Liverpool Airport VCS

[Theone1978]

Hi All,

 

Just another request about our friends VCS

 

We are a haulage company and occasionally deliver to a site next to L'pool airport, which comes under the VCS control area.

 

In the past we have received the letters for stopping on a prohibited road, which we passed to the driver concerned to be paid or ignored as they saw fit to !

 

The last two however for drivers of Polish nationality, one who said he has to stop for a mechanical breakdown, i appealed this and subsequently to the IAS. Both were rejected and VCS even supplied a photo of the driver stood by the side of his vehicle eating a banana , in between me receiving the final appeal the driver left our employment and returned to Poland.

 

A short while later i received another 'stopped on the road' for another Polish driver for which i have just ignored.

 

Both instances were towards the end of last year and i have now received the first threats of court action from BW Legal ( in the same envelope lol !! )

 

I was just wondering what i am best doing now, replying to BW Legal or just ignore them ?

 

Any advise would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

[DragonFly1967]

Just out of interest, are both of these Polish drivers now resident in Poland?

 

 

( No doubt some of the more experienced posters on here will already see where my mind is going )

[dx100uk]

Just send be the two line rebuttal for each ticket to bw

In numerous VCS bw excel threads here

[Theone1978]

Both of them returned to Poland but i am not sure if both or either have returned to the UK.

I am not sure how VCS expect other nationalities to understand their threats

[Theone1978]

Another thing is that i cannot ( and would not ) release a driver's name and address without permission, as it contravenes the data protection act, how does this affect the case ?

[dx100uk]

just send the 2 lines letter.

then if they issue a claimform then atleast they can be told the drivers are in Poland in court

[Theone1978]

Thanks, will keep you posted

[dx100uk]

one for each ticket

[ericsbrother]

you can release ther names but that wont make VCS happy, they just want someones money and they know that they arent going to get it via a Polish court.

 

 

I presume that the lorries belong to a ltd company and you are a director of the co?

If so as the contract is with a person the company cannot be liable for their choice of whether to accept a contract or not so they will have a problem naming anyone on a court claim form.

 

 

There are the other things you should consider though,

the land is governed by its own byelaws and VCS have no interest in these so that means they have no standing in law to be able to sue you.

 

 

Also, breaking down is not stopping per se, and stopping is not parking (although VCS have changed their signs recently so a prohibitive action is somehow a contractual agreement)

 

 

The main thing is do not ignore a court claim form them but if you get one they are fairly easy to beat as they have problems with proving their claim for the above reasons. They are happy to take people to court because 85% of court claims go uncontested so it is a numbers game for them

 

 

Another thing is that i cannot ( and would not ) release a driver's name and address without permission, as it contravenes the data protection act, how does this affect the case ?

[Theone1978]

Thanks guys.

 

I am the nominated Transport Manager, not a named director, and yes we are a LTD company.

 

I'll send a reply to them using one of the templates, is it worth also adding in my reply that the letters will be forwarded to our legal department, or anything along those lines ?

[dx100uk]

no the more you write

the more you open yourself up for letter tennis

the 2 line rebuttal that's it.

[Theone1978]

Hi Everyone,

 

Does it make a difference if i email BW legal rather than writing a letter to them ?

[ericsbrother]

NEVER USE EMAIL. They will just use your email addy to harass you for free, pass it on to others to do the same etc. By writing it creates a sense of gravitas that email doesnt have and will force them to respond in the same way. Also, it will cost them to post out neumerous taradiddles and that may well make them consider how much they want to throw at this knowing that they are going to get no return on expenditure

[Theone1978]

Great thanks, is there a link to a template of what to say ?

[dx100uk]

no its 2 lines

read any vcs excel bw thread

[ericsbrother]

Dear VCS, there has been no breach of any contractual condition therefore we owe you nothing. Learn to read properly and you wont have to send out stupid letters for no reason.

 

That will do.

[Theone1978]

How about this ?

 

I am replying to your letter dated 28th March 2017.

 

There has been no breach of contractual conditions.

 

Refrain from contacting us again, as any further instances will be treated as harassment, and reported as such

[renegadeimp]

No need for the last line. Just follow the 2 line statement that youkeep ignoring, from any of the relevant threads, or send VCS the line ericsbrother mentioned. You dont have to be professional with them at all. No matter what happens, theyre on to a no starter anyway.

[Theone1978]

Hi everyone,

 

This is the latest reply i have had from B W Legal.

 

Dear Sir,

 

We write in reference to the above matter and your recent correspondence.

 

On xxxxx, you stopped on a roadway where stopping is prohibited at the Int business park, Liverpool.

 

The signage located blah, blah blah, you have breached the terms & conditions blah blah blah and are liable for the balance.

 

Notwith standing the above, our client is amenable to resolving the matter without the need to issue county court proceedings and we therefor invite you to contact us within 14 days of this letter to discuss payment of the balance.

 

Regards,

BW Legal

 

Do i need to reply to it or am i best just ignoring it ?

 

Thanks,

[dx100uk]

Ignore

But not a claimform

[ericsbrother]

begging letter from a solicitor acting as an unlicenced debt collector ( they dont need to be licenced as they will have an exemption as they are solicitors, who are all upright and honest people, even the ones in prison)

[Theone1978]

Just a though but is it worth me writing back to them asking for a copy of the agreement as signed by the driver, and insisting that its in Polish

[ericsbrother]

you will then show your ignorance of the law and they will think that they have a chance of collecting from someone- anyone, they dont care who pays.

 

Understand something,

this is not about parking (or breaking down for that matter)

it is about the byelaws in force at the site and contract law and which takes precedent.

 

 

We know that the byelaws do and that menas no money for VCS so they claim the contract is still valid when in reality you cannot agree with them to break the law for the site.

 

 

The land owners dont get involved as they dont make any money whoever wins or loses.

 

 

If they got sued every time VCS dropped a clanger they might wake up and read what they had shoved through parliament.

[Theone1978]

ok thanks for clarifying

[Theone1978]

Hi Everyone,

 

I have received two more letters now from BW Legal now entitled 'Final Notice'

 

It goes on to say that we have wrote to you on xxx and we haven't heard from you and our client demands payment now etc etc etc.

 

It also says though that they have been instructed by their client to commence court proceedings if the balance is not received in 14 days etc.

 

In then goes on to to mention ccj's etc before mentioning that the case of private eye vs Beavis and this would eliminate any defence we would rely upon

 

Do i need to do anything or is it just the standard blurb ?

 

Thanks,