BW Legal, VCS and a County Court Claim

[DanHay]

Hi
Looking for some advice as I have been chased by BW Legal on behalf of VCS since April 2016 regarding a PCN that was left on my car for parking in a business park. I was not the driver but I'm the registered keeper.
Initially they were ignored until the letters became more "serious". They disappeared for a while then had obviously decided on doing some house keeping and reignited their demands for payment. There was again some communication from me with my last correspondence to them being by email as below.
i received a letter direct from VCS 1 month ago and filed it away and forgot to respond ! I have now received a County Court Claim form. Do I just bite the bullet and pay or should I fight them ?



My last email response to BW legal :-


I write in response to your letter dated 21 February 2017,

As I have previously informed you I maintain no responsibility for this 'balance'. Your client, VCS, have written to me as the registered keeper of a vehicle, of which they allege that on 02/04/2016, the driver of that vehicle breached the terms and conditions of one of their car parks. VCS have failed to meet the requirements of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, and as such have no legal basis upon which they can hold me, the registered keeper, liable for this 'balance.' As I can not legally be held liable for this balance, I require BW Legal & VCS to cease processing my data. Please take this as a Section 10 Notice under the Data Protection Act.

In your letter you brought my attention to 'Elliot v Loake.' I am indeed acutely aware of this criminal case, whereby the registered keeper was presumed to also be the driver due to overwhelming evidence, including forensic evidence. I do not however see how this is relevant to a breach of parking conditions on VCS's car park. Should there be forensic evidence that as yet I have not been made privy too, I look forward to seeing this. Should it not be forthcoming then I will inform the Solicitors Regulation Authority that you are wrongly citing criminal case law in relation to a completely unrelated and dissimilar civil matter.

It should not be for an unrepresented member of the public such as my self, to point out to a professional law firm that they are trying to pursue a debt without the necessary legal basis to do so. Should BW Legal or VCS continue to pursue me for this 'balance' then I require an explicit and clear reason as to what legal basis exists to hold me responsible.

Should my request under S.10 DPA not be fulfilled, I will report you to the ICO.

It should also not be necessary that I, as a consumer, must remind you that your £54 legal charges cannot be recovered in the Small Claims Court. They are not my concern and I refer you to CPR 27.14.

Should you continue to pursue me for a 'balance' without legal basis, I will report you to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Regards



Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Rgds

DanHay

[ostell]

You fight it. Acknowledge the claim online using the details and passowrd on the form. Noting in the defence. This gives you 33 days from the date of issue to get the defence to the court.

You seem to have covered the issues well anyway. As you were not the driver (can you show you were elsewhere) thenthey have to comply with POFA and usually they no not.

Post up a redacted copy of the PCN. Leave the dates

[DanHay]

Thanks for the reply ostell. I don't seem to be able to find the original PCN but have a pretty poor photocopy that BW Legal supplied so will try to get that posted on here shortly however, revisiting the evidence they supplied to me, I have noticed that the PCN issue date shows 2nd April 2015 but the photos of the car they have supplied have the date 1st April 2015 ! Does this make any difference to their claim ?

[DanHay]

PCN COPY_1.jpg

As I said, its a pretty poor copy !

ostell, let me know if there is anything else you wanted to see

[ostell]

So did you get a notice to keeper? If you weren't driving, and can show it, then as their PCNs are often not POFA compliant then they cannot hold you, the keeper, liable. But need more info

[DanHay]

Hi ostell,
I cant find anything other than a letter from VCS informing me that due to having failed to make arrangements for payment that my account has now been passed to BW Legal. I then got the following from BW Legal.

BW Legal 2_.jpg
parking photo.jpg
I have also attached one of the 3 photos that BW Legal supplied that clearly shows the date as 1st April even though they are claiming the parking offence occurred on the 2nd April ! does this go against them or am I clutching at straws.

[ostell]

That photo says 04/01/2015, from what I can see. Either way it's not the date of the incident so is not proof. COuld also be any car.

How are you in correspondence with them? how did they get your name and address, if other than through the DVLA? Did you receive a Notice to Keeper from them?

Contact the DVLA, SubjectAccess.Requests@dvla.gov.uk , and ask who applied for your details from them from a couple of days before the date of the alleged incident to when you got their first letter.