EMA petrol station parking fine - help

MrsMac76

Hi

I was advised to re-post on this thread. Sorry new to this.

In August my husband and I were taking my son to East Mids airport and pulled into the garage to enquire about loos and my husband bought mints from the shop. Whilst my husband was in the garage my 16 year old son got out of the car and said he would walk to the terminal. They have pictures of me opening the boot for him. As all the signage is at the pumps and we didn't use the pumps, we had no idea we were contravening any drop off rules. The parking enforcement van was parked directly behind us in clear sight. We would have been stupid to ignore it if we had been aware.

I appealed and lost. I realise now I should have probably said nothing, as in the process I did say "I pulled in" admitting I was driving. I now have to decide if to take this to court as have a final demand. I have never broke the law in my life and feel so strongly that this is a money making scam. The question is do I have a strong enough case to defend myself in court. All advice gratefully received.
I only received the final demand today and the deadline is the 24/12 - Merry Xmas VCS.

Le_Kirk

What is the final demand? Have you received LoC/LBA/LBCCC yet, have you received court papers yet? What else have you received? did you receive the NTK? Did you appeal to the PPC? Did you complain to the landowner?

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

No laws have been broken by you.

There are several similar threads about this location so have a look at those as well.

I believe byelaws apply at this location. If that is the case then the scammers have no standing to issue court proceedings, not that it will stop them trying.

What happened when you complained to the landowner/garage manager?

You now wait to see what the scammers try next.

Complain to your MP about this unregulated scam.

Umkomaas

This is the advice I gave you when you posted on the other VCS/EMA thread.

Quote:
I have never broke the law in my life

You still haven't!

Quote:
feel so strongly that this is a money making scam.

Correct.

Quote:
The question is do I have a strong enough case to defend myself in court

You'll need to see if they take any court action. They haven't with anyone yet at EMA, but they haven't long started there. At Liverpool John Lennon Airport the scam has been going on for years, with thousands being caught out, yet there are only a couple of known court cases. I think they're probably more than happy to have enough people coughing up because they think VCS is some kind of 'authority'. Don't you fall for it.

Will they/won't they instigate court action against you, who knows? I'd say it's less likely than more likely, but they do have 6 years to pursue and PPCs are unpredictable. But right now, it's ignore them and their threats, but come back on a brand new thread of your own, not on this one should you receive a formal Letter of Claim or court papers from the Northampton CCBC.

You are nowhere near a court claim against you. Did you not read what I posted? There is nothing you or the forum can do unless you get either of the two documents listed above. There's no point in trying to find a silver bullet. None exists.

The_Deep

we had no idea we were contravening any drop off rules.

It is more than likely that you were not, these companies lie like leaders of political parties.

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra costs and work, and has been known to get the charge cancelled.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, 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.

[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]

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

MrsMac76

Hi

The final demand was from VCS saying they will take me to court if I don't pay. I have now read the guidance on this thread and will appeal to the land owner but unlikely to get a response this side of Xmas and they are saying a need to pay by the 24th or go to court. I did appeal to the IPC but rather naively based my case on common sense and lost. Though they did say they were sympathetic. I am so furious about the injustice of this that I want to fight it but also want to be in possession of the facts and understand the consequences. Any help gratefully received.

MrsMac76

Hi

Most grateful for advice. I do feel a little overwhelmed by the legalities of all this. I have now started reading the thread advice. I thought my original post was in response to a lady who was being taken to court for the same thing at East Midlands?

Kind Regards

Redx

We would all like those facts and to know the consequences , but as it's a new sc@m we don't have the answers

We can only use historical details from site's like LJLA and RHA airports etc and Umkomaas gave you the details known about LJLA etc

It may be that they make you a guinea pig , who knows ?? We don't

I would advise you to read the UKPPO fightback thread for Newcastle airport where a lot of details abound , posted by members like Bountyhunter , with over 20 cases

Those details may help in all airport and bylaws cases , so are the current best source of information

Search the name Bountyhunter in the advanced search box , member search

I doubt you will find much in EMA threads , apart from the bylaws and boundaries etc

Le_Kirk

MrsMac76 wrote: »

Hi

The final demand was from VCS saying they will take me to court if I don't pay. I have now read the guidance on this thread and will appeal to the land owner but unlikely to get a response this side of Xmas and they are saying a need to pay by the 24th or go to court. I did appeal to the IPC but rather naively based my case on common sense and lost. Though they did say they were sympathetic. I am so furious about the injustice of this that I want to fight it but also want to be in possession of the facts and understand the consequences. Any help gratefully received.

In that "final demand" did they give you 30 days to pay or respond? Did they include financial papers (which you don't fill in) and did they include the particulars of claim with the proof they are going to rely on in court? If not, this is not a letter of/before claim, so you can wait for that and in the meantime, do what you are sensibly doing by reading the forum and other posts.

Coupon-mad

You do NOT need to pay, and it will not just 'go to court' immediately.

Stick around and trust us and read any other VCS Airport defence threads. YOu need to know how to counter VCS v Ward and if you don't know what I mean, it show you would learn by reading other similar threads.

Come back when you get your court claim. No big deal, no CCJ, no worries!

MrsMac76

Hi Everyone

I just wanted to share an update on my case. I wrote to BP who then wrote to the service station. I discussed with the area manager who said the she would get VCS to dop the case.  In the meantime I get court papers last week. The details of the claim are:-

The Particulars of Claim are:

The claim is for a breach of contract for breaching the terms and conditions set on private land. The Defendant's vehicle (reg inserted), was identified in the Fuel Station, EMA on the 11/08/2019 in breach of the advertised terms and conditions; namely stopping to pick up/drop off in a restricted zone. At all material times the Defendant was the registered keeper and/or driver. The terms and conditions upon entering private land were clearly displayed at the entrance and in prominent locations. The sign was the offer and the act of entering private land was the acceptance of the offer hereby entering into a contract by conduct. The signs specifically detail the terms and conditions and the consequences of failure to comply, namely a parking charge notice will be issued, and the Defendant has failed to settle the outstanding liability. The claimant seeks the recovery of the parking charge notice, contractual costs and interest.

I am hoping that the case will be dropped but can't take the risk. I have registered that I want to dispute the claim and now have until the 20th March to put together a defence. 

All signposting to relevant articles/templates gratefully received.
My hubby not well at the moment and I must say this is taking more energy than I wanted to give but feel this is so unjust I can't stop now.