I parked a hire car in a PPS carpark. Bought a ticket. I can't remember if there was an issue with the ticket itself but I have a vague memory of the licence plate being truncated on the ticket. Either way, I don't have the ticket anymore.
PPS sent me a fine four weeks later. I appealed through IAS (which I now know is basically run by PPS). I didn't have the ticket anymore, but I did have a bank statement showing I had paid. They admitted I had paid, but claimed I hadn't entered the licence properly so my appeal was rejected.
Now I'm getting emails saying the fee has gone up to £170. As far as I'm concerned I have paid for a ticket, and they have accepted that fact, so that should be the end of the matter.
So I have a few questions:
- I would like to send them a cease and desist with the threat of legal action if they continue contacting me. Is this advisable?
- I would also like to send them a request to remove all information they have on me via GDPR. Again, is this viable?
- I may be moving address soon, should I inform them of the address change?
Thanks,
Welcome to FTLA.
To help us provide the best advice, please read the following thread carefully and provide as much of the information it asks for as you are able to:
READ THIS FIRST - Private Parking Charges Forum guide As you have appealed already, we'll also need to see exactly what you sent by way of appeal.
I would like to send them a cease and desist with the threat of legal action if they continue contacting me. Is this advisable?
That is unlikely to help - they will claim that they are legitimately contacting you regarding an alleged debt. I would simply ignore debt collectors.
I would also like to send them a request to remove all information they have on me via GDPR. Again, is this viable?
Same as above essentially - they will claim that they are processing your personal data under a lawful basis, as they allege you owe them money under a contract. If this were not the case, anyone being pursued for a debt could simply order the alleged creditor to delete their details.
I may be moving address soon, should I inform them of the address change?
Definitely. If you do not, they will continue contacting you at your current address, and if they do not conduct a trace, may end up issuing a claim in the County Court at your current address. If you miss this, it would result in a default judgement against you and a CCJ, which you would then have to set aside.
Thanks for your reply.
I assumed they would claim its a legitimate debt, I was more hoping to use evidence of a cease an desist as proof of harassment should this go legal. I have a feeling this is going to end up with a court date, I just can't stand the time wasting this is causing.
I'll be bringing this up with my MP as well, see if that does any good.
If you do move, you should send a Data Rectification Notice to the Data Protection Officer at PPS - their details are usually to be found in the company's privacy policy.
If they do decide to take the matter to court, you should receive a Letter of Claim, either from PPS directly or a legal firm acting on their behalf. If you receive such a letter return here for support.
If contacting your MP, you may wish to ask them about their support of regulation of private parking via legislation - it was raised again in parliament last week -
Hansard.
On this case, what's done is done, but for any future cases come here for advice before appealing - particularly with hire cars there is almost always a defence available around your liability as the hirer, but this defence is lost if you reveal who was driving.
When you appealed, did you identify yourself, the Hirer, also being the driver?
Are you aware that the driver and the Hirer/Keeper are separate legal entities and there is no legal obligation on the Hirer/Keeper to identify the driver to an unregulated private parking company?
As it was a hire car, PPS will have failed to fully comply with all the requirements of PoFA 2012 and thus rendered them unable to hold the Hirer liable for the charge. They had no idea who was driving unless the Hirer (you) told them, inadvertently or otherwise. Only the driver is liable.
So, have you, metaphorically, blown both feet off, leaving you with not a lot to stand on if you intend to progress this to litigation? If so, the only saving grace is that they will most likely use a bulk litigator to issue the claim and, with our advice, we would try and see it through to a discontinuation.
When you appealed, did you identify yourself, the Hirer, also being the driver?
Are you aware that the driver and the Hirer/Keeper are separate legal entities and there is no legal obligation on the Hirer/Keeper to identify the driver to an unregulated private parking company?
As it was a hire car, PPS will have failed to fully comply with all the requirements of PoFA 2012 and thus rendered them unable to hold the Hirer liable for the charge. They had no idea who was driving unless the Hirer (you) told them, inadvertently or otherwise. Only the driver is liable.
So, have you, metaphorically, blown both feet off, leaving you with not a lot to stand on if you intend to progress this to litigation? If so, the only saving grace is that they will most likely use a bulk litigator to issue the claim and, with our advice, we would try and see it through to a discontinuation.
I'm aware that identifying myself as the driver was a mistake now. At the time I was trying to resolve the issue in good faith, I had no idea these people were basically conmen.
I've started getting text messages from "BW legal" saying they want £170 and are willing to help me with an instalment plan. Is there really nothing I can do about this kind of harassment? Can I at least block their number?
BW Legal are acting as a debt collector. You are under no legal obligation to interact with them. Block their number and let them deal,with you be email or snail mail.