Received Claim Form late after it was sent to a previous address. PCN concerns parking at a friends.

Coupon-mad

The defence looks good, so I think take time to breathe a sigh of relief!

No paying the scam now you've got this far. Now all you have to do is a few more forms & submissions/evidence to your local court in due course, and win at a hearing!

Please read bargepole's Court Procedure thread, linked in the NEWBIES under the red heading 'IMPORTANT - KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN' as defence is not the only job. Bargepole tells you how to complete the next form.

Did VCS put an actual full PCN on the windscreen, or a red card warning 'THIS IS NOT A PARKING CHARGE'?

Did you put this in the SUBJECT LINE to make sure it was urgent, and to change the address in the body of your email so you get all the forms to the right place?

Urgent defence - and advice of correct address for service - claim no xxxxx

As advised before. Also email the Claimant to tell them the new address for service of their DQ & Witness Statement/evidence.

joey19

Thank you. I'm hoping that we've done enough to get past this stage. Thanks for all of your advice. Yes, we used that subject line and I've also emailed VCS to tell them the claim is defended and we've update the address for service with both parties.

Regards to the day the PCN was received, it was a card saying 'this is not a PCN' and said I 'may or may not' receive one in the post. The did eventually post to me asking for payment, but it was to the old address. I'm not sure how long after the card was put on my window this was sent. Does that change anything?

Coupon-mad

I'm not sure how long after the card was put on my window this was sent. Does that change anything?

It will be useful at Witness Statement stage because even if you are admitting to driving (are you?) then it's a hybrid procedure that can be raised as a breach of the DPA in getting your DVLA data too soon and not following the will of Parliament as set out in the POFA. And not following one of the two PCN timelines set out in the IPC CoP.

All good stuff - read Adam Buzz14's thread* to understand how he won at court by persuading his grumpy Judge that VCS had not followed due process or allowed sufficient time between the two documents (the first, VCS will deny it even was a document - your job is to say that it was, and it's unfair and lacks clarity of terms/liability and breaches the DPA, POFA and IPC CoP).

* https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75879770#Comment_75879770

Have you emailed a SAR to VCS' Data Protection bod, as shown in the NEWBIES thread? That will force them to show you a copy of all the documents & photos in time for your Witness Statement & evidence stage.

joey19

Have you emailed a SAR to VCS' Data Protection bod, as shown in the NEWBIES thread? That will force them to show you a copy of all the documents & photos in time for your Witness Statement & evidence stage.

Yes I have done this -- I thought this is what everyone was referring to when they said "NO-ONE said to do that."

Quentin

joey19 wrote: »

Yes I have done this -- I thought this is what everyone was referring to when they said "NO-ONE said to do that."

No


You told us (wrongly) that the FAQ advised you to apply to the Court for an extension following the AOS and sending off the SAR!

joey19 wrote: »

….. I read on the Newbies thread that once I had submitted a SAR that I should request an extension from CCBC until VCS were able to get back to me, which they still haven't done.
.

joey19

I received a letter yesterday to tell me my defence has been filed and that they think this is a suitable claim for Small Claims Track. I have to download and fill in a questionnaire (I can't remember the name of it, but I know it's been mentioned on one of the threads I read on here) by July 8th and there is also paperwork I can fill in if I'd like to use the free mediation service. I'd ideally like to avoid a court case here and the paperwork states I can still contact VCS myself and come to an agreement with them to save both parties having to go to court. Would it be a good idea to contact them personally and basically file my defence with them too, in the hope they'll squash the charge? I'm worried they'll throw it back in my face and tell me I've had plenty of time to dispute the charge, but the original document left on my vehicle said it wasn't a PCN and when it eventually did get posted out, it went to the wrong address. I still haven't heard from them since I emailed them submitting a SAR, what's the chances they're just ignoring me?

Again, sorry for my 'clueless-ness' - I truly have no idea what I'm doing!

KeithP

joey19 wrote: »

I received a letter yesterday to tell me my defence has been filed and that they think this is a suitable claim for Small Claims Track. I have to download and fill in a questionnaire (I can't remember the name of it, but I know it's been mentioned on one of the threads I read on here) by July 8th and there is also paperwork I can fill in if I'd like to use the free mediation service.

You are right, it is mentioned on one of the threads you have read.
Have another read of item 8 in the list in post #5 above - on your very own thread.

Further guidance on how to answer every question on that form can be found in Bargepole's 'what happens when' post linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES thread.

joey19 wrote: »

I'd ideally like to avoid a court case here and the paperwork states I can still contact VCS myself and come to an agreement with them to save both parties having to go to court. Would it be a good idea to contact them personally and basically file my defence with them too, in the hope they'll squash the charge? I'm worried they'll throw it back in my face and tell me I've had plenty of time to dispute the charge, but the original document left on my vehicle said it wasn't a PCN and when it eventually did get posted out, it went to the wrong address. I still haven't heard from them since I emailed them submitting a SAR, what's the chances they're just ignoring me?

Again, sorry for my 'clueless-ness' - I truly have no idea what I'm doing!

You stand absolutely no chance of getting the case dropped by 'contacting them personally'.
They will see that as a weakness and press on regardless.

joey19

A quick update; our appeal was filed and we’ve a telephone mediation appointment booked for tomorrow. Has anyone ever been down this road before?

KeithP

joey19 wrote: »

A quick update; our appeal was filed and we’ve a telephone mediation appointment booked for tomorrow. Has anyone ever been down this road before?

Yes they have.

But I cannot understand why you have elected to take part in mediation. Why are you not following the guidance offered? In my 25th June post I said:

Further guidance on how to answer every question on that form can be found in Bargepole's 'what happens when' post linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES thread.

Bargepole's 'what happens when' post states:

The recommended answers to the questions are as follows:

A1 = NO to mediation (they want the whole amount, you want to pay them nothing, so no scope for mediation. This will not go against you)

joey19

Hello again. So we've just been through mediation with the hopes that they'd drop the claim after seeing our defence. As rightly predicted above it didn't work, they did however offer to drop the fine by £20.

Something that caught us off guard though was their claim that under the Protection of Freedoms Act the notice had to be served within 14 days and that it is the keepers responsibility to identify the driver to them. I apologise if I have read things wrong but I thought POFA applied to this case and that Notice to Keeper must be served in regards to windscreen tickets between 28-56 days. Also, I understood that from the template defence that it was the responsibility of VCS to prove the driver so I'm out at sea here.