How long before poking PE for a response?

teabelly

nigelbb wrote: »

Do you know what this means or why you would head a letter thus?

Drop this fake legalese.

I thought it was supposed to keep the initial discussions private until you know exactly what the claim is for. The RK needs to know exactly what it is for as the PCN from PE is so vague you really can't tell at all.

It mentions keeping things private later on.

I didn't write the template so I don't know what the writer intended.

Had I found the advice here first I'd have just suggested sending Stroma's short sweet one. The RK was in the mood for sending a multi page letter to vent their anger anyway so it seemed like a suitable choice

If it is just that bit and the rest is fine then it's not that much of a bad letter.

nigelbb

In general "Without prejudice" is used when you are negotiating a settlement and means that the contents of the letter cannot usually be produced in court. "Without prejudice, except as to costs" means that the letter can be produced in court after the judgement when the question of costs is being settled. The question to ask is "Would I want the contents t be produced in court?" In this case I would say 'Yes' as it shows that you making an honest attempt to challenge the whole basis of this charge and if ever the case did end up in court it would show that you had been entirely consistent in denying the charge right from the outset.

Umkomaas

My heart sinks every time that appeal letter 'Without Prejudice, Except as to Costs' appears (and one poster a few months ago proudly posted up that appeal with the boast of 'Look what a clever boy I am - my very own work'!!).

To me, what those words mean is, I don't know what I'm writing, but this looks good, should stuff the PPC with this.

And what the PPC will be thinking is 'Right, game on, let's go for this one hard, he's just grabbed at an internet template and doesn't understand it'.

That template should be retired, it's been used so many times and produced no results. In any case very few are going to get initial appeal success, other than a POPLA code, so why waste time with this lengthy nonsense, it's no better or useful than the PE 40-page POPLA bundle.

Coupon-mad

Yep you should have got rid of the 'Without Prejudice' heading, and should have omitted:

''Before I decide how to deal with your Parking Charge Notice - Notice to Keeper, I should be grateful if you would first answer all the questions and deal with all the issues I have set out below. Once you have done so, I will be able to make an informed decision on how I deal with the matter. ''

...because it lends nothing and sounds as though they haven't appealed yet.

I agree that template should be retired or updated. Never mind, it was only the first challenge and PE will have laughed to see it dusted off yet again but will send a response. Stick with the current advice and prepare by reading 'How to win at POPLA' which is linked in the 'Newbies read this First!' sticky. No random old templates!

4consumerrights

@Teabelly -the letter you sent is still not much better - as per the comments of Nigelbb, Umkomaas and Coupon Mad who all point out why.

This is parking cowboy's newer template letter and IMO still comes across as a question and answer scenario and still gives the impression that PE may have a case here and grovels too much saying "PLEASE" too many times when requesting information.

[FONT=Arial, serif]Before I decide how to deal with your Parking Charge Notice - Notice to Keeper, I should be grateful if you would first answer all the questions and deal with all the issues I have set out below. Once you have done so, I will be able to make an informed decision on how I deal with the matter. [/FONT]

In addition the letter refers to:

[FONT=Arial, serif]I should be grateful for specific answers to all questions raised. In this respect I remind you of the obligations set out in the current Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct.[/FONT]

This is usually reserved when a LBA/LBC letter has been received for propsed court action and not when appealing the parking charge!


When did you send the letter - is it still within the timeframe you gave?

teabelly

That letter was sent off just before Xmas. The relative never even received the first NTK just a 'reminder' mid December with the photos of the car on it. I think they sent the above template to arrive by 24th December and they have proof of posting.

Relative also noticed on a subsequent visit to the same site that the ticket machine they used before seems to have been replaced so they reckon the machine was faulty which is why they didn't get a receipt then (they always get one now).

PE haven't responded to their letter at all as of yet.

teabelly

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Yep you should have got rid of the 'Without Prejudice' heading, and should have omitted:

''Before I decide how to deal with your Parking Charge Notice - Notice to Keeper, I should be grateful if you would first answer all the questions and deal with all the issues I have set out below. Once you have done so, I will be able to make an informed decision on how I deal with the matter. ''

...because it lends nothing and sounds as though they haven't appealed yet.

I agree that template should be retired or updated. Never mind, it was only the first challenge and PE will have laughed to see it dusted off yet again but will send a response. Stick with the current advice and prepare by reading 'How to win at POPLA' which is linked in the 'Newbies read this First!' sticky. No random old templates!

Definitely not. I shall make sure anything I pass on is up to date and checked by sensible people on here