Charge for stopping in traffic Bristol Airport

Coupon-mad

Boudouche1 said:

Thank you @Umkomaas for your advice. I am a bit confused to where to find an example of the robust response. After reading it many times, I think I have now memorised different steps described in the Newbies advice page on the MSE Forum, but cannot locate the specific piece of advice you mention.

I am confused. It seems that I need to provide SAR rather than a robust response. If I do write a response, where do I send it - to VCS's DPO (postal address mentioned on the Privacy page) or to VCS's Litigation department (postal address on the Letter Before Claim)?

Do not send a SAR at all.  NO SAR!

Do respond by email to VCS litigation email (work it out by trial and error or search the forum to find it mentioned before).  Not the DPO email.

Point out that the registered keeper was not the driver, merely a passenger that day and has no liability.  State that the vehicle was delayed by an emergency (a broken down bus at the Airport) blocking the route and forcing it to stop.

State that the Airport byelaws specifically exempt vehicles that have to stop in an emergency.  Why is VCS operating yet ignoring the exemption set out in the byelaws.

State that VCS is well aware that a keeper who was not driving is absolutely safe from any legal liability.  There is no 'passenger liability' law and as for assumed or implied keeper liability outwith the POFA 2012, VCS has recently lost a case (again) on appeal to a Circuit Judge about that precise point of law.  There are now two adverse persuasive appeal judgments against Excel and VCS (same owner) and it is appalling that VCS are still pretending these judgments didn't happen and that they can try speculative claims against registered keepers.

Link both the cases I gave you before.

Tell VCS to cease and desist and that you are copying this formal Letter Before Claim response to the Airport (because VCS are ignoring the protection in the byelaws regarding emergency situations, and they must be stopped) and to your MP who will be asked to raise this case with Mr Gove at the DLUHC, who are currently finalising the new Code of Practice.

Fruitcake

Complain again to Bristol Airport Ltd and your MP that you are now being pursued to court for an unfair stopping in a no-stopping zone parking charge, and you want them to instruct their agent, VCS, to cancel it. Quote the PCN number and the date of the alleged event. Also state the following: -


You were not the driver at the material time but were/are the registered keeper. State that VCS are already aware of this.

As registered keeper but not the driver you cannot be held liable since the airport is not-relevant land as defined by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (quote the relevant part/paragraph number of the PoFA) where byelaws apply. State that VCS are already aware of this

The driver was forced to stop due to a broken down bus. State that VCS are already aware of this. Quote the date, time, precise location, include dashcam footage if available, and instruct BA Ltd to investigate this breakdown and the traffic that was forced to stop as a result. Ask them to investigate this incident to determine if their agent, VCS, has issued similar unfair parking charge notices to other motorists who were also forced to stop due to the broken down bus.

Airport byelaws permit stopping in the circumstances detailed above. State that VCS are already aware of this.

Include a copy of the letter where VCS lied made an incorrect statement about byelaws and a copy of the letter from BA Ltd to my MP. Highlight the fact that the statement from VCS about byelaws IS NOT TRUE and that VCS are aware of this. Highlight the fact that they know you were not the driver and cannot be held liable, but VCS have ignored this fact.
Quote the case previously mentioned by C-m where the judge unequivocally stated that no assumption about a driver's identity can be made, and in any case VCS know you were not the driver.

State that if VCS do take you to court, you will involve BA Ltd as principle. Ask them for details of their legal team and the name of the witness they will be sending to court as you will require them to attend.

Then, send a similar worded response to VCS in reply to the letter of claim. Show your drafts here if you wish.

Do all of this asap. Then, near the end of the 30 days given in the LoC send an instruction to VCS stating that while you deny the debt, you are seeking debt advice and therefore require the case to be put on hold for 30 days as per court pre-action protocol. This will give the other parties (BA Ltd and your MP) to investigate and respond.

As for your other PCN, I wouldn't do anything about it or mention it just yet. If you can get this one (broken down bus) PCN/case cancelled then it will give you more ammo' for the other alleged event where the vehicle was stopped outside the no stopping area and outside the area where VCS are contracted to operate.

Boudouche1

This is great. Thank you @Umkomaas , @Coupon-mad and @Fruitcake for your prompt response and detailed advice. I will draft the letter to VCS over the weekend, and share it with you on the forum.

Fruitcake

Boudouche1 said:

This is great. Thank you @Umkomaas , @Coupon-mad and @Fruitcake for your prompt response and detailed advice. I will draft the letter to VCS over the weekend, and share it with you on the forum.

Make the complaints to Bristol Airport Ltd and your MP first, then respond to VCS adding that you have informed the other entities of the same. You have 30 days from the date of issue of the LoC, so make use of, say, 25 days to make the complaints to the others and let the wheels start to revolve before contacting VCS with the 30 day hold instruction.
What you want is a cancellation of the PCN upon pressure from BA Ltd rather than having to fight this in court.

Boudouche1

Good morning @Fruitcake @Coupon-mad @Umkomaas @B789. Thank you for your advice on responding to the Letter Before CLaim sent by the Vehicle Control Services. As suggested, I have drafted a letter of complaint to Bristol Airport Ltd, in first instance. I have found a webpage for Bristol Airport specifically dedicated to complaints, but the text field there is limited to 1,000 characters only. I have tried to take on board all of your different comments, but the final text will need to be trimmed down. I will appreciate your advice on how to reduce the text and make it more forceful:

Bristol Airport Limited

Bristol BS48 3DY

 

I would like to complain about the Vehicle Control Services persistently pursuing me for an unfair stopping in a no-stopping zone parking charge in Bristol Airport. This relates to the alleged event on 30 June 2023, with the Parking Charge Notice ******. I would ask you to instruct your agent, Vehicle Control Services, to cancel this Parking Charge Notice, on the following grounds:

 

I was not the driver at the material time but I am the registered keeper for the vehicle in question. Vehicle Control Services are already aware of this fact, yet they continue to unlawfully pursue me.

 

As registered keeper but not the driver I cannot be held liable since the airport is not-relevant land for the purpose of holding the registered keeper liable as defined by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Schedule 4). This judgement was confirmed in the persuasive Appeal Court judgment in Vehicle Control Services v Edward, so VCS are already aware of this.

 

The driver was forced to stop due to an emergency, a broken down bus at the Airport, blocking the route and forcing the car to stop. Vehicle Control Services are already aware of this.

 

The Airport byelaws specifically exempt vehicles that have to stop in an emergency. I would ask you to investigate why VCS are operating as the agent of Bristol Airport Ltd yet ignoring the exemption set out in the byelaws.

 

The alleged incident happened at 17:05 on a roundabout of the North Side Road, close to the drop off zone and multi-storey airport parking. After the traffic was cleared, the car was parked in the Bristol airport's pre-paid Multi-Storey car park, fully pre-paid at the cost of £186.99 for the period between ***** and ****. There would have been NO reason for stopping the car so close (about 200 meters away) to the pre-paid parking had the road not been blocked by the bus. The photos provided by VCS clearly show the queues of traffic in both directions, blocking North Side Road. The photos from VCS also show several other passengers leaving their cars and walking on the side of the road with their suitcases so that they do not miss their flights.

 

I would ask you to investigate this breakdown and the traffic that was forced to stop as a result. I would also ask you to investigate this incident to determine if your agent, VCS, has issued similar unfair parking charge notices to other motorists who were also forced to stop due to the broken down bus.

 

If Vehicle Control Services decide to take me to court, as they threaten in their letters, I will involve Bristol Airport Ltd as a matter of principle. Please provide me with the details of your legal team and the name of the witness you will be sending to court as I will require them to attend.

Boudouche1

@Fruitcake and @Coupon-mad . I was preparing a letter to my MP asking them to investigate the actions of VCS, but then realised that my MP is actually suspended because of sexual harassment allegations. It is ironic as I interviewed them for my work not that long ago. I am not sure how to proceed with this letter to my MP now.

Half_way

The Byelaws obsolete line was also trotted out here
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6450795/bristol-airport-speed-camera-parking-fine/p3

I would double down with complaints to the airport over the actions of their agents, with the aim of going for a possible GDPR breach

UncleThomasCobley

I think you also need to highlight VCSs ridiculous statement that the bylaws have been cancelled. State that VCS are showing an intellectual malnourishment if they mistakenly think that they can ride roughshod over motorists with blatant lies about the legislation that applies at Bristol Airport.

They should remind VCS, their agents, that they are not an "authrority" that has any statutory powers and they should stop pretending that they do as it reflects very badly on the Airport who has contracted them and so leaves the Airport jointly and severally liable for their actions.

Regarding your MP, try contact the Constituency Office. Even if your MP is suspended, their constituency office may still be open and staffed. There may be interim arrangements or alternative contacts for constituents with issues. They may provide you with guidance on how to proceed.

Umkomaas

the text field there is limited to 1,000 characters only. I have tried to take on board all of your different comments, but the final text will need to be trimmed down

Use 'Vehicle Control Services' (in full) just once, thereafter 'VCS' - that will save you 21 characters a pop. You've used the full name 6 times. Do similarly with any other full blown names/titles you are using. That will help in the trimming.

UncleThomasCobley

To avoid the ridiculous 1,000 character limitation, I would suggest you send the complaint directly to Bristol Airport CEO, Dave Lees as a PDF attachment to dave.lees@bristolairport.com.

I am sure that it will be redirected to one of his minions for action.