Gladstones Letter Ref: Private Parking Ticket in Company Vehicle

Hi. Firstly, I would like to thank everybody for taking the time to read this and offer advice along the way. I have been keeping up to date reading similar posts throughout my situation and have read the newbies post.

So here is my story:

In April this year I parked my car in a neighbours space using their permit. This is a residential street who have had a private firm (PCM) operating there for approximately 2 years. I had lived there for approximately 15 years but the lease is in my Mother's name and having checked it does not mention anything about the right to parking in the street.

Since the introduction of PCM I had been parking my car in a neighbouring street to avoid tickets but as I had recently had surgery which made it difficult for me to walk I used a neighbour's space acquiring their permit. Unfortunately, during the night the permit had fallen from the dashboard and on to the seat. When I came out the next morning I had a ticket. I've taken photos of my car where you can clearly see the permit through the window on the seat.

After a quick glimpse over the newbies thread I found that if you have a company vehicle you should not ignore the ticket and therefore, I appealed to the IAS stating a number of reasons but of course this was rejected. I also mentioned to PCM that I did not give them permission to pass my data on to any third party.

A few months later I received a letter from Trace Debt Recovery and think this may be where I messed up as I called them to tell them that there were questions over the legality of the ticket and also I had refused permission for PCM to pass my data on to anybody. They respectfully told me no problem and that they would remove my data from their system.

Fast forward to a week ago and I received a letter from Gladstones asking me to pay the inflated fee or they MAY issue court proceedings (or words to that effect). I have been unsure whether to respond to this or ignore it and would this is where I would appreciate some advice. I have checked the letter and it appears to have a legitimate reference number 1*****.***** and also requests that I make payment to themselves.

Firstly, should I respond (if so what should I state) and secondly have I already said too much to get out of this situation. I believe that as it is a free car park which has only employed PCM to protect the residents that they should only be requesting a legitimate loss of earnings. Their signage is also poor (many around the street but none on entrance to the road). Reading the BPA's Code of Conduct it states that where disability is concerned they must provide additional help (or words to this effect) also.

Again, I apologise for being 1 of the thousands of worries people who you have undoubtedly had to help time and time again.

Thanks again.