Charge for stopping in traffic Bristol Airport

Boudouche1

Thank you @B789 . I will wait for couple of days, add the statement about the frustration of contract (as advised by @Fruitcake ) and submit an appeal to the IAS, which is the dedicated (and highly biased) appeal service designated by the Vehicle Control Solutions.

B789

No. Appealing to the IAS is Plan C. You are only at Plans A and B stage. No one here is advising you to appeal to the IAS kangaroo court. Have you already appealed to VCS through their website/email?

Boudouche1

I have had experience of the IAS before, in the previous VCS claim. They do not consider any valid arguments (carefully crafted by @Fruitcake ). I will write to VCS via email - is the text above OK for it?

Fruitcake

How are you getting on with your complaints and report to the media?

You should be appealing to VCS using their appeal portal, not by email.

What was the specific reason for the PCN, stopping or dropping off a passenger?

Show us your draft before you submit it, but make sure you don't miss the appeal deadline. 
You need to include things like, 

No breach of Ts and Cs
The car was stopped in a queue a traffic due to a broken down vehicle in front causing a frustration of contract
No breach of Ts and Cs
Stopping due to circumstances outside the driver's control makes the contract terms void for impossibility
Stopping with a valid reason is not a breach of airport byelaws
The driver never left the vehicle. What a passenger did or didn't do is irrelevant and outwith the control of the driver, and therefore did not drop off nor pick up (relevant if the PCN was for dropping off)
Not the landowner
No contract with or flowing from the landowner
No standing to issue charges in their own name

Boudouche1

Good morning @Fruitcake . Thank you for your detailed advice, as usual. I was waiting for a reply from Bristol Airport before writing to VCS, but will draft the letter to VCS now.

I can only appeal to VCS by using their dedicated Appeal portal myparkingspace.co.uk. I will use this online form on the Appeals page as advised.

The charge is for Stopping in the zone where stopping is prohibited. It does not mention passenger pick up.

I will draft a letter now before I send it to VCS, and would appreciate any advice.

Fruitcake

Okay, omit any mention of a passenger drop off/pick up, but include all other points as already advised. The main point of course is the contract is void for impossibility because the vehicle was stuck in a queue of traffic. I think this is actually a case of predatory ticketing and should be labelled as such, and even warrants a complaint to the IPC (even though I think it will be whitewashed), and a complaint to the DVLA and DVLA KADOE team.

I do hope you have made complaints to your MP and local and media press/TV/Radio as well. This really needs to be highlighted as far and wide as possible.

Boudouche1

Hi @Fruitcake . I gree with you. I will draft the appeal to VCS shortly, and she it here. I said I would contact the local media (BBC Points West/Evening Post), but have not yet had time for it.

Fruitcake

Complaint email addresses for the DVLA. Include proof of the traffic queue and complain that both the DVLA, the DVLA KADOE team, and VCS have all breached the DPA 2015 and GDPR 2018 by releasing (DVLA and the KADOE team), obtaining and processing (VCS) the keeper's personal data without a valid reason.

ccrt@dvla.gov.uk 

and

KADOEservice.support@dvla.gov.uk

Boudouche1

Thank you @Fruitcake . I will get to writing the letters today, will share a draft Appeal for VCS shortly

Boudouche1

Good morning @Fruitcake . Can youm please have a look at the draft appeal letter to VCS (below), before I send it to them?

I want to appeal the Charge Notice VCS***** issued on 30 June 2023. It relates to the event when the car stopped in a queue of traffic due to a broken down vehicle in front causing a frustration of contract. 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 passengers leaving their cars and walking on the side of the road with their suitcases so that they do not miss their flights. After the traffic was cleared, the car was parked in the Bristol airport's pre-paid Multi-Storey car park, fully pre-paid for 12 days.

 

1) The event did not breach the airport’s Terms and Conditions.

2) Bristol Airport is covered by byelaws. Airport byelaws allow stopping as long as there is a legitimate reason.

3) Stopping due to circumstances outside the driver's control makes the contract terms void for impossibility.
4) VCS do not own the land where the alleged event occurred. Bristol Airport is owned by Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan. VCS do not have a contract with or flowing from the landowner.

5) VCS have a Service Agreement with Bristol Airport Limited, who are not the landowner, to patrol parts of Bristol Airport. Contract number 127/VCS-CCTV/AS. VCS do not stand to issue charges in their own name.

7) The operator had no reasonable cause to obtain and process the registered keeper personal data from the DVLA, thus a breach a breach of the operator’s KADOE contract with the DVLA occurred.

 

I have contacted BBC Points West TV and Bristol Evening Post about this event as I assume that several other people were affected by similar traffic queues, and unfairly targeted by VCS Charge notices, at Bristol Airport.