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VCS Parking Charge Notice, Court Case
Valiant1964
post Mon, 3 Aug 2020 - 11:07
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Hello All,

I'm hoping someone can give me a concise piece of advice on this one, as I seem to be getting bogged down in legalese which I frankly don't have time to digest!

Long story short, I received a PCN from VCS on a retail park in Scunthorpe. I am vehemently refusing to pay this because the VCS operator advised me it was OK
to park where I did and within 5 minutes of me leaving the car he has snapped my vehicle....and 10 days later I got a PCN through the post.

I appealed, and it was turned down. The case has now gone to the Small Claims court which I intend to contest.

Ultimately I have only my word against that of the VCS van driver, who no doubt will not be present to deny my story.

Can anyone tell me how best to proceed?

Many thanks.

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post Mon, 3 Aug 2020 - 11:07
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The Rookie
post Mon, 3 Aug 2020 - 11:14
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1/ Was the driver ID revealed in the appeal?
2/ What stage are you at EXACTLY? You have the claim form, what else have you done, when was it dated? If it's on the small claims track what was your EXACT (yes word for word) defence submitted?
3/ The won't bring the employee to court, almost guaranteed.



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There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!

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Valiant1964
post Mon, 3 Aug 2020 - 11:45
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Thanks.

Yes, I (in hindsight unwisely) appealed as having being the driver. Obviously I was trying to be straight up about it and I now wish I hadn't.

I have a notice of transfer of proceedings letter, as I was advised that it wasn't suitable for mediation (I didn't want to go for mediation as to me that
seemed like I would have to meet halfway and without a doubt I was tricked into this situation).

Do you mean the wording of my appeal to Excel/VCS or the one I sent in response to the Claim Form?

The Claim Form was dated 2 June 2020, the notice of allocation to the small claims track dated July 3rd and the Transfer of Proceedings is dated July 22nd 2020.

I've heard nothing since.

The one I sent in response to the Claim Form was as follows (and believe me, I know how naïve and ill-researched it looks now that I have seen some of the stuff
needed - I stupidly thought that the mere truth of the situation would be my saviour!)

I arrived in Scunthorpe on November 23rd 2019 at approximately 2.10pm to attend a football fixture at Scunthorpe United's
stadium.

I sought parking close to the venue and found a space at the end of a line of other parked vehicles on a road close to the stadium.
At the rear end of this line was a van (possibly Ford Transit-type) with what looked like a camera protruding from the
top, similar to those seen on police traffic enforcement vans etc.

Given that so many other vehicles were parked there I pulled in behind this van and checked with the driver of the van that it was
OK to park there. I also wanted to be sure that he would have room to get out as I would have to park quite close to his vehicle n
order that I did not park across a dropped kerb (which is visible on the still images). His reply was that it was indeed OK to park
behind him, or most certainly words to that effect. I duly parked up behind him and went to the match.

A number of days later I was astonished to receive through the post a Parking Charge Notice dated November 29th 2019. On the PCN
were 3 still images taken between 2.16pm and 2.17pm showing my vehicle parked some 20-25ft behind another vehicle. That gap is
the very spot that was occupied by the van with the camera barely minutes earlier. I have clearly fallen victim here to entrapment
on the van driver's part. He has deliberately let me park behind him, waited for me to leave the vehicle and then taken the
pictures.
A number of days later I was astonished to receive through the post a Parking Charge Notice dated November 29th 2019. On the PCN
were 3 still images taken between 2.16pm and 2.17pm showing my vehicle parked some 20-25ft behind another vehicle. That gap is
the very spot that was occupied by the van with the camera barely minutes earlier. I have clearly fallen victim here to entrapment
on the van driver's part. He has deliberately let me park behind him, waited for me to leave the vehicle and then taken the
pictures.

I immediately appealed against this charge and this appeal was denied. The paragraph below was part of VCS' response

"Further to your comments in respect of our CCTV Enforcement Officer; they are authorised to patrol the site in question to
identify and record details of vehicles which stop contrary to the Terms and Conditions displayed on the signs on site. They do not,
and are not authorised, to give or imply permission that a vehicle may stop or park in a manner not allowed by those Terms and
Conditions".

This obviously neither confirms nor denies that the conversation between myself and their operator took place - and needlessly to
say I do not have the opportunity to speak to their operator again.

I have to assume that many other PCN's were issued that day. It is quite possible that this trick is the chosen modus operandi of the
van driver, because he needs to ensure that his camera has sufficient vision to record a front or rear number-plate. So, if
one vehicle parks closely behind another already-parked vehicle that he has not yet captured on camera, he will not be able to
record the plate of the already-parked vehicle.

It is highly-debatable whether there is adequate signage in the area, as the pictures show at least 5 other vehicles parked in the
ame line as the one I joined. However my defence is based in the immoral practices employed by the VCS operator. Needless to say I
I am not allowed to speak to the said camera operator, and so now find myself either paying up or having a CCJ against my name.






Incidentally, this post from the "VCS and Court" topic is exactly where my PCN relates to

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5884045,-0....3312!8i6656
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The Rookie
post Mon, 3 Aug 2020 - 11:57
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Ok, that’s not actually a defence at all, it’s a witness statement. The defence should have been legal points only.

Was the van marked VCS or the employee logo’d up? You’ve not mentioned that in your ‘defence’

Of course it doesn’t matter whether the employee is authorised to do that or not, it’s whether he did or not that matters, you aren’t to know VCS’s internal processes. If the Judge believes you then you have promissory Estoppel and they have no case, if the operator doesn’t turn up (and I’d give odd of 1000:1 he doesn’t) then how can they rebut your version of events?


--------------------
There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!

S172's
Rookies 1-0 Kent

Council PCN's
Rookies 1-0 Warwick
Rookies 1-0 Birmingham

PPC PCN's
Rookies 10-0 PPC's
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Valiant1964
post Mon, 3 Aug 2020 - 15:31
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Thanks for your reply, and I take on board the many shortcomings in my actions thus far. I'll walk miles to avoid paying to park never mind getting tickets so I've no experience in this area.

The van had some kind of signage which led me to believe they were in a position to advise me on parking there (they were there on a matchday and I'm sure that's no coincidence).

My appeal to VCS/Excel was based solely on the conversation I had with their operative. , I didn't even go into the issue of signage because that would have diluted my argument. Without doubt I was snared into parking there. The pictorial "evidence" they sent me shows my car parked some 20-25ft away from the back of the line of other cars parked there - that is the very space that was occupied by the VCS van not even 5 minutes before the pictures were taken. He's clearly waited until I was out of sight, then moved his van into a position from which he could photograph my number plate.

I'm sure the operator won't turn up but I'm asuming VCS' representative from DCB Legal will and I'm worried they'll tie me up in knots!
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The Rookie
post Tue, 4 Aug 2020 - 06:45
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From: Warwickshire
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No-one ever turns up from VCS, they rely on error laden statements with some very dubious statements of 'fact'.

Right now I would reject your defence, you've made out nothing that shows that whoever was driving the van is at all relevant in this at all, could just be a plumber parking his work van you asked! You have to show, on balance of probabilities, that it was a VCS employee or an employee of the landowner or he's irrelevant. So what did the 'some find of signage' say? You say 'their operative' without having anything in what you say to show the 'their' part at all.


--------------------
There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!

S172's
Rookies 1-0 Kent

Council PCN's
Rookies 1-0 Warwick
Rookies 1-0 Birmingham

PPC PCN's
Rookies 10-0 PPC's
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Valiant1964
post Tue, 4 Aug 2020 - 16:51
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Member No.: 109,279



Hi,

Yes I've been aware of that potential hole in my case. The van had a camera poking out of the top so I'm pretty sure he was VCS personnel. I emailed them a few months ago asking for the registration plate of the van that took the picture, as l figured this would enable me to check that it was registered to them. They've not replied, which obviously makes it difficult for me to be sure that they were there legitimately. There is of course the slender possibility that they had more than one operator in the area on the day, but the picture that they took shows my car parked a Transit van-length away from the next car in front. That space was of course occupied by their van.
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