Brittania parking/BW legal taking me to court

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 10th February, you have until Monday 1st March to file an Acknowledgment of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an AoS, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Having filed an AoS, you have until 4pm on Monday 15th March 2021 to file your Defence.

That's four weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the Acknowledgment of Service instructions.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an Acknowledgment of Service, nor that for filing a Defence.

bluegoldie

Ok here goes (again) hopefully a little more clear than before!
NTK was delivered on 27/08/20 for an alleged breach of contract on the 21/08/20. I filled in the drivers details on the section of the letter and returned it on 13/09/20 via post (error 1!). The following day I had a final reminder letter which I did nothing with because I had sent them the drivers details so job done right ?! 

I dont remember the first date I had a letter from BW legal (I plan to request copies of all letters in the SAR) but I recall it not being long after I had sent the letter back to brittania.

In December I had maybe a third letter from them so I decided to email BW legal to dispute that I owed the company anything as I had never entered in to a contract with them; I requested then that they investigate my complaint. I used a "prove the debt letter "template, I also informed them of the distress they were causing me. This email was sent on the 3/12/20 had a poor response (9/12/20), in fact it was no response as they just sent me a copy of the 2 letters from brittania parking. 

On the 3rd of January I had a pre court questionnaire from BW they titled it a "pre action protocol letter" I did nothing with this  (for personal reasons it wasn't even a priority at that time; I had much bigger problems).

I received the N1 with an issue date of 11/02/21 this is addressed to me and the particulars of claim state that the PCN was issued as the 'driver' failed to comply. As I have stated I was not the driver and had previously informed by letter that this was the case; followed up with an email disputing the claim against me (see above)

Today I received another letter from BW legal advising me that I can still pay the money I owe them which now stands at 238.48 I will quote verbatim what they have said
" if you defend the claim, the court will then set a hearing date where a judge will then consider both parties statements and either award a county court judgement against you or dismiss the claim. Such hearings will result in additional costs and fees being incurred which we will seek to recover from you " (put the frightners up me a bit!) 
So as far as I am aware now I need to 
1) do the AOS 
2) request an SAR from the DPO at brittania parking 
3) use paragraphs 2 and 3 from the newbie thread to collate my defense; do I add this to the AOS ? There is a section on there for defence do I have to fill this in now? 
Then I'm a bit lost with what happens next.

I want to thank you all in advance as I'm sure it's tiresome for you, but here I am 

KeithP

3) use paragraphs 2 and 3 from the newbie thread to collate my defense; do I add this to the AOS ? There is a section on there for defence do I have to fill this in now?

No, definitely do not attempt to file a Defence via the MCOL website.

Instead look again at my earlier post where I wrote...

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email,...

You will be filing your Defence by email.

Redx

1) yes , online , no typing anything in the online defence box , just acknowledge the receipt of the claim

Doing this task gives the extra 14 days , KeithP gave you the deadlines once AOS is done online

Nothing else is done on there , it's read only after the AOS is complete , you are telling the CCBC the claim has been received and you are defending the Court claim

2) yes

3) yes draft the 2 paragraphs

And no , do not copy and paste into MCOL , remember , it's read only online !!

Eventually you will email the Defence , then later on you will email the DQ

Nothing is posted either !!

As an aside , you are telling us that you used the tear off slip on the NTK to give the drivers name and address under POFA , as a keeper who wasn't driving , yet they are pursuing you as a keeper because the driver has not replied

bluegoldie

SAR sent to Britannia parking, I used the template lenter and requested only what related directly to me I. E letters and correspondence along with photographs. I had an automated response requesting that I send a cheque for 10 pounds or my request will not be progressed?! 
I also sent a very succinct email to the solicitors stating : 
(a) I am seeking debt advice but I deny any debt and the case must be put 'on hold' for not less than 30 days under the PAP for debt claims 2017.
(b) I have sent your client a SAR
This was attached to my original email address to create a link to the original request. 
AOS to be filled in tomorrow 

Thanks 

Coupon-mad

I also sent a very succinct email to the solicitors stating : 
(a) I am seeking debt advice but I deny any debt and the case must be put 'on hold' for not less than 30 days under the PAP for debt claims 2017.

But you are not at that stage.  By all means ask Britannia for the SAR but you are not in a position for a CLAIM to be put 'on hold' under the PRE=ACTION protocol (pre-action means what it says...you are not at that stage).

KeithP

bluegoldie said:

SAR sent to Britannia parking, I used the template lenter and requested only what related directly to me I. E letters and correspondence along with photographs. I had an automated response requesting that I send a cheque for 10 pounds or my request will not be progressed?! 

Are you sure that's what it said?
I seem to recall that they hint that they will charge if your request is considered 'excessive'.

Is this the first Subject Access Request you have sent to Britannia?

If so, then they must respond to it without charge.

It is clearly stated in the Data Protection Act 2018 that the recipient must not charge for a response to a SAR.

bluegoldie

Coupon-mad said:

I also sent a very succinct email to the solicitors stating : 
(a) I am seeking debt advice but I deny any debt and the case must be put 'on hold' for not less than 30 days under the PAP for debt claims 2017.

But you are not at that stage.  By all means ask Britannia for the SAR but you are not in a position for a CLAIM to be put 'on hold' under the PRE=ACTION protocol (pre-action means what it says...you are not at that stage).

Ok; I just followed the advice from the newbie thread. I stated that I was sending it in response to the letter they sent me today.  It won't harm me in anyway I don't suppose? I sent something similar before they just ignored me 

bluegoldie

KeithP said:

bluegoldie said:

SAR sent to Britannia parking, I used the template lenter and requested only what related directly to me I. E letters and correspondence along with photographs. I had an automated response requesting that I send a cheque for 10 pounds or my request will not be progressed?! 

Are you sure that's what it said?
I seem to recall that they hint that they will charge if your request is considered 'excessive'.

Is this the first Subject Access Request you have sent to Britannia?

If so, then they must respond to it without charge.

It is clearly stated in the Data Protection Act 2018 that the recipient must not charge for a response to a SAR.

Yes this is the first one! I have copied the part of the email that states about payment. It's all very misleading as is everything with this company ! 

"ICO guidelines advise we are able to charge a reasonable administration fee, which is £10.

Please send a cheque payable to Britannia Parking to the following address: Data Protection Officer, County Gates House, 7th Floor, 300 Poole Road, Poole, BH12 1AZ.

Include a list of the additional information you require and the PCN number/s.

Once the cheque has cleared we will action your request. We will only send additional information which is not business sensitive.

Please refer to the ICO website for further information: https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/your-right-of-access

If you do not wish to pay £10, we are under no obligation to provide you with the information, your only options is to wait until this matter progresses to court, when it will be adduced as evidence.

Once you are in receipt of your SAR, all additional correspondence regarding the request for additional information will not be responded to, unless payment of £10 is received." 

I have only requested information curtailing to me and not them so I will wait for them to contact me. 

KeithP

That needs reporting to both the ICO and the BPA.

They have kindly provided a link to the ICO's website and the following is easily found there...

Click on that image - it is also a link to that part of the ICO's website.