PCN from AEJ ignored is it too late?

kitbag63

Hi,

I read the out of date posts and have ignored a parking charge notice from AEJ, the incident occurred at Gallions Reach last summer, cannot be more specific to the time as i have thrown all the previous papers away, it was for parking in a Disabled Bay without displaying badges, the car was in the bay however the badges were on the dashboard, this is in a free car park. I did check the website but there were no pictures there so I cannot see if picture shows the badges on display. I did not think there was a case to answer as the badges were on display and the use of the Disabled bay was legitimate.

I have received a solicitors letter stating that they intend to go to court over this, with a chance to pay £150 before the additional court costs are added, any advice would be gratefully received, also it it too late to appeal after reading this site it think it is?

Stroma

Who is the solicitor that has written to you, is it gladstones ?

da_rule

You are too late to appeal. Blue Badges don't matter on price land but the Equality Act does.

What to do next is up to you:
1) Pay
2) Wait it out and see if they follow through. There have been many successful court cases for registered keepers in these sorts of case as long as you follow the advice given to you. If you receive any documentation from the Courts then do not ignore this.

Guys_Dad

The first bit of advice is that your case is as common as a grain of sand on a beach and there are lots of threads on here that will answer your questions.

With that in mind, one of our most experienced regulars wrote a guide to help people who came on here being harassed by parking companies.

If after reading it, you are still in trouble, come back with specific points, but please do read it first. It is the NEWBIES sticky thread at the top of the forum.

Coupon-mad

A simple search for a keyword finds stuff like:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4896495

Searching the forum always works well.

kitbag63

Stroma wrote: »

Who is the solicitor that has written to you, is it gladstones ?

yes it is,
I think I have a bit of studying to do,

Stroma

So it's really roxburghe writing to you, they rent the name from them, and write these stupid letters. Look on the sticky thread by coupon mad, it covers your situation and what can be done

kitbag63

I have some specific questions,

In reply to any one do i reply to Roxburghe, Gladstones, or to AEJ Management?
As i do not have the time or date of the alleged parking infringement (due to me throwing away all previous papers) the wording would be very woolly as from the templates I've seen they all state the date and time, how would i word this?
Should i still write to the landowner if i can find out who they are?

one other question how can i tell if the letter is really from Gladstone of Roxburghe?

thanks for all the advice so far

Redx

I think you need to read post #3 again and follow that advice and not ask questions that cannot be answered

these companies do not play by the rules , nothing is "cut and dried" with them

they hide behind names and rent off each other and you rarely know who is doing what, its all smoke and mirrors and designed to confuse, hence your confusion. the whole industry is a house built of cards and on quicksand for foundations, yet you want total clarity and honesty ? its not going to happen m8

the same applies with landholders, it can be tricky finding out who they are but if you did and know the date of the contravention then you can always ask them to cancel it as they are jointly liable in any EA 2010 issue

the fact is that if you went to court, and lost it would not be much more than what the debt collector is asking for , so possibly more , possibly less

I would ignore them and wait for an LBC or court papers , ignoring the silly debt collector letters , then argue your case either in the paperwork exchange or in the actual court itself if it gets that far

you could for example ask that this be settled by ADR and quote popla as a suitable ADR in the LBC exchgange or court claim paperwork exchange , thereby letting it go to popla , if they refuse it would go against them in court

they are breaking the EA 2010 due to pursuing you so again that can go against them too , its also against the BPA CoP once the PPC has been informed of your entitlement

so I would never reply to any debt collectors and only if its an LBC from the PPC or their solicitors

so if it is an LBC then use the lazydaisy templates , if its not an LBC then ignore

kitbag63

Redx thanks for your reply, you are correct I am looking for some sort of clarity in a sea of mud.
I have searched through a number of threads and one with this letter that LazyDaisy compiled seems to be something i could use and send to AEJ management and Gladstones as in that thread it says it could help me if I have to go to court as i am now asking for appeal, even though it is very late.

it does look like i have to wait and see if they will send out LBC and then go to court but there no harm in trying to help my case

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

The letter from Gladstones is not an LBC, it is a debt collectors letter. However, I would not ignore it as they are genuine solicitors (albeit the letter is a computer generated letter from their debt collection department) so court proceedings are likely to follow at some point.

In your shoes, I would write to the solicitors along the following lines (with thanks to C-M for her input):

---

[Name & Address]

[Date]

[Insert their reference number: xxxx ]

Dear sirs

Your client: [name of PPC]

Parking Charge Number xxxxx


I refer to your letter of [insert date].

Please note, this is an open letter and I reserve the right to produce it to the court at the appropriate time, should the need arise.

Firstly, I do not accept liability for the above parking charge and I have no intention of paying the money demanded by your client. Specifically, I do not accept that the charge demanded is in any way shape or form a genuine pre-estimate of loss. Further, I do not believe that your client has legal standing to pursue an action against me in its own name, since any loss (which is denied) would be the landholder's in any event. I am sure that you will have advised your client as to the recent cases in which parking companies have had similar claims dismissed owing to having no locus to bring a claim. For the above reasons, any court proceedings in connection with this matter will be vigorously defended.

Second, should it be your client's intention to start court proceedings, you must first provide a Letter Before Claim which complies with the requirements of Annex A Para 2 of the Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct. Your letter clearly does not meet those requirements.

In particularly your attention is drawn to the Practice Direction requirement to utilise an appropriate form of ADR before starting court proceedings. In the circumstances I invite your client to refer this dispute to the Parking On Private Land appeals service ("POPLA"), which is the appropriate form of ADR set up by the parking industry for this precise situation.

Please note: Notwithstanding the fact that any decision of POPLA is legally binding on the parking company, and not the motorist, in the spirit of exploring an amicable resolution of this dispute, I am willing to give an undertaking to be bound by the decision of POPLA, thus ensuring that this case will not proceed to court.

A referral to POPLA will avoid your client incurring the fees and expenses set out in your letter, and perhaps more importantly will reduce the burden on the court (which, as you will be aware, is the reason for this Direction). Please do not seek to rely on any deadlines imposed by your client as POPLA has confirmed that it does not impose any time limit on an appeal to POPLA, and all that is required is for your client to issue a POPLA code.

I would also remind you that a failure and/or refusal by your client to agree to my offer of both parties abiding by a POPLA decision would be clear evidence of your client's failure to mitigate its alleged loss.

Should your client reject my offer to refer this dispute to ADR and instead chooses to instruct you to issue court proceedings, I shall invite the court to stay the case and make an order referring the case to POPLA. Further I shall strenuously resist any application for costs that your client may wish to make, owing to its failure to mitigate, and shall instead make an application for my own wasted costs according to the provisions of Schedule 4 of the Practice Direction and CPR 27.14.

In the meantime, and in the absence of a compliant Letter Before Claim, you should place a note on your file to the effect that this charge is disputed and your firm is required to cease and desist all further contact with me. For the avoidance of doubt, the same applies to the debt collection agency, referred to in your letter.

Finally, please also note that should your firm issue court proceedings on behalf of your client, without first complying with all steps set out in the Practice Direction on pre-action conduct, I shall make an immediate complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for breach of the Principles contained in the SRA Handbook version 8, published on 1st October 2013.

I trust that I have made myself clear, and I suggest that you take your client's further instructions.

Yours faithfully

PRINT NAME

Coupon-mad

Yep send it to all of them - can't do any harm at all at this stage. And remember it was only a debt collector letter like any other, nothing that means they are likely to suddenly start a small claim (and if they do, it's defendable). Best to respond robustly though, and Daisy's letter is the best response.