Premier Solicitors- letter before claim

Zayn1

Hi

I have read the appropriate newbie posts and others but am still finding it a little hard to get my head around what I need to do next to prevent any further escalation of a ticket that was completely inappropriately issued. A letter before claim from premier solicitors has arrived referring to the pcn and demanding £60 payment (sorry i cant work out how to post the scan of the letter).

Last December my husband parked at the hospital where he works as normal and at the end of the day found a pcn stuck on his car. Staff car park is very small and always full so it is accepted practice (as in car parking attendants dont bat an eyelid) to park in visitors parking bays. Total parking solutions run the parking on site, in a poor fashion, and we appealed the ticket.

Thought it was over but a few days ago this turned up. I understand it shouldnt be ignored and they do invite pcn appeal but make no reference to what has already been sent. Unfortunately in the intervening 10 months laptop with original appeal letter has been replaced so cant use that again. I know signage being small and the fact they allow staff to park in the main visitors car park every day was mentioned. TBH the letter sounds threathening and obviously we dont want a court claim etc the driver was not identified in our correspondance.

Could someone kindly point out or explain what we need to do next?

Fruitcake

You can post images by uploading them to a webhosting site such as tinyic or photobucket, then post the URL here but change http to hxxp.
Someone here will change it back to a live link.
Make sure the photo' account is not in your real name and does not contain any images with personal information.

Is it a real LBC or is it a debt collector letter from a solicitor? Does it use the word "will" start court proceedings, or does it say "may?"

Were you given the opportunity to make a second stage appeal to PoPLA?

You can make a second stage appeal up to a year after the parking company has rejected your original appeal. At lease that's what the UK Government regulations say. The parking companies ad their trade associations will try to tell you otherwise.

The court process is explained in the Bargepole link from post 1 of the NEWBIES, but hopefully you can stop the clock by rebutting this letter and appealing.

Has a complaint been made to the hospital, and the driver's Union rep involved?

Zayn1

hxxp://i66.tinypic.com/24d4geu.jpg

hxxp://i66.tinypic.com/35imx3t.jpg

Thanks for your reply. They actually use the words "such proceedings, if brought...."
What i think your saying suggests we should have got a response to appealing the original pcn, which we didnt ��

I can see a few different template letters but forgive my dimness - is there a particular one that I should use?

Ralph-y

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=35imx3t&s=9#.V_9nf8nKH_k

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=24d4geu&s=9#.V_9nScnKH_k

"I can see a few different template letters but forgive my dimness - is there a particular one that I should use? "

I think it is now far to late to appeal this via the PPC or POPLA

was the old laptop thrown away ?

can you remember if you appealed as the driver or keeper?

as above ....

Has a complaint been made to the hospital, and the driver's Union rep involved?

Ralph:cool:

Fruitcake

Zayn1 wrote: »

hxxp://i66.tinypic.com/24d4geu.jpg

hxxp://i66.tinypic.com/35imx3t.jpg

Thanks for your reply. They actually use the words "such proceedings, if brought...."
What i think your saying suggests we should have got a response to appealing the original pcn, which we didnt ��

I can see a few different template letters but forgive my dimness - is there a particular one that I should use?

http://i66.tinypic.com/24d4geu.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/35imx3t.jpg

pappa_golf

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.php?searchid=169256875


TPS use premier as their debt collectors ,


no court history until this year (4) http://www.bmpa.eu/companydata/Total_Parking_Solutions.html

Fruitcake

Complain to the BPA and DVLA that the PPC has gone straight to court after your initial appeal instead of offering you PoPLA.
(This assumes that you haven't moved since you got the original PCN.)

Write to the solicitors and tell them that they are incorrect and you did indeed appeal the original PCN but were not offered ADR.

Quote the UK Gov ADR regulations found here,

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288199/bis-14-575-implementing-alternative-dispute-resolution-directive-and-online-dispute-resolution-regulation-consultation.pdf

Pay particular attention to Page 27, item 64, reasons for refusing ADR

... the complaint is not submitted within a pre-specified time limit (which cannot be set at less than a year from when the complaint was first submitted to the business)

State that as you are still within the UK Government specified period, you are prepared to accept the use of PoPLA as ADR and therefore you require the solicitors to instruct their clients, Premier Parking Solutions to offer this forthwith.

What happened when you complained to the hospital?

Zayn1

Really appreciate the help!

Appealed as the keeper not driver and honestly everyone in work told my husband not to worry at all as staff get these tickets all the time. Straw poll suggests lots of people have recieved the threathening letters but no court summons for anyone so far though they have a few yrs to do it! Hence didnt raise it with the hospital at the time. Is it too late now? I will definately draft the letter and post here for comment.

Laptop had a drink spilt on it and was thrown out as everything got corrupted. Really thought we had seen the back of this ��

Herzlos

Definitely get onto the hospital about it, they should have the ability to get it cancelled at any stage.

Zayn1

Hi
I am sorry I was not able to post an update due to unforeseen circumstances. The hospital have said they are looking into the matter and will get back to us, and in the mean time I have drafted a letter using a lot of help from this forum and pepipoo and Sam Fallow in particular.

The lawyers letter is a lot better written than the standard wright hassall letter most work colleagues got so I hope my response is appropriate. Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated!:

To Whom it May Concern

Ref No: xxxxxxxx

I am writing to confirm acknowledgment of your letter dated 06.10.16.

I note the contents of the correspondence and deny the existence of any debt to Total Parking Solutions. Any court proceedings will be strongly defended. I appealed the PCN within the required time period but was not offered ADR or received any return correspondance so assumed this matter had been resolved.

The driver was given specific permission to park by the operative in accordance with the standard daily practice at the hospital. From the xxxxxx hospital website: "If you are experiencing difficulty parking, please contact the main car park cabins at xxxxx hospital for advice and direction from the car park attendants.". This supersedes any signs placed by your client and the driver is entitled to rely on promissory estoppel. The instructions provided to staff by the University Health Board give rise to the reasonable belief that TPS does not have the authority in accordance with the BPA Code of Practice Para 7.2 to issue legal proceedings without the permission of the Principal.

Despite the wholly inaccurate statement that the letter is 'in accordance with the pre action protocol’, it is in fact defective and appears to be a deliberate attempt to mislead the recipient.

Paragraph 6 of the Practice Directions on Pre Action states that you must explain how any money amounts claimed is calculated. This information has not been provided.

Paragraph 6 also requires you to provide any and all key documents relevant to the issue in dispute. Therefore, if there are further documents that you intend to rely on in progression of this dispute, please provide them to me in your reply.

Please provide a Letter before Claim which fully complies with the requirements of the Practice Direction for Pre-action Conduct and Protocols. I confirm that I shall then seek advice and submit a formal Response within 30 days of receipt, as required by the Practice Direction. Further failure to meet the requirements of the Practice Direction may require the intervention of the Court to apply whichever sanctions it seems fit in this dispute.

Please ensure that you read and respond to this letter, providing the specific information relating to the county court claim that your client intends to make against myself as the defendant to the proposed legal proceedings. Please DO NOT send a generic FAQ letter in reply as to do so does not meet the requirements of the Practice Direction and will take this matter no further forward.

Also, you are again reminded that your failure to adhere to the Practice Direction is in breach of the SRA Principles and I will copy all correspondence to them in any complaint I make about your conduct.

I trust this will not be necessary, and look forward to receiving a fully compliant Letter before Claim in due course or a letter to say this claim has now been dropped.

Yours faithfully

Zayn1

If they have said " the pcn clearly details the amount payable" but doesnt specify how they doubled the original charge can we still say they havent broken down the charges?