Claim Form but not the driver

Crystaltips76

I am really in need of some assistance please.

I received a NTK letter from Phoenix Parking Solutions Ltd dated 8th January 2019 for our company pool car which had allegedly failed to display a ticket on 16th November 2019. The letter said that a PCN for £124 had been issued to the vehicle and that the time appeal or pay a reduced amount has passed. This is first we had heard about this as an organisation and I spoke to the driver who told me that nothing was left on the vehicle at the time.

I ignored this letter and have endured all the threatening letters from first ZZPS where the debt had increased to £160, then one letter from DCBL and two letters from QDR Solicitors where they sent me a Formal Letter of Claim letter dated 19th June 2019.

At this point I wrote to QDR Solicitors on 24th June 2019, using the letter template from zzzLazyDaisy where I named the driver (with that person's knowledge and consent) to hopefully reset the POPLA clock on this.

QDR wrote back to me on 26th June saying that the contents of my correspondence had been noted but as this matter had passed to the recovery stage their only instruction is to close this file upon payment of the £160.

I have now received a Claim Form this morning dated 25th July and have completed the online AOS stating that I would be defending all of this claim.

I feel that as I have disclosed the name of the person driving at the time they should no longer be pursuing my organisation. I also don't know any details surrounding this event, where the carpark is, what the signage is like or why my colleague possibly did not purchase a parking ticket at the time. Will I need to add all this information to the defence or can that wait until the driver concerned appeals this?

I would really appreciate some advice on how to write the defence for this claim.
Many thanks in advance

Redx

Email a SAR to the DPO at the PPC with a scan or pic of the claim form attached as proof of ID under the GDPR, to get all documents and pictures and data about the incident for the VRM of the vehicle and yourself as company keeper

Dig out a copy of the admission of driver because you fulfilled your obligations as keeper under POFA by naming the driver

Post the issue date from the top right of the claim form below (was it yesterday ?), plus the charges breakdown and the total claimed, plus the POC as well

Edit

PS popla was never an option for anyone as this PPS is an IPC member

Crystaltips76

Thanks Redx

I will email a SAR to the DPO now.

The issue date is: 25 JUL 2019
Charges Breakdown:
Amount Claimed: £160
Court Fee: £25
Legal representative's costs: £50
Total Amount: £235

Particulars of Claim
The claimants claim is for an outstanding parking charge issued to vehicle GLXX XXX when parked at NATWEST ASHFORD KENT. The Site is managed by the Claimant. The Defendant is the keeper of the vehicle of the driver names in accordance with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedom Act 2012 of the vehicle. Vehicles parking at the Site are subject to the parking restrictions and terms and conditions which are set out on signs at the Site and form part of a contract between the driver of the vehicle and the Claimant. On 16 11 2018, the Vehicle was parked at the Site in breach of the contract, the contravention being no Ticket On Display. By entering this contract the Defendant agreed that they would be liable for £100.00 parking charges, plus additional contractual charges incurred by the claimant for the collection of the debt pursuant to the terms and conditions.

The_Slithy_Tove

Crystaltips76 wrote: »

At this point I wrote to QDR Solicitors on 24th June 2019, using the letter template from zzzLazyDaisy where I named the driver (with that person's knowledge and consent) to hopefully reset the POPLA clock on this.

QDR wrote back to me on 26th June saying that the contents of my correspondence had been noted but as this matter had passed to the recovery stage their only instruction is to close this file upon payment of the £160.

Did you inform the PPC directly who the driver was? It shouldn't matter considering that QDR are solicitors acting for Phoenix, and so as their legal representative, should pass such information on. This is where the SAR output will be revealing: did QDR pass on that significant information to their client, Phoenix?

Defence will basically be that they know who the driver was before legal proceedings commenced, you can prove they know, so they cannot use POFA keeper liability.

P.S. You should have told them, when you gave them the driver's details, to delete your information under DPA. However, there is still possibly scope for countering them for DPA breach, as they are now knowingly continuing to use your details when they have no cause to do so. At the very least, if they pursue this once you've reminded them they have the driver's details, it'll be worth costs for unreasonable behaviour.

KeithP

Crystaltips76 wrote: »

The issue date is: 25 JUL 2019.

With a Claim Issue Date of 25th July, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 27th August 2019 to file your Defence.

That's over four weeks away. Loads of time to produce a perfect Defence, but please 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.

Crystaltips76

The_Slithy_Tove wrote: »

Did you inform the PPC directly who the driver was? It shouldn't matter considering that QDR are solicitors acting for Phoenix, and so as their legal representative, should pass such information on.

No I didn't write to the PPC directly, in hindsight I probably should have written to them both, but as you say, as QDR were acting on behalf of Phoenix I assumed they would pass this information on.

I am struggling to find an email address for the DPO, they only offer a postal address. I'm thinking of posting the SAR to them but also emailing it to their general info@.... email address too.

Umkomaas

At this point I wrote to QDR Solicitors on 24th June 2019, using the letter template from zzzLazyDaisy where I named the driver (with that person's knowledge and consent) to hopefully reset the POPLA clock on this.

The zzzLazyDaisy thread advice is way out of date as there have been significant changes in the issuing of and responding to LBCs. It's 6 years since the advice was posted.

You were never going to get a POPLA code as Phoenix Parking have been IPC AOS members since August 2016.

https://theipc.info/aos-members/p

I feel that as I have disclosed the name of the person driving at the time they should no longer be pursuing my organisation.

Are they pursuing you (as an individual) or is your organisation named on the claim form as the Defendant?

I have now received a Claim Form this morning dated 25th July and have completed the online AOS stating that I would be defending all of this claim.

If you've done the AOS in your own name, then unless anyone advises otherwise, it's now down to you to deal with, regardless of naming the driver or whether the claim was initially issued against your organisation.

Crystaltips76

Redx wrote: »

Email a SAR to the DPO at the PPC with a scan or pic of the claim form attached as proof of ID under the GDPR, to get all documents and pictures and data about the incident for the VRM of the vehicle and yourself as company keeper.

I am struggling to find an email address for the DPO, they only offer a postal address. I'm thinking of posting the SAR to them but also emailing it to their general info@.... email address too.

Crystaltips76

Umkomaas wrote: »

Are they pursuing you (as an individual) or is your organisation named on the claim form as the Defendant?

If you've done the AOS in your own name, then unless anyone advises otherwise, it's now down to you to deal with, regardless of naming the driver or whether the claim was initially issued against your organisation.

They are pursuing the organisation and I didn't do the AOS in my own name thankfully, I did it as an organisation with me named as the person administrating it on behalf of the organisation.

Redx

Ok, try those two which seem sensible enough

Their privacy page has the correct contact details

nosferatu1001

Post a SAR if thats all you can do.

Tell the solicitors to discontinue the claim, as they (and therefore their client) knew the identity of the drivers before the start of proceedings, which is defined as the filing of the claim form.

They knew on X date, claim was filed on Y date, Z days later.

As such, they lost any right under POFA2012 to claim from you,as keeper, any amount at all
As their claim has no chance of succcess, shoudl they continue, you will claim your full costs at £19 per hour, and make a complaint to teh SRA that QDR have failed in their first duty as officers of the court to avoid wasting courts time, and abuse of process in filing a claim they know claimed sums for whic hthe defendant was not liable.