VCS Claim & Defence

Castle

I like the 5 mph sign at 0.26 into the video!

Coupon-mad

Johnersh said:

That is a serious issue, not least since you are "Joe public. " 

Report the data protection breach by the solicitors to them and inform them that you have destroyed (or returned to the other parking defendant) the papers you should not have. It is not your responsibility to liaise with randoms to try and find your statement. If the claimant fails to serve evidence to the correct address by the date ordered they are unlikely to be permitted to rely on it. 

Were you to inform the ICO of a GDPR breach, that is a matter for you. 

As above but do it on Monday morning when it's too late for them to get a proper WS to you.

emilycharlotte

Coupon-mad said:

Johnersh said:

That is a serious issue, not least since you are "Joe public. " 

Report the data protection breach by the solicitors to them and inform them that you have destroyed (or returned to the other parking defendant) the papers you should not have. It is not your responsibility to liaise with randoms to try and find your statement. If the claimant fails to serve evidence to the correct address by the date ordered they are unlikely to be permitted to rely on it. 

Were you to inform the ICO of a GDPR breach, that is a matter for you. 

As above but do it on Monday morning when it's too late for them to get a proper WS to you.

I was sort of thinking it may be better not to raise it to their attention at all until the hearing. 
They have limited time left today to send their WS and I am ready to send mine but will do so at around 4pm. 
I am wondering what the options re: next steps if I don't receive their WS. 
In my area of practice (family law), if a witness hasn't filed their statement on time then the Court don't punish them or strike the claim out, in the majority of cases the Court would ask the witness why it wasn't filed on time and tell them not to do it again. Sometimes the timetable will be put back so the statement can be filed and responses done.  
I know this is civil and is different... If I don't recieve their statement then could I apply to have the matter struck out or am I better to point it out last minute and have their case fall apart? My worries are that the Judge may just adjourn so that VCS can send me the statement and I would rather avoid that happening 😅
Thanks for all your help 🙏 

Coupon-mad

My worries are that the Judge may just adjourn so that VCS can send me the statement and I would rather avoid that happening.

I think that is more likely to happen if you stay silent. 

I'd contact the woman at the weekend to tell her what has happened to her data and that you will send the papers to her to prove it (tell her to keep your envelope and covering letter, and email her a copy as well to prove it, which might well assist her own court hearing).

Then on Monday I'd email the Claimant and inform them about their serious data breach and ask who they sent your data to?

emilycharlotte

I have just spoken to the husband of the lady who has fallen victim to VCS. Although the case is listed as being against the wife, she drove into the car park and then he got into the car and parked the car. 
He is aware of this forum and has said that he has had 12 cases with various parking firms, has counterclaimed in all of them and he has won every single one so doesn't seem to need help. 
He said he has recieved the bundle from VCS but has not looked through it and he didn't have it on him to check if my details were entwined in his bundle. He will check over the weekend and will either text me or email me back. His matter is listed next week. I have forwarded the email containing his bundle on to him. He was very grateful for the information and told me not to delete the email with his bundle in it for now and gave me permission to keep it until I decide what to do. 
VCS have still not sent me their WS 🙄 
I think I might call my Court one day next week, once I've heard back from the husband, to see if the Court has recieved my paperwork or the other victim's paperwork out of interest... 

Umkomaas

Anywhere selling popcorn this weekend?  🍿 

emilycharlotte

I have also just emailed him again because I've noticed that the defence to his counterclaim has been written by a guy professing to be an "associate legal executive" which doesn't even exist. 

Principle 3 of the code of conduct, outcome 3.5 states that you must not hold yourself out as having a qualification or professional status that you do not possess.... 
I only know this because I am CILEx myself and I have read CILEx's rules that state you must not hold yourself out to have a qualification that you do not have and must not use the title Legal Executive unless you are fully qualified (which an associate is not). 
It won't help with the PCN but it is another example of how VCS appear to be misleading the public. 

Johnersh

In my area of practice (family law), if a witness hasn't filed their statement on time then the Court don't punish them or strike the claim out,
@emilycharlotte one of my frustrations as a trainee in family (some years ago now) was that there were no penalties or adverse costs orders for anything very much...

.. There are no guarantees, but with late service of a statement, there's a decent chance of C being precluded from relying upon it. If a LiP can comply with orders of the court there is no basis for a professionally represented claimant not to.

(I use the words in italics in the loosest possible sense). 

They will say that you should have told them, but the onus is on them to check attachments and, strictly speaking they should liaise with you in advance regarding attachments (see the CPR for service by electronic means). Only this week I served documents in 3 separate emails to ensure the defendant's server could handle the number of documents. Had the ppc been similarly cautious, they'd not have screwed the pooch on this. 

emilycharlotte

Johnersh said:

In my area of practice (family law), if a witness hasn't filed their statement on time then the Court don't punish them or strike the claim out,
@emilycharlotte one of my frustrations as a trainee in family (some years ago now) was that there were no penalties or adverse costs orders for anything very much...

.. There are no guarantees, but with late service of a statement, there's a decent chance of C being precluded from relying upon it. If a LiP can comply with orders of the court there is no basis for a professionally represented claimant not to.

(I use the words in italics in the loosest possible sense). 

They will say that you should have told them, but the onus is on them to check attachments and, strictly speaking they should liaise with you in advance regarding attachments (see the CPR for service by electronic means). Only this week I served documents in 3 separate emails to ensure the defendant's server could handle the number of documents. Had the ppc been similarly cautious, they'd not have screwed the pooch on this. 

Yes, costs are a rarity in family matters. I have only ever known costs to be awarded in one of my family matters and that was because the other side were so incompetent that they ended up peeing off the Court and wasting everyone's time as hearings could not go ahead on more than one occasion. It was the other side's application and the case still went to final hearing. The problem is that the costs that were awarded were chased and not paid by the other side and the client couldn't afford to pay for the cost of recovery after paying so much in legal fees... very frustrating indeed! I hope you went into a more rewarding area of practice (or even better not at all!).

Hopefully the Court will not be sympathetic to whatever story VCS feeds them on the lack of compliance with the terms of the Order but we will see!

Fruitcake

I think you should: -
Ensure you send your WS and exhibits on time.
Wait until after the court mandated filing date then tell the court that the scammers have failed to send their WS to you which is a breach of the CPR. As a LiP you have managed to do as instructed whereas the scamlicitors, who are trained legal professionals have failed to comply.
Tell the court about the data breach.
Tell the scammers about the data breach.
Tell the ICO about the data breach. 
Tell the DVLA about the data breach. 
Tell the DVLA KADOE team about the data breach.
Complain to your MP.

If you find that your data has been sent to the other person in Birmingham, then you should make further and separate complaints.

Other opinions are available.