Request for peer review - Bristol Airport VCS appeal

Fruitcake

This is the whole response, on HoC notepaper. If you get a court claim, I can supply you with a scan of the whole unredacted document. Note that since this was not my PCN, I couldn't supply the reference number nor VRM, so the second paragraph is of no use to anyone else, which is why I didn't previously quote it.

JP: Please find below a reply from Bristol Airport in response to the points that I raised on your behalf about bylaws.

They write:

Excel: Firstly, our Byelaws are definitely in place and are not obsolete. We have of course contacted our third-party parking enforcement provider who have identified an issue with the wording used in the response to the constituent, which does not align with their usual communication standards. The operative used incorrect phrasing with regards to Byelaws in this particular response. Excel Parking Services have assured us that this wording anomaly is not consistent with the response typically used in other communications.

The processing office manager, Charlotte Binns has requested the reference number or vehicle registration associated with the complaint raised in order to review this case thoroughly. May I ask that your constituent, Mr Fruitcake contacts charlottebinns@excelparking.co.uk direct with further details. We are grateful to Mr Fruitcake for making us aware of the issue and would be grateful if you can pass on our apologies for the error.

JP: I hope it helps – let’s see how their parking contractor responds once you’ve sent the detail they’re requesting – and if it isn’t satisfactory then please feel free to contact me to discuss how to take this forward.

Yours sincerely,

John Penrose MP for Weston-super-Mare

Note that JP is no longer an MP.

Harry96339

Debt collection email received today from Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd.

Coupon-mad

Ignore.    

Harry96339

LoC received. I read the newbies thread and put this together. Is there anything else I need to add? I'm going to email it to the solictor so I have a proof of sending it.

Dear Sirs,

I refer to your letter of claim.

The alleged debt is disputed and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended.

I am the registered keeper of the vehicle. I am not obliged to identify the driver and I decline to do so. As there is no legal presumption that the keeper of a vehicle was its driver on any particular occasion, your client cannot pursue me as driver (see VCS v Edward, 2023).

As you and your client are well aware, there is no keeper liability at Bristol Airport because the airport is not ‘relevant land’ as defined in Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. So your client cannot pursue me as keeper.

As your client cannot pursue me as driver or keeper, it would be an abuse of the court’s process for your client to issue a claim against me and I will defend any such claim vigorously and seek costs in relation to your client’s unreasonable conduct.

I note that the amount being claimed has increased by a hugely exaggerated amount which the Government called "extorting money from motorists".

I have two questions, and under the PAP I am entitled to specific answers:

1. Am I to understand that the additional £70 represents what you lot dress up as a 'Debt Recovery' fee, and if so, is this nett or inclusive of VAT? If the latter, would you kindly explain why I am being asked to pay the operator’s VAT?

2. With regard to the principal alleged PCN sum: Is this damages, or will it be pleaded as consideration for parking?

Yours faithfully,

KeithP

Harry96339 said:

LoC received. I read the newbies thread and put this together. Is there anything else I need to add? I'm going to email it to the solictor so I have a proof of sending it.

Dear Sirs,

I refer to your letter of claim.

The alleged debt is disputed and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended.

I am the registered keeper of the vehicle. I am not obliged to identify the driver and I decline to do so. As there is no legal presumption that the keeper of a vehicle was its driver on any particular occasion, your client cannot pursue me as driver (see VCS v Edward, 2023).

As you and your client are well aware, there is no keeper liability at Bristol Airport because the airport is not ‘relevant land’ as defined in Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. So your client cannot pursue me as keeper.

As your client cannot pursue me as driver or keeper, it would be an abuse of the court’s process for your client to issue a claim against me and I will defend any such claim vigorously and seek costs in relation to your client’s unreasonable conduct.

I note that the amount being claimed has increased by a hugely exaggerated amount which the Government called "extorting money from motorists".

Yours faithfully,

Can you add a few lines at the end of that about non-payment of VAT?
There is example text already written for you in the first few paragraphs of the second post of the NEWBIES thread.

Harry96339

Thanks @KeithP I've added it now.

Harry96339

The solicitor responded. They rebutted with the following:

Schedule 4 (4)(1) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“the Act”) states “The creditor has the right to recover any unpaid parking charges from the keeper of the vehicle”.

This is a non-starter argument right? The very first paragraph of the schedule says:

"This Schedule applies where—

(a)the driver of a vehicle is required by virtue of a relevant obligation to pay parking charges in respect of the parking of the vehicle on relevant land; and
...

They also reference Britannia Parking Group Ltd v Semark-Julien [2020] when stating that it is not correct to propose this claim should be struck out as an ‘abuse of process’ due to the contractual costs claimed.

Lastly, they say they PCNs fall out of the scope of VAT.

Coupon-mad

Search the forum for the sentence about VAT and copy the HMRC report others did who got the exact same template reply.

Harry96339

Hey all the claim has recently come through. How is this for a defence?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z8LQQVYlQUDQByfMYv2hF8G_-eDYqer5fkjEMAlIHoI/edit?usp=sharing

KeithP

Harry96339 said:

Hey all the claim has recently come through.

Are you saying that you have received a County Court Claim Form?
If so, what is the Issue Date on it?