Excel Parking Services LTD court letter - Not registered keeper

Tudalen

Hi all!

First of all thanks to everyone's previous posts as they've been extremely helpful so far.

To get you up to speed,
I was contacted in September 2015 for a PCN incurred in August 2015 by the guy who bought my car from me (4 days after he bought it). We'd sent the new keeper details off but they weren't updated until 2 days after he had parked there. When I received it I advised them i was not the keeper but they wanted evidence. It dragged on for a while and i eventually managed to get evidence from the DVLA showing he signed for the car 4 days before. By this point Excel had passed the debt over to Debt recovery plus. I called debt recovery plus and they gave me an email to send it to. I sent the evidence over and a day later they apologised and advised they'd updated their records.
Fast forward to July 2019 and I've been contacted by the county court about this, I have defended the claim, unfortunately did not sort a mediation appointment out in time and we now have a court date set in March.

Today I've had Excel's witness statement through and massive stack of evidence (almost feels like they're trying to drown me in paperwork so i give up). Weirdly their evidence seems to advise that they contacted the DVLA nearly 3 weeks after i sold the car and i came up as the registered keeper?
I have drafted my own witness statement and what evidence i have and just want a little support before i send it all off. I've read other threads where it refers to schedule 4 in POFA and not sure whether i should add this in or not, i don't want it to be war and peace. Also not sure if I should try and claim costs if it gets to court. I just really want to wipe the floor with them for the stress they've caused me for the past 4 years!

Thanks in advance!

Redx

post the submitted defence below

Coupon-mad

unfortunately did not sort a mediation appointment out in time

LOL, you didn't read the NEWBIES thread yet then, if you think you wanted to try that farce!

You definitely need to use the POFA and talk about not being the keeper, and append the evidence that you proved to DRP ages ago (Excel's agent) that you were 'not the keeper on the date of event'. Also append the DVLA evidence.

Firstly show us what you put in defence (exact words, you must have a copy)?

Why have they sent their WS so early, what deadline is given & are you in time?

Tudalen

I read the thread but I only found it last night so I skipped the parts about mediation anyway as we're already past that point.

In terms of using POFA I can't find any examples on here of how to include it.

My defence was quite short initially and just said "I was not the registered keeper of the car at the time this parking charge was incurred. I have already informed excel parking ltd of this information back in 2015 in the form of a copy of the "new keeper details" provided to me by the DVLA proving the car was sold on 20/08/2015, 4 days prior to the parking offence. I provided this evidence via email to Excel parking LTD on 22/12/2015 and recieved an acknowledgement letter shortly thereafter advising no further action would be taken against me."

It's only in hindsight now I've done more reaserach that I realise it was Debt Recovery Plus who i sent the evidence to and not Excel as they never gave me any way of contacting them anyway.

The deadline is the 13th December to send the witness statements etc.

As evidence I'm using the email i sent to the DVLA requesting evidence, the evidence they sent back to me, the email i sent to DRP giving them the evidence and their response that they've updated their records and are sorry for any inconvenience, and I also requested the evidence from the DVLA again recently as i didn't have an original copy, only scanned copies.

Thanks

nosferatu1001

You just need to show you were neither the RK nor were you the Keeper, and given it was sold you wer also not the driver. Simple defence will be enough.

So show us your witness statement
Make it crystal clear the xact timelime

Point out they have clearly lied - I imagine the dates on the Notices also dont hold up to them having requested the data 3 weeks later either? For exampl if it was sent 2 days after that HAD to be from DVLA data, they had no otherway of getting any address.

Tudalen

In the County Court at XXXXXX
Claim Number: XXXXXX
Between
Excel Parking Services Limited (Claimant)
and
XXXXXX (Defendant)
Witness statement
1. I am XXXX, of XXX, the defendant in this case. I will say as follows:

2. I was the registered keeper and owner of a Blue Renault Clio, registration XXXXX from 30/11/2014 until 20/08/2015 when the car was sold privately to a new owner who immediately took ownership of the car and completed and signed the new keeper details section in the V5 document.

3. I was contacted on 08/09/2015 by Excel Parking Services LTD in regards to a parking charge notice incurred on 24/08/2015 for the Blue Renault Clio, registration XXXXX alleging that I as the registered keeper breached the terms and conditions of their car park. The letter instructed if you were not the driver at the time of the PCN to fill in the details on the reverse and provide relevent evidence.

4. I filled in the information I had available to me at the time, which was the name of the person who contacted us enquiring about the sale of the car in order to prevent the case from progressing, and sent this together with a copy of the acknowledment letter sent to me by the DVLA advising the keeper details had been updated.

5. I was then contacted in October by Excel Parking Services, advising that I would need to provide documentary evidence proving I was not the registered keeper at the time the PCN was incurred. I had no evidence available to me but did some research and contacted the DVLA to request such evidence on 27/11/2015.

6. While awaiting this evidence I was contacted by Debt Recovery Plus about the PCN, an agent of Excel Parking Services. I contacted Debt Recovery Plus by telephone to explain that I was still awaiting evidence from the DVLA who asked that I send it via email to info@drpl.co.uk once this was recieved.

7. The evidence was issued by the DVLA on 18/12/2015 which I recieved shortly after. I then emailed this evidence to Debt Recovery Plus on 22/12/2015.

8. Debt recovery plus responded on 23/11/2019 advising they had updated their records and apologised for any inconvenience caused.

9. I did not hear anything further from either Debt Recovery Plus or Excel Parking Services until the first court letter arrived this year.

10. The claimant states that they recieved my information as the registered keeper from the DVLA on 07/09/2019, however the evidence I have provided clearly shows that the DVLA had stamped the V5 certificate having recieved this on the 26/08/2019. I am unsure as to why the incorrect information was provided to Excel Parking Services LTD.

11. I believe the facts stated in this witness statement are true.

Coupon-mad

I repeat my earlier post as I can't see this from you yet:

Firstly show us what you put in defence (exact words, you must have a copy)?

Why have they sent their WS so early, what deadline is given & are you in time?

Tudalen

It's in one of my above posts,

Copied and pasted below,

My defence was quite short initially and just said "I was not the registered keeper of the car at the time this parking charge was incurred. I have already informed excel parking ltd of this information back in 2015 in the form of a copy of the "new keeper details" provided to me by the DVLA proving the car was sold on 20/08/2015, 4 days prior to the parking offence. I provided this evidence via email to Excel parking LTD on 22/12/2015 and recieved an acknowledgement letter shortly thereafter advising no further action would be taken against me."

Half_way

do you know who's car park the car was parkes in?

Coupon-mad

You need to add near the start that you were neither the driver nor the keeper on the date of event (DVLA term = 'KADOE') and that you have never parked at the location stated (if true).

You also need to add the POFA Sch 4 as an exhibit, with the definition of 'keeper' highlighted, and say that the Claimant knows/their agent knows and should have updated the shared data that the Claimant remains liable to keep up to date, to show that the KADOE was not you and thus, the 'keeper' was not you, using the POFA definition.

Also attach a costs schedule and make it really high (£500 or so) by including your loss of salary/leave, and dozens of research hours at the LiP rate of £19 per hour, and cite the wholly unreasonable conduct of dragging a person to court who the C knows (and knew before court stage) was not the keeper or driver.

I suspect a VERY high costs schedule citing 'wholly unreasonable conduct' by Excel, plus your evidence from DRP and the POFA, will cause Excel to discontinue.

And afterwards, report them to the ICO for failing to update their records when taking the file back from DRP. this is a seriously data breach, in suing you when they KNEW you were not the keeper and had all the info they needed, all along.

There is no lawful excuse for processing your data (at all, let alone suing you) after DRP handed the papers back. You MUST get your own back with an ICO complaint online (very easy and very serious as Excel are already being looked at).

Tudalen

Yes it was a private car park at a shopping centre that I've only ever been to once as an adult and someone else drove us. I have no doubt that the person who bought the car was the one who did it as his address is near the shopping centre