usual template reply.

Look on Britannia's privacy page for their Data Protection Officer contact email.

Be ready for the court claim that WILL arrive & is beatable. No panicking or paying!

DISCOE

Thanks for your response.

I have emailed Britannia the SAR (apologies, I know I didn't say this above) but it was BW Legal that replied saying their "client" (Britannia) have replied with the information requested.

As you have advised, I will go back to Britannia and ask for the payments information.

Please can I ask - they haven't made reference to any payment at all being made but I am sure that there would have been a payment made. Can I ask this question without putting my foot in it? Or does the contravention "Failed to make a valid payment" mean that they acknowledge some/part payment was made?

Thank you.

Coupon-mad

Yes but it has to be to their DPO email, and making it clear you know that data relating to the payment for that car, is your personal data because car identity/VRNs have been held to be personal data. Certainly a payment for an identified VRN would be too.

does the contravention "Failed to make a valid payment" mean that they acknowledge some/part payment was made?

No, it's generic scam-speak for either:

- didn't pay at all, or
- partly paid then stayed longer, or
- paid for the wrong vehicle (if you had 2 cars in the family), or
- a coin slipped through so not enough money was recorded, or
- didn't pay in time after arriving (took too long, maybe due to paying by phone), or
- made a payment but the keypad or system failed or the driver made a VRN typo

So, for clarity of data you need the above.

You won't be in any danger of shooting yourself in the foot by asking, especially if you include the words I said 'or near match VRN'. Add tat they can o course partially redact other VRNs on the list who paid around the same time but must show your VRN or a close match/partial plate that certainly identifies the car sufficiently, given that their other data stream (ANPR images) tells them exactly which cars were there.

There is no way BW Legal should be replying, if you do the right thing and contact B's DPO as per their privacy page.