HX Car Park Management Ltd, Cartmel Racecourse, Cartmel

Not_A_Hope

As requested Coupon Mad here is the PDT record sent by HX in response to our SAR. Although they redacted all of the first two digits of the VRNs except that of my sons it was easy to work out all the VRMs as the Reference No. is the first two digits of the VRM and the entry date and time stamp.

I believe that 6 of the 53 (11%) records I have highlighted are not possible with our current and former number plate system and no doubt the keepers received a PCN. Other VRMs listed may also have been possible but  'wrong' if it did not have matched their ANPR record. Only the DVLA would know which keepers details were requested by HX for the date in question.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/m61mk3ujs7xmjyr/HX%20VRN%20log.pdf?dl=0

Jenni_D

I think you've made a judgment leap that the first 2 letters of the ref no.s are always the same as the VRMs, but it's certainly something to argue.

Castle

Not_A_Hope said:

As requested Coupon Mad here is the PDT record sent by HX in response to our SAR. Although they redacted all of the first two digits of the VRNs except that of my sons it was easy to work out all the VRMs as the Reference No. is the first two digits of the VRM and the entry date and time stamp.

I believe that 6 of the 53 (11%) records I have highlighted are not possible with our current and former number plate system and no doubt the keepers received a PCN. Other VRMs listed may also have been possible but  'wrong' if it did not have matched their ANPR record. Only the DVLA would know which keepers details were requested by HX for the date in question.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/m61mk3ujs7xmjyr/HX%20VRN%20log.pdf?dl=0

I looked up the DVLA "Check your tax" website using the first two letters of the reference number for the prefix and the first 5 numbers I checked didn't exist; it's more likely the reference starts with the first letter of the prefix and the last letter of the suffix. Otherwise "FU" would look good on your number plate-see 15.07 reference.

Not_A_Hope

You might think it a judgement leap but to me it doesn't take the genius of Alan Turing breaking the Enigma code to work out what the Reference No. is built up from.  My sons' VRM MJ and Ref No. MJ01032020122200 is the key for deciphering all the VRMs in the document.

Maybe you are right and they don't always use the first two digits but I really don't think they are that smart. In court I would request the claimant provides an unredacted copy for the judge to decide whether there were many incorrect VRMs entered that date. The claimants suggest that because only one record had two digits this was proof the PDT was working properly. I bet the scammers requested far more keepers records from the DVLA for this car park that day. After all I read that 15% of PCNs relate to motorists 'not registering the vehicle properly or at all'. Of the £1.07bn reportedly 'earned' in the year to Oct 2020 this results in payments of £160m. Nice little additional earner if you can make sure 'motorists get it wrong'.

Not_A_Hope

Castle - I believe you are right. It is the first and last letter of the listed VRM that is being used in the Ref No. It can't be a fluke that the last letter of the VRM appears as the second digit of the reference number every time. This might make the scam even worse :-

18:36 E_751MH 
18:24 P_O8YNB (letter O)
17:28 M_M65GDK
14:15 M_W12YMO
13:30 W_7LKY
13:23 S_ 2449E
12:22 MJ

This would make 7 errors or 13% managed to get their registration number wrong that day and a £60 PCN

nweachus

Redx said:

nweachus said:

I received a 'Letter Before Claim' dated 17.08.21. It was sent via email 25.08.21 and replied to via email 31.08.21. Is there anything I need to be aware of or anything else I need to do directly relating to it? As I don't fully understand the process yes I don't wish to be caught out! I took very little interest in the letter initially, as it looked like a demand for payment and the signature is just 'Gladstones Solicitors'.

A valid LBC gives 30 days notice and includes financial forms that you do not fill in when it's about parking charge notices , anything else is a debt collector letter with shorter deadlines that are irrelevant and to be ignored

The first important task is a SAR to the claimant parking company , to their DPO , to obtain all your data

The second task for an LBC I the 30 days notice hold , which then gives you time for a SAR reply

Do you have any idea what their email address is to request the SAR? I can only find contact boxes on the site.

Le_Kirk

Found this after asking Auntie Google: -
dpo@hx-pcn.com.

nweachus

Le_Kirk said:

Found this after asking Auntie Google: -
dpo@hx-pcn.com.

Thanks for that. I dug a little deeper and found it here: https://hx-pcn.com/manage-my-pcn/privacy-notices/privacy-notice/
Under 'Pop up contact forms, and contact forms within www.hx-pcn.com'

Le_Kirk

nweachus said:

Le_Kirk said:

Found this after asking Auntie Google: -
dpo@hx-pcn.com.

Thanks for that. I dug a little deeper and found it here: https://hx-pcn.com/manage-my-pcn/privacy-notices/privacy-notice/
Under 'Pop up contact forms, and contact forms within www.hx-pcn.com'

Yep, they really make it easy - not!

nweachus

I've sent HX a SAR request, but should I inform Gladstones that I have? Also, should I request a SAR from ADR-Legal, who popped up on behalf of HX before Gladstones?