Schoolboy error

Flyingmachine

Hi,
In 2015 I appealed a PCN issued for parking in a disabled parking bay without displaying a valid BB. The badge was on the dashboard, the correct way up, but the expiry date was faded to the point of only legible at close distance, the photo sent in evidence (using a flash) makes it appear worse! The car park is free for 2 hours.
On appeal I explained I was not the registered keeper or driver but used my name to sign the letter on behalf of the registered keeper (still using registered keeper address) I must have appealed to the operator VCS and later BW legal but this is where my memory now fails me. Unfortunately, as I used the keepers address I have not received any other correspondence until I found a MCOL issued ( thankfully I still have time to act) recently.
I am following advice to defend the claim and will start preparing my defence, but I’m out of my depth, any advice would be most gratefully received.

fisherjim

If you were neither the registered keeper or driver how could you appeal this PCN, and who have they filed the MCOL against.


I assume you were the BB holder?


The parking charge protocol (even though it is an unregulated scam) does not work in that way!

Flyingmachine

I appealed on behalf of the BB holder as I have Lasting Power of Attorney for their affairs due to their disabilities, Dementia ( he throws post away) as well as physical disability. VCS have filed the MCOL against me.

Quentin

The newbies FAQ thread near the top of the forum has all advice on dealing with a Court claim

See post #2 there

If you are not too late, then submitting an AOS should be your first job which will buy you an extra 14 days to get your defence in (gives you 28 from date of service)

There is a walkthrough on this in the post #2 of the FAQ

Quentin

Flyingmachine wrote: »

I appealed on behalf of the BB holder as I have Lasting Power of Attorney for their affairs due to their disabilities, Dementia ( he throws post away) as well as physical disability. VCS have filed the MCOL against me.

Is the BB holder the RK?

The_Slithy_Tove

Flyingmachine wrote: »

VCS have filed the MCOL against me.

As long as you explained your position (not driver, not keeper), they're going to have fun with that one. You can't possibly have any liability. You, personally, can't be liable for the actions of someone you have power of attorney over.

The_Deep

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.

Flyingmachine

Yes, RK is the BB holder. I feel silly for not realising I needed to reply in their name but this was almost 4 years ago and there seems to be a lot more freely available .....THANK YOU.... advice around now.
I have started my defence, I no longer have the blue badge or previous documentation apart from the V5C which shows that the RK sold the vehicle (to me) months after the date of the PCN.
Any advice on how to present my defence would be very much appreciated.

Redx

SAR to the PPC for starters for the docs, pics and data

SAR to social services to get details of the BB like reference number and pics etc

Email the DVLA to find out when the car details were accessed and by whom

Read the newbies FAQ sticky thread post 2 as well

Post the Issue date from the claim form below

MistyZ

Flyingmachine wrote: »

Yes, RK is the BB holder. I feel silly for not realising I needed to reply in their name but this was almost 4 years ago and there seems to be a lot more freely available .....THANK YOU.... advice around now.
I have started my defence, I no longer have the blue badge or previous documentation apart from the V5C which shows that the RK sold the vehicle (to me) months after the date of the PCN.
Any advice on how to present my defence would be very much appreciated.

You feel silly? Why? Sounds like you've got quite enough on your plate.

Did you make the relationship to the keeper clear in the appeal?

It's time I understood more about the court process and am going to be watching this one like a hawk. Surely, surely the PPC will lose this ....

The_Slithy_Tove

Flyingmachine wrote: »

Any advice on how to present my defence would be very much appreciated.

Have you checked out the NEWBIES sticky thread, post #2 about the court process?

Your defence needs to major on the fact that you have NO liability, as you were not the keeper or the driver. Should be easy enough to prove. If they were stupid enough to assume from your appeal that you were either, that's their problem.

Need to know:

• Did you appeal to the Notice to Driver that was placed on the car
• Who did you appeal as, i.e. what relationship with the car/driver/keeper did you admit to
• Did they ever send a Notice to Keeper to the registered keeper. If not, they may never have tried to find out who it was, based on your initial appeal. This is a common error of PPCs, that they assume an appeal to a NtD is from the driver, so miss any opportunity for keeper liability by not establishing who the keeper is. In this case, it's worse for them, as you are not the keeper in any case.

BTW, have you ACKNOWLEDGED the court claim online? If not, do it NOW, but DO NOT enter anything at all in the defence box. What's the date of the claim (need to know how much time you have)?