Court action threatened

chip247

Hi new member here seeking advice regarding a parking charge.

I have recently received a letter from Gladstones solicitors threatening legal action if I fail to pay a charge of £149 for parking at residential flats last july, I have followed old advice and ignored most of the correspondence I have received from the debt recovery firms employed (in bed) by secure a space. Obviously I now realise that I should have appealed the charge which I have since done but am aware that I am unlikely to succeed at this late stage.

My argument for not paying is the cost is outrageous for a 20 minute stay, I was visiting my daughter to deliver some furniture & wasn't even aware there were parking restrictions. I was in the car park for 20ish minutes & was back & forth to my van throughout that time so the car park attendant could have advised me I was parked in contravention of there rules but instead waited until I was out of sight before posting a charge on my windscreen. Also there are car parks nearby charging £1.30 p/h so where the £149 comes from I've no idea. Finally the number provided on the signs in the car park to contact the company have an out of use contact number, so I was unable to call to query when I tried.

So my question essentially is what should I do next? the letter from gladstones isn't an LBA but should I respond to it? I have sent an appeal to popla but expect that to be rejected due to time constraints?

many thanks

The_Deep

What you should do next is redact and post up the Gladstone letter here, read the stickies, search for "own space" on this forum, and read some of these

https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=fined+for+parking+in+my+own+space

pappa_golf

OK secure a space are not currently active with bringing court claims , see: http://www.bmpa.eu/companydata/Secure_a_Space.html


however recently Gladstones have been trying to persuade the smaller companies to use their services in bringing claims.


Gladstones are not very good with paperwork , apart from the invoices that they send to the PPC for their services .


IF they take you to court , they will have to roll up at your local court in person or send a skilled (paid for) person to act for them.


their costs could easily exceed £300 + after they have paid gladstones and the hired help.


the max they can go for is the original charge (not £149) + £50 for gladstones _+£25 for court costs etc ,


assuming they win £175 off you , they loose !


and gladstones look like idiots again

The_Deep

https://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLS_en-GBGB547GB548&q=parking+prankster+gladstones

chip247

In a nutshell
You have been previously written to by secure a space requesting settlement of a parking charge. Due to the absence of payment or a valid appeal against the charge, our client has instructed us to recover the total amount due to them (£149)
As all other attempts have failed (debt recovery threats, zenith & DRP), our client may now instruct us to take legal action against you in the county court.
They then kindly invite me to immediately make payment or confirm in writing my proposals in respect of the alleged debt within 14 days of this letter (dated 21/3/16).

They then list additional costs associated with pursuing the claim through the courts which for 'illustration purposes' amount to another £202.25

To me this is no more than another veiled debt recovery agents letter, but obviously being from a solicitors I am concerned as to my next actions.

pappa_golf

£202 is a fabricated number , as per my post above , they (the PPC) can only go for the initial charge , and not include debt collectors fees.


if this got to court they would loose money , what sensible company spends £300+ to recoup £150?


await a formal notice (letter before action) and then return to this thread for more help.


DO NOT now contact either gladstones or the PPC




NOTE:


if they come back they will try for a paper based hearing , you do NOT want this , you want it held at a court of YOUR choice

Coupon-mad

chip247 wrote: »

In a nutshell
You have been previously written to by secure a space requesting settlement of a parking charge. Due to the absence of payment or a valid appeal against the charge, our client has instructed us to recover the total amount due to them (£149)
As all other attempts have failed (debt recovery threats, zenith & DRP), our client may now instruct us to take legal action against you in the county court.
They then kindly invite me to immediately make payment or confirm in writing my proposals in respect of the alleged debt within 14 days of this letter (dated 21/3/16).

They then list additional costs associated with pursuing the claim through the courts which for 'illustration purposes' amount to another £202.25

To me this is no more than another veiled debt recovery agents letter, but obviously being from a solicitors I am concerned as to my next actions.

As it's obviously just a debt collection letter you could either ignore it and respond only to a real LBCCC or respond robustly now. You should find loads of examples of how people have responded to this letter chain, using the links provided already above showing lots of cases (e.g. The Deep's general Google search has loads to read but only read 2015/2016 results).

See here for Gladstones track record, here is a post I made this week about their cases, when I posted on another forum as SchoolRunMum:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=104923

Look at the links in post #2. A defendable claim if it happens. Decide now if you wish to send a robust response (which will get an intimidating reply but won't change anything except to make you appear reasonable in not ignoring the matter, if later it goes to a hearing).

chip247

Thanks for all the helpful advice/comments, although I am aware that seeing the same topics come up time & again must drive many of you doolally, I think as a newbie posting that most people are probably seeking re-assurance as much as anything, that they are taking the right course of action because like myself have never had any dealing with debt collectors or for that matter solicitors & its quite daunting!

So keep up the good work & I shall post back again if & when? I get an official LBA

The_Deep

If you feel in any way threatened by Gladstones, write to the SRA, and the Law Society


https://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page


http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/get-in-touch/complaints/


Copy both to Gladstones. In the letters point out the links between Gladstones, the IPC, and the IAS, same directors same business premises. They will then know that you are not going to roll over ,


IMO, they are behaving in a most unsolicitory manner, one liable to bring their profession into disrepute.

beamerguy

chip247 wrote: »

Thanks for all the helpful advice/comments, although I am aware that seeing the same topics come up time & again must drive many of you doolally, I think as a newbie posting that most people are probably seeking re-assurance as much as anything, that they are taking the right course of action because like myself have never had any dealing with debt collectors or for that matter solicitors & its quite daunting!

So keep up the good work & I shall post back again if & when? I get an official LBA

So you understand the unethical minds of Gladstones ... read this
http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=gladstones

IPC/IAS/GLADSTONES ARE ONE BIG SHAM.

There appears to be triple whammy scam being run here

WHAMMY ONE ...
1: The motorist gets a ticket and can appeal to IAS
2: The appeal will normally fail

WHAMMY TWO ...
Gladstones take over. Bear in mind they are also IPC/IAS

WHAMMY THREE ..
Gladstones entice the parking company to let them persue the money using threats and scare mongering.
Gladstones charge the parking company for this huge pleasure.
Gladstones keep adding on costs to the parking company and the parking company hopes that they include all the costs if Gladstones takes the motorists to court.

This is clearly an exciting prospect for the parking companies ?
but be warned ???
The Prankster says it all ..

A WARNING TO PPC'S WHO USE IPC/IAS/GLADSTONES

** A fool and his money is easily parted **
** Only fools and horses etc **
OR ..
** Carry on and lose money **

Marktheshark

Ignore is the only option with any IPC goon set up.
It will soon be so with the new POPLA ones as well.

It will be pay up or fight in court options for both soon.