solicitors letter

ChesterD

Thanks for that bit of information. Looks like I'll to refine my letter a bit.

ChesterD

Hello again all, have refined my letter. Any comments greatly appreciated.

Name
Address

Date

[Insert their reference number: xxxx ]

Dear Sirs

Parking Charge Number xxxxx

I refer to your letter of [insert date], and earlier correspondence.

As Registered Keeper of car registration (reg), I have no intention of paying the money demanded by your client, and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended. I was not the driver of the car on the day of the offence in question, which I can easily prove, and DO NOT have to inform you who the driver was as the Notice To Keeper letter I received on the matter was NON conforming to POFA 2012.

The ticket was issued for “Parking without a valid permit or authority”. The car park mentioned in your letter is free to use and without the need to obtain a ticket. As the passenger that accompanied the driver on the day in question is registered disabled, the driver was well within their right to park in a designated disabled bay, without the need to display a Permit as per the Equity Act 2010. I cite Excel v Greenwood 2013 as a relevant County Court decision in this regard.''

Also, I am unable to clarify if your letter is intended as a debt collection letter or litigation as nowhere does it state what it actually is. Should it be your client's intention to start court proceedings, you must provide a Letter Before Claim which complies with the requirements of Annex A Para 2 of the Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct:

Please also note that a failure and/or refusal to comply with the Practice Direction will result in an immediate referral to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for breach of the Principles contained in the SRA Handbook version 8, published on 1st October 2013.

In the meantime, and in the absence of a 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.

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

Yours faithfully

Coupon-mad

Get rid of the speech marks after 'regard'.

ChesterD

Good spot CM. Other than that, you think it's ok?

Coupon-mad

Yes. If you want, you could add some of the wording which reminds the Solicitor that UKCPS have a common law duty to mitigate loss and, as such, you suggest that in order to resolve the dispute without court, that both parties undertake the service offered by POPLA as the bespoke ADR for the industry. There are words like that under the heading 'Resolution of the Dispute - ADR (POPLA)' in the link I gave in post #21 in the LBCCC Fightback thread, back in December.

ChesterD

Yeah that sounds good CM, well get it in. Many thanks again.

ChesterD

OK, hopefully the final version. Sorry about this guys, just want to get it right.

Name
Address

Date

[Insert their reference number: xxxx ]


Dear Insert

Parking Charge Number ******

I refer to your letter of DATE .
As Registered Keeper of car registration REG, I have no intention of paying the money demanded by your client, and any Court proceedings will be vigorously defended. I was not the driver of the car on the day of the 'parking event' in question, which I can easily prove, and DO NOT have to inform you who the driver was, as the Notice To Keeper letter I received on the matter was non-compliant with POFA 2012.

The ticket was issued for “Parking without a valid permit or authority”. The car park mentioned in your letter is free to use and without any obligation to obtain a ticket. As the passenger who accompanied the driver on the day in question is registered disabled, the driver was well within their right to park in a designated disabled bay, without the need to display a Permit as per the Equality Act 2010. I cite Excel v Greenwood 2013 as a relevant County Court decision in this regard.

I also require a full financial breakdown of losses incurred as a result of the alleged misdemeanour detailed above.

Also, I am unable to clarify if your letter is intended as a 'debt collection' letter or litigation, as nowhere does it state what it actually is. Should it be your client's intention to start Court proceedings, you must provide a Letter Before Claim which complies with the requirements of Annex A Para 2 of the Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct.

Furthermore I believe it would also be appropriate to consider an alternative method of dispute resolution – such as an intermediary body like POPLA, prior to starting Court proceedings to avoid burdening the court with this matter. I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you of your duty to mitigate your losses and to not incur any additional, unnecessary losses. Should you refuse this invitation to use an alternative method of dispute resolution and proceed to Court, I will draw the Court’s attention to this refusal to comply with paragraph 8 of the Practice Direction concerning such alternatives.

I would also like to draw your attention to the sanctions the Court can apply for non-compliance with the Practice Direction under paragraph 4 and respectfully request that you send me a fully compliant letter within 14 days of receipt of this letter.

Failure and/or refusal to comply with the Practice Direction will result in an immediate referral to the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority for breach of the Principles contained in the SRA Handbook version 8, published on 1st October 2013.

In the meantime, and in the absence of a 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.

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

Yours faithfully

ampersand

Hello Chester -

Suggested tweaks:

Court needs capital 'C' throughout.

'As the passenger who accompanied...

Are you sure you wouldn't prefer 'was non-compliant with POFA 2012' to 'NON conforming to POFA 2012'?

'without any obligation to obtain a ticket[more forceful]

'passenger who'

I'd also enclose 'debt collection' in speech marks. This emphasises your non-acceptance of such a term, because you acknowledge no debt.

'Court's attention' [ missed apostrophe]

'non-compliance' - missed hyphen

Lose 'Please also note that '. Start para with 'Failure and/or refusal to comply...' - much stronger.

Solicitors' - plural possessive apostrophe missed.
#
Miah's latest twitter effort - posted at 3.14 a.m.[!] is here:
https://twitter.com/miahsolicitors/status/514718910726565888/photo/1

The tone of 'With our experience and compassion, we will help you get the compensation you deserve. Be it whiplash or broken bones, we will be there.' does not entice me. Sounds more like a heavy mob threat....oh, I forgot...silly me:-)

ChesterD

Thank you so much for that. Great advice.

ampersand

You're welcome.

This sort of fine-tuning is good used on drongoes who like to pass themselves off as clever-clogs.

Our clogs are stampier:-). Strong, accurate writing conveys a no-nonsense Higher Level Being:-) Mess with me at your peril, says Chester.
#
Oh, and do alter 'offence' to 'parking event'. No offence was committed. 'Parking event' is the default term commonly used.