Letter Before Claim - VCS

q2uantum

Hi all,

Well 30 days are up since I sent the SAR request (24th April) and I have nothing through regarding it. I emailed Jake on the 14th May as posted above and did receive a reply on the 17th May from Michele saying it would be forwarded to the correct department, but nothing since.

So... Do I report them to the ICO on Tuesday, due to it being a bank holiday? And should I send anything else to Jake regarding not receiving anything from him or the DPO?

Thanks

Q2uantum

Coupon-mad

I would email and tell them they are in breach of the GDPR and give them 48 hours before you report them to the ICO or suggest they report themselves or the breach.

q2uantum

Hi Coupon-Mad,

I was planning on sending the email regarding not receiving the SAR request this weekend after checking the exact days they have to send (due to it being a bank holiday), but I arrived home from work today to find two letters waiting for me.

1) Letter from VCS containing my SAR request information.

Couple of interesting things with this... Its dated 28th May which by my working out is 3 days over the 30 days they should have responded in.

Secondly it doesnt have a copy of the PCN with it, or the witness report, both of which they have sent me copies of in the past when I asked for them.

It contains screen shots from their computer system, and one of the screen shots is for Address Details. This only shows my previous address and not my current address, which I advised them of when i moved nearly 4 years ago and they must have as they sent me the SAR request to it!

2) Claim form from County Court Business Centre in Northampton. Issue Date of 28th May

So I am now reading up the Newbie thread to refresh my memory on MCOL etc (Whilst taking deep breathes!)

KeithP

q2uantum wrote: »

2) Claim form from County Court Business Centre in Northampton. Issue Date of 28th May.

With a Claim Issue Date of 28th May, you have until Monday 17th June 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 file linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread. About ten minutes work - no thinking required.

Having done the AoS, you have until 4pm on Monday 1st July 2019 to file your Defence.

That's over a month away. Loads of time to produce a perfect Defence, but don't leave it to the last minute.


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

Print your Defence.
1. Sign it and date it.
   
2. Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
   
3. Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
   
4. 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'.
   
5. Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defence received". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
   
6. Do not be surprised to receive an early copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, they are just trying to keep you under pressure.
   
7. Wait for your DQ from the CCBC, or download one from the internet, and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread to find out exactly what to do with it.

Coupon-mad

Tell them to erase the old address data, you can email VCS' DPO to insist.

Letter from VCS containing my SAR request information.
Its dated 28th May which by my working out is 3 days over the 30 days they should have responded in.

No-one will care, sadly, even the ICO will let them off because they provided the data. So that's not worth mentioning in defence.

PCN on car that was parked in Sisters work parking space that she pays for (This was "reported as happening" on a weekend when the work is closed.

Do the signs allow parking at the weekend, or prohibit it?

q2uantum

KeithP wrote: »

With a Claim Issue Date of 28th May, you have until Monday 17th June 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 file linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread. About ten minutes work - no thinking required.

Having done the AoS, you have until 4pm on Monday 1st July 2019 to file your Defence.

That's over a month away. Loads of time to produce a perfect Defence, but don't leave it to the last minute.


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

Print your Defence.
1. Sign it and date it.
   
2. Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
   
3. Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
   
4. 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'.
   
5. Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defence received". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
   
6. Do not be surprised to receive an early copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, they are just trying to keep you under pressure.
   
7. Wait for your DQ from the CCBC, or download one from the internet, and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread to find out exactly what to do with it.

Thanks KeithP, AoS completed tonight.... on to the Defence!

q2uantum

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Tell them to erase the old address data, you can email VCS' DPO to insist.

I will send an email requesting this to be removed. What should I do about the address missing? And also the fact that I don't believe they have sent all the information they hold on me, ie the copy of the PCN or the POs statement (I do have copies of these already that they sent me back in 2016)

Coupon-mad wrote: »

No-one will care, sadly, even the ICO will let them off because they provided the data. So that's not worth mentioning in defence.

No problems

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Do the signs allow parking at the weekend, or prohibit it?

The photos I have of the damaged signs state "24 hours a day".

These are the things that I think I should put in my defence (not necessarily in this order):

Incomplete PCN - The date is only shown as /1/15

PCN States - Grove Road - This is a public highway (Car park is on private land off Grove Road)

Damaged Signage - Ripped, covered in ivy (If you remember that picture from that long ago!), missing signs from posts. No VCS signs on entry to the carpark - there is a sign on a low wall o the entrance i used saying resident parking only - Clamping in operation - £75 release fee

Keeper Liability - I dont think I can use this as after checking what they need to do for POFA the PCN looks to cover all of that - unless the incorrect filled date can be used? (I may be incorrect with this one)

What are your thoughts on the reasons before I start to draft the defence?

Coupon-mad

The specific GDPR word you need about the old data is 'erased' not removed.

I will send an email requesting this to be removed. What should I do about the address missing? And also the fact that I don't believe they have sent all the information they hold on me, ie the copy of the PCN or the POs statement (I do have copies of these already that they sent me back in 2016)

Include all that in the email and make them work harder!

Keeper Liability - I dont think I can use this as after checking what they need to do for POFA the PCN looks to cover all of that - unless the incorrect filled date can be used?

Yes it can and so can the fact VCS misstate the timing of the 28 day period for 'keeper liability' at the bottom (as discussed ad infinitum on endless VCS threads where no newbies spot it).

Remind us what the signs actually say, are the prohibitive and only offering a licence to permit holders. Did the driver have a permit, remind us?

q2uantum

Sign said - Valid Permit Holders - If you do not display a valid permit in full view you agree to pay the parking charge stated below. The amount was ripped off the sign that I have a photo of (Not the one covered in Ivy)

The driver did not have a permit as the parking space was a family members (who does have a permit).

And you are correct (of course!) that it does state if its not paid in 28 days they will harass the registered keeper for payment. Further to this the vehicle was a company car, and anyone of 100+ staff are on the company car insurance, and with it being so long ago then who would remember who was driving it anyway.

Coupon-mad

Valid Permit Holders - If you do not display a valid permit in full view you agree to pay the parking charge stated below.

OK so it can be argued the parking licence and obligations were only offered to 'valid permit holders'.

Read PACE v Lengyel in detail. It's hosted in the Parking Prankster's case law.

And you are correct (of course!) that it does state if its not paid in 28 days they will harass the registered keeper for payment.

Yep but it's the timeline of the 28 days they have wrong, compare it to the Act.

Further to this the vehicle was a company car, and anyone of 100+ staff are on the company car insurance, and with it being so long ago then who would remember who was driving it anyway.

Is the Defendant a company?

We have an example of a company defence in the NEWBIES thread, of so. And make sure the acknowledgement is done in the name of the COMPANY (match the Defendant as stated in the claim form) not by a person, except that a real person (director) does have to sign the defence on behalf of the company.

Or were you named as one of the lessees?