VCS in Salford

Snakes_Belly

Is this a car park on a residential site?

 "Long story short we are at the LBC stage despite the management agency requesting ticket cancellation ( VCS refused to cancel )"

Have you got a copy of the correspondence from the management company to VCS? That would be quite useful.

This company will take it to court or to the brink however they frequently lose at court.   

angry_vcs

Snakes_Belly said:

Is this a car park on a residential site?

 "Long story short we are at the LBC stage despite the management agency requesting ticket cancellation ( VCS refused to cancel )"

Have you got a copy of the correspondence from the management company to VCS? That would be quite useful.

This company will take it to court or to the brink however they frequently lose at court.   

It's semi residential - the flats have underground carparks for residents and some parking around the ground floor where there are some offices and delivery entrances. I do have a copy of the final correspondence. The area manager forwarded me the response from VCS, so I have this safe in my emails.

angry_vcs

Well yesterday I recieved a letter from ELMS Legal titled
URGENT: NOTIFICATION OF INSTRUCTION
They are sking me to pay  £170.00 by 26th November, and if they dont hear from me by then they will have no option but to issue legal procedings.

Also they state.

Our client shall reserve the right to show the Court this letter notifying you of our instruction and wherby no legal costs are currently being sought by our Client at this early stage.

So as they seem to have already added on £70 they think this makes them look reasonable.

I also today recieved the SAR request - all that was in there was the letters they had sent me and thier robo log. along with the photos taken on the day of the alleged contarvention.
What it does not include is the correspndence between themselves and X1 lettings where VCS refused to cancel.

So What if any response should I give to ELMS ? Should I send a "taking debt advice hold for 30 days" notce to ELMS after VCS refused to accept this notice ?

Also on the correspondence missing from the SAR - should I point this out to VCS directly.

Obviously I have no intention of just rolling over and paying up .

Thanks

Umkomaas

So What if any response should I give to ELMS ? Should I send a "taking debt advice hold for 30 days" notce to ELMS after VCS refused to accept this notice ?

Only use that when receiving a formal Letter Of/Before Claim. What you've received isn't one of those. It may not be far off, but not right now. Ignore the letter you've just received. 

angry_vcs

Umkomaas said:

So What if any response should I give to ELMS ? Should I send a "taking debt advice hold for 30 days" notce to ELMS after VCS refused to accept this notice ?

Only use that when receiving a formal Letter Of/Before Claim. What you've received isn't one of those. It may not be far off, but not right now. Ignore the letter you've just received. 

I got a Letter before Claim direct from VCS on 14th October ( dated 7th ! ) and VCS refused to put on hold for 30 days. I have to confess I thought they would jump to court and not theis letter from ELMS 

Grizebeck

why are you even concerned about such a letter
no one "jumps to court"

angry_vcs

Today I recieved a  Genuine court claim form  with an issue date of 21st Dec

Ammount claimed  170.00
Court fee   35.00
Legal representative's costs 50.00
Total ammount    255.00

I assume I should Acknowledge online today and then get my defence together.

KeithP

angry_vcs said:

Today I recieved a  Genuine court claim form  with an issue date of 21st Dec

I assume I should Acknowledge online today and then get my defence together.

With a Claim Issue Date of 21st December, you have until Monday 9th January to file an Acknowledgment of Service but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

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

Having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 23rd January 2023 to file your Defence.

That's almost three 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 guidance.

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

Do not try and file a Defence via the MoneyClaimOnline website. Once an Acknowledgment of Service has been filed, the MCOL website should be treated as 'read only'.

angry_vcs

This is my first draft at the defence - I realise it may not be good at this stage but I realy would appreciate input .
On question I do have is about naming the driver on the day. Past advice used to be never name even if the RK and driver are he same person is this still the case ?

Also I have a video taken on 25th August walking into the site which shows the state of the signage .

TIA

The facts as known to the Defendant:

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question.

3. The defendant was at the site to assist a family member in moving out of their residence. The defendant was  assisting by taking several items of furniture and other items to a new location. This nessicated trips up to the 10th floor and had to leave the vehicle unattended.

The defendant left his vehicle in a location which allowed reasonable access for loading.

On returning to the Vehicle the defendant found an affixed notice labelled "Privacy Notice" there was no mention of any action being taken  or of what any contravention there might be.

As the lettings office appeared to be closed ( doors locked and no staff visible ) the defendant was not able to make any queries - and had to leave to unload at the family members new residence.

A couple of days later The defendants wife was in the area and able to visit X1 lettings and ask about the privacy notice and was informed that if the lady at the management company was copied in on the appeal to the ticket she would ensure the ticket was cancelled.

The defendant appealed to VCS using the companies online form on 3rd July. mentioning that the vehicle was there loading and not just parked. And included mxxxxx@x1lettings.com in the details so vcs could confirm.

The appeal was rejected by VCS on 11th August, 39 days later ( they sate they would respond in 28 days )

On 18th August, with the appeal rejection letter the defendant visited x1 lettings office and discussed the matter with a manager there, who agreed the vehicle was onsite legitimately and would request cancellation

On 19th August VCS rejected x1 lettings request to cancel, stating it “ it is not within the 28 day timeline.”

Coupon-mad

That is a bit too long & detailed, so keep most of that for WS stage along with your evidence, such as your 'video taken on 25th August walking into the site which shows the state of the signage'.

Try to sum up your facts in one paragraph and I'd mention Jopson v Homeguard as an authority.

Did you notice that the NEWBIES thread provides a couple of example residential defences? One of those might adduce Jopson (your case is exactly like it):

https://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/JOPSON-V-HOMEGUARD-2906J-Approved.pdf