Sucess Story - My win in Court vs VCS

Method_EU

A post of my experience yesterday afternoon during my remote hearing vs Vehicle Control Services Limited. I'd like to thank those who post on here, especially those who frequently help against the injustice of these scammers. Without your help, I would not have won.

Leeds County Court

Judge Goldberg

Case F7QZ38FF

I was actually looking forward to going into an actual court to see this out, but alas, a remote hearing had to do.

Backstory

I and my partner moved into our residential property at the start of June, 2019. Under instructions from our Letting Agent (on behalf of the housing company who owns the properties), we parked in an area 'controlled' by VCS. The parking in our area is a bit odd, as there are 2 car parks for the flats, which are split in two, and ran by 2 different companies. VCS & JD Parking. On that very same night that we moved in, we both got 'Parking Invoices' on our vehicles due to not displaying a valid permit. We obviously didn't pay a single penny to these scammers, so we left it. VCS, being VCS, chased and chased. We eventually went to the Landowner to request these be canceled, which they agreed to. This was in November 2019. It took 2 months before VCS finally canceled them, however, they had already started court proceedings against us. They refused to cancel them unless they got their court fee back... typical. Thankfully, the landowner paid them both for us in January 2020 but the letter of discontinuance did not follow until April 2020. Between that time period, the continued their original claim. I decided to Counterclaim.

The Counterclaim

My Counterclaim was short and brief, my argument being I had right to park where I parked, based on the instructions of the Landowners agent.

I Counterclaimed for:

• Breach of Data Protection - As I was acting on instructions of the Landowners agent, VCS had no business in accessing my personal information, to harass, and to demand payment.
  
• Breach of Quiet Enjoyment - Argued that in my Tenancy Agreement that nowhere did it state that I was required to display a parking permit.
• Damages caused by undue stress and anxiety - Due to the harassment by VCS over a prolonged period.

The Judgment

The whole ordeal was over pretty quickly. Judge Goldberg guided us through the proceedings, asking the representative VCS had hired on their behalf, to give their argument which was that I was parked there without permission, therefore breaking their T&C's. I then gave my side of the story. The Judge helped me along the process, and questioned why I thought that I had been a victim a breach of my data, and quiet enjoyment. He questioned if I had any other argument than my argument of 'I parked there on the instructions of the landowner and that my Tenancy Agreement does not state that a parking permit is required, which I didn't. At this point my mind went a bit blank so I thought I lost it there and then. However, he then questioned the VCS representative on the dates of the original claim, when the original claim was settled, and when it was discontinued. The VCS representative had no idea on the dates, so I stepped in and helped as I had the email from VCS to hand which didn't look good on the VCS representative! The Judge then went back to me and commented on my Defence from the original claim which he said it looks detailed but it seems a lot of the Defence was 'Cut & Pasted' from internet sources. My argument was simple, stating I am not a legal professional, and I used all means available to defend myself. I also stated my partner is a practicing solicitor, and she helped me put it together which he seemed to like.

The Judge then summarised all points he considered and gave his verdict.

The Verdict

The Judge did not believe I had been a victim of my personal data, nor did he believe I had an argument about Quiet Enjoyment. He stated that Quiet Enjoyment would be something I would have to claim from my Landlord and not VCS.

I however, did win on the claim for Damages. The Judge agreed that VCS had plenty of time to file a notice of discontinuance. He seemed annoyed about the whole ordeal, that VCS filed a claim in June 2019, settled their original claim with my Landowner in January 2020, yet they still continued to persist with their claim until April 2020 when they finally filed their letter of discontinuance.

Costs Awarded to Me

I claimed £50 originally for the damages. The Judge actually awarded me £150 in total, and extra £100 for the time I spent as a litigant in person on putting my defence together, which I was chuffed about. He also awarded me my counterclaim fee of £25. So £175 in total.

Afterthoughts

Obviously I am over the moon to have won. For me, it was never about the money. I thought I could have argued some of the points better but The Judge seemed to understand my point of view.

Sure, the £175 is a pleasant reward. It just shows that if you put a little time and effort into defending yourself from these scammers, you CAN win and boy, does it feel good.

Le_Kirk

Brilliant well done!

BrownTrout

Good to read and not the usual type of win either 

KeithP

Here's the OP's earlier thread on this:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6092463/vcs-residential-parking-fine/p1

beamerguy

Well done, you slapped old Simon in the face. The man is nonsensical even thinking he could win especially with his bad track record.   .   
BUT, do keep on top of what Simon owes you, in this climate we don't know who will go bust next

inspectorperez

Well done for sticking to your guns and also for crediting those that helped you on this forum. I am sure there will come a time when I might refer back to your experience in helping my own family or friends in such a situation.

Coupon-mad

Very well done!  Quite a lot (but not all) of the cases we see can warrant a counter claim.  You also cost VCS a few hundred for their time and the hired legal rep!

MistyZ

Method_EU said:

My argument was simple, stating I am not a legal professional, and I used all means available to defend myself. I also stated my partner is a practicing solicitor, and she helped me put it together which he seemed to like.

Fantastic!  So good to hear!  

The above irritates me though - the defence is what it is, wherever it comes from.  If appropriate passages were copied & pasted, that should suffice, regardless of the source(s).   Great that you had such good help on hand but if you'd told him your partner was a farmer the defence in front of him would still have been the same.  Anyway, you did damn well!  

Snakes_Belly

Well done, good to see people standing up for themselves. I totally get that it's not about the money or the time spent on fighting your corner. If we did not stand up to these scams it would just perpetuate them. 

It was never about the money for me. I would have rather handed the first beggar I saw in the street £100.00 than hand it to SRS.