VCS MCOL Form 4yr Old Charge

AcidTested

Hi,

I've just read the newbie thread and I think I'm at (past) the stage that I need to defend this charge.

As background, the claim is for a parking charge from February 2015 from Manchester Airport Bar and Grill. VCS sent me a Letter Before Claim on the 17th April 2019 which I ignored as I had responded to the original company that was chasing me in 2015, thus I thought the whole thing was over.

Fast forward to 28th May 2019 and I get a MCOL form stating with the N9A and N9B forms that come with it stating I have 14 days (+5 days from issue) to respond.

I take it my moves from here are to go to moneyclaim.gov and acknowledge the claim whilst I gather my defense. Is it also worth sending a SAR to VCS? If so, where can I find their email address?

Many thanks for your help. After 4 years and initially responding in 2015, I thought this would have been over

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Redx

no , not over , the time limit for small claims is 6 years , not 4 years

VCS should have been the original company anyway (possibly using myparkingcharge as a cover)

the DPO email is on the VCS privacy page

there is no S in DEFENCE

yes do the AOS online but do not put anything in the defence box, you will email it later

what is the ISSUE DATE on the top right on the N1 form ?

AcidTested

Thanks for the quick responses. The MCOL form is 28th May 2019.

KeithP

AcidTested wrote: »

The MCOL form is 28th May 2019.

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 three weeks 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.

The_Deep

I the land covered by airport bye-laws?

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams so complain to your MP.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

AcidTested

Right. I've submitted the AOS and I've submitted a SAR to the email address on VCS's Privacy webpage. I now have until the 1st July to file the defence.

What would be my best form of defence for this PCN?

As background, I wasn't actually driving the vehicle at the time, my partner of the time was. I was driving a hire car that we had picked up opposite the Manchester Airport Bar and Grill. We didn't see the signage explaining that there was a requirement to pay to park. We ate at the restaurant and both vehicles received a PCN. As one was a hire car, AVIS paid the £60 PCN on my behalf and added a nice £30 admin charge on the top, which I paid to AVIS. I then ignored this charge. At the end of 2015 after lots of threats, I responded to the company chasing me at the time, explaining the above with a copy of Avis' payment to Parking Eye and that a £90 bill plus the cost of the meal was already an exorbitant amount for 2 burgers and the correspondence stopped. Until April this year.

How would you proceed?

Coupon-mad

The NEWBIES thread tells you how to find the email for sending a SAR to any PPC.

It also has example defences including for ANPR car parks and for VCS windscreen red cards (depends on what you had). We don't need to tell people what to put in a defence - quite the opposite - we need you to read the resources her and show us your draft, and we will gladly help fine tune it.

AcidTested

I'm struggling to put a defence forward.

I submitted a SAR to dataprotection@vehiclecontrol.co.uk on 11/06/19 and have not recieved anything back (they still have 12 days to respond). Therefore the only information I have regarding this charge is the LBC that Vehicle Control Services sent to me in May.

The information on it is the following:

The matter has now been passed to our Legal Deprtment in order to recover the sum of £160.00 in respect of a Parking Charge Notice ["PCN"] issue to the vehicle bearing the registration mark of AB01XYZ for breaching the terms and conditions situated at Airport Pub and Grill, Manchester on 06 February 2015. The sum is inclusive of a debt collection charge of £60.00 in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of Parking.

Despite our best endeavours to recover payments it has proved unsuccessful, and as such, we have no alternative but to commence legal proceedings. Should the outstanding balance not be settled by 17 May 2019 we will commence legal proceedings against you without further notice. If we are forced to ussue court proceeding to recover the above debt, we weill seek to claim our court costs and further interest in additional to the outstanding balance. For the avoidance of doubt, the fees are broken down as followed; etc.

They mention "Despite our best endeavours to recover payments it has proved unsuccessful, and as such, we have no alternative but to commence legal proceedings." This is the first I have heard from this company. Equally, I responded to a previous company (BW Legal) in 2015 and this is the first I have heard from anyone since. Is a defense structured around it being unclear what the claim is referring to a good one?

The carpark in question used ANPR to register that the car was parked without having paid for parking. However the signage wasn't clear otherwise we would have either paid the minimal charge or not eaten at the restaurant. We ate at the restaurant and I have a bank statement that proves this. Therefore maybe the defense in regarding unclear signage in the Newbie thread is a good template?

Any help is appreciated.

AcidTested

Can anyone advise me on this?

Le_Kirk

Have you read and understood the NEWBIE section and, in particular, post # 2, where you will find 17 defences written by various posters including Bargepole and Coupon-mad. Check out those and adapt one of them (the one that most nearly matches) to suit your circumstances.

Remember this advice from KeithP: -

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