PCN Sheffield: vehicle control services ltd.

sk82

Hi everyone

My mum received a letter from vehicle control services ltd on 07.05.19 stating that she has received a PCN on 30.01.15 and that as they have been unsuccessful at trying to recover payment of £60, they would start legal proceedings if it was not paid by the 06.06.19.

This was the first letter she has received regarding this matter and we used a template from here to appeal. FYI she sold the car over a year ago.

She has now recieved a claim form from the small claims court and is really anxious. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know how to upload the pictures on here.

Thanks

Redx

post the ISSUE DATE on the top right of that claim form

the defendant must email a SAR to the DPO at VCS and get all the docs , pics and data held on the defendants name and vehicle at the time

add a pic or scan of the N1 form as an attachment as pRoof of ID under GDPR regs

the defendant does the AOS online using the MCOL ref on the bottom right of the form

see the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread , post #2 for advice on all of the above


post the POC below and also the charges and total being claimed as well

then start drafting the defence and post it below for critique

Fruitcake

Did the keeper use the appeal template in blue from post 1 of the NEWBIES?

Start by sending an SAR to the scammers as per the advice in the NEWBIES.

Follow the guide to court written by bargepole from post 2 of the NEWBIES. This takes you step by step through the process from LBC to the court date. Start by acknowledging service AoS but do not put anything in the defence box. Not even a full stop.

You can upload redacted images and documents to a web hosting site such as postimage or imgur etcetera, then post the url here, but change http to hxxp. Someone here will then change it back to a live link.

Where did the alleged event occur? Complaints should be made to the landowner and the keeper's MP about this unregulated scam.

Coupon-mad

She has now recieved a claim form from the small claims court and is really anxious. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

How many other VCS claim 2015 threads have you searched for and read first?

This is so common and you will learn LOADS more from other threads exactly the same as this one.

Snakes_Belly

CM is correct that there are numerous threads on the forum at the moment relating to VCS and their toxic claims.

You have to ask the question as to why they have not pursued this claim straight away. They must have thought that it was not worthwhile at the time because they do usually pursue claims quite aggressively.

There have also been several wins in Sheffield against VCS so it's worth having a look.

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.

sk82

Thank you everyone. My mum is really stressed and think she should just pay but I don't agree.

I will look through the other threads you have mentioned.

This is what she sent in reply to the initial letter she received :

Dear Mr Burgess,

Reference:

I am in receipt of your "Letter Before Claim" of 14/05/19

Any debt to Vehicle Control Services is denied.

This is the first correspondence I have received in connection with this matter and as the former keeper of the vehicle have no idea of the circumstances.

Your letter contains insufficient detail of the claim and fails to provide copies of evidence you are relying on. You must know that for more than 18 months, a new protocol is applicable to debt claims and must be complied with.

Your letter lacks specificity and breaches both the requirements of the previously applicable Practice Direction - Pre-Action Conduct (paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c) and the new Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (paragraphs 3.1(a)-(d), 5.1 and 5.2. Please treat this letter as a formal request for all of the documents/information that the protocol now requires you to provide.

You must not issue proceedings without complying with that protocol. ��I reserve the right to draw any failure of Vehicle Control Services to comply with the protocol to the attention of the court and to ask the court to stay the claim and order you to comply with your pre-action obligations, and when costs come to be considered.

As a serial litigator of small claims for both Excel Parking and Vehicle Control Services, you must surely be familiar with the requirements of both the Practice Direction applicable pre the 1st October 2017 and the Protocol which applies thereafter. As you must know, the Practice Direction and Protocol bind all potential litigants, whatever the size or type of the claim. Its express purpose is to assist parties in understanding the claim and their respective positions in relation to it, to enable parties to take stock of their positions and to negotiate a settlement, or at least narrow the issues, without incurring the costs of court proceedings or using up valuable court time.

It is astounding that a practiced claimant is sending an individual a vague and unevidenced 'Letter before Claim' in complete ignorance of the pre-existing Practice Direction and the new Protocol. Nobody, including Excel Parking, is immune from the requirements and obligations of the Practice Direction and Protocol.

I require you to comply with your obligations by sending me all of the following information/documents:

1. An explanation of the cause of action
2. Whether you are pursuing me as driver or keeper
3. Whether you are relying on the provisions of Schedule 4 of POFA 2012
4. What the details of the claim are (where it is claimed the car was parked, for how long, how the monies being claimed arose and have been calculated, what contractual breach (if any) is being claimed)
5. An unredacted copy of the contract with the landowner under which you assert authority to bring the claim
6. A copy of any alleged contract with the driver
7. A plan showing where any signs were displayed
8. Details and photographs of the signs displayed in situ (size of sign, size of font, height at which displayed)
9. If you have added anything on to the original charge, what that represents and how it has been calculated.
10. Copies of the Annex Forms that you are required to enclose with a Letter Before Claim

I am clearly entitled to all this information under paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c) of the Practice Direction. I also need it in order to comply with my own obligations under paragraph 6(b).

If you do not provide me with this information then I put you on notice that I will be relying on the cases of Webb Resolutions Ltd v Waller Needham & Green [2012] EWHC 3529 (Ch), Daejan Investments Limited v The Park West Club Limited (Part 20) !!!8211; Buxton Associates [2003] EWHC 2872, Charles Church Developments Ltd v Stent Foundations Limited & Peter Dann Limited [2007] EWHC 855 in asking the court to impose sanctions on your client and to order a stay of the proceedings, pursuant to paragraphs 13 ,15(b) and (c) and 16. I will draw to the court the fact that I have expressly requested this information, yet you client have refused to provide it.

Until you have complied with your obligations and provided this information, I am unable to respond properly to the alleged claim and to consider my position in relation to it, and it is entirely premature (and a waste of costs and court time) for you to issue proceedings. Should you do so, then I will seek an immediate stay pursuant to paragraph 15(b) of the Practice Direction and an order that this information is provided.

With regard to point 3, I am well aware that your Notices do not comply with POFA, so don't bother trying the "reasonable presumption/law of agency" arguments or Elliot v Loake etc. as you know these have repeatedly been found to be not relevant in court, for example:

Excel v Smith (M17X062) a persuasive appeal decision which you must be aware of, Excel v Lamoureux (C3DP56Q5) and VCS v Quayle (C1DP0H0J).

I should also point out that this letter is not a "failure to engage" as you are so keen to describe similar responses to your Letters Before Claim.

Finally, please confirm that Vehicle Control Services is the same company that was mentioned in parliamentary debate by Stephen Doughty MP:

"The appeals process at Excel/VCS is run by a team of minimum wage office workers with no legal knowledge or experience whatsoever, who are given 6 minutes to read an appeal, and 12 minutes to reply. Most of these replies are obviously cut and pasted from existing templated replies (sometimes referring to issues which are not part of the motorists appeal), with a few lines added in to make it look specific to your claim. "

Yours sincerely,

sk82

But they didn't reply. We just got the MCOL letter. Mum has proof of postage.

KeithP

We just got the MCOL letter.

I wonder what that means?

Could it perhaps mean that your mother has received a Claim Form from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton?

If so, then please tell us the Issue Date on that Claim Form.


If that's a real Reference you have quoted in your 3:28pm post then you would be wise to remove it.

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.

sk82

KeithP wrote: »

I wonder what that means?

Could it perhaps mean that your mother has received a Claim Form from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton?

If so, then please tell us the Issue Date on that Claim Form.


If that's a real Reference you have quoted in your 3:28pm post then you would be wise to remove it.

I've removed the reference, thank you.

The issue date is 05.07.19

And just today she has received another claim form issue date 09.07.19