URGENT HELP NEEDED- Private Tickets Millenium Group

kirstielauren

PLEASE HELP (apologies for length of post!)

I rented an apartment in 2014 through a lettings management company which came with an allocated car parking space which we were told we had full access to. We were never issued a permit upon entry and we were issued our first ticket on the second or third day of residing in the property.

I immediately challenged the ticket explaining that we were a tenant and I could provide a copy of my tenancy agreement to support this. The appeal was rejected on the basis that my circumstances were irrelevant as failure to display a ticket was the issue.


I pursued my management company consistently for months asking for help to obtain a permit and they repeatedly told me they would get back to me and never did. I made numerous calls and even visited the office in person. I also contacted my private landlord and asked for his help but he had passed the property on to the management company almost immediately after purchase and so did not know anything about the permit.
I also rang Millennium Group hotline/customer service number back in 2014 and they advised me that my Lettings Company or Management Company should have issued me with a permit upon moving in as all residents should have one.

As I'm sure you can see I was going round in circles and this went on and on and culminated in myself and my partner leaving the property some 9 months later and moving elsewhere due to the problems and stress that had been caused.

We were issued a county court judgement in respect of 3 tickets which we paid at around £600. I was unable to sufficiently challenge this to the court again due to the managemet company not providing me with necessary documents and ignoring my calls and emails.

The situation is essentially that if we are made to pay each and every ticket (around 25!!!!) as well as legal costs etc I am looking at upwards of £5000. Me and my partner parked in what we were told was our allocated car parking space and despite trying to obtain a permit through every method we could think of we were unsuccessful and so eventually moved away.
I am in a really desperate and unfortunate situation and it has caused myself and my partner so much stress and anxiety as well as putting a huge financial strain on our family that I simply do not know where else to turn.

How can this be legal? It is private land and I have caused no financial detriment to the landowner so how can I possibly be being pursued for this amount of money? If anyone has any advice or can help me in any way I would be so grateful.

I have contacted the landowner (Barrats) and asked for their help...one of the directors passed me on details for a senior member of staff at Millenium Group but he has advised me there is nothing he can do once the tickets have been passed to Gladstones (solicitors)???

Umkomaas

Were you given leave to appeal by the judge? Appealing won't be cheap, but do please read these very recent court cases, one of which is seen as 'persuasive' on the lower courts (the Jopson case).

Background

http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/milton-keynes-woman-secures-landmark-victory-for-flat-tenants-in-parking-dispute-1-7459066

Court Transcript

https://bmpa.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/208537969/JOPSON_V_HOMEGUARD_2906J_Approved.pdf

Another tangential case

http://nebula.wsimg.com/c269da31b314e7cc17e383a625b5ae23?AccessKeyId=4CB8F2392A09CF228A46&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

EDIT TO ADD

Just had a closer read of your thread. So you've paid £600 already, but do you have more tickets still to fight, or did the court decide that the £600 covered all the tickets issued to you?

The_Deep

Have to read this thread?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5553131

There are three other cases recently where the PPC has lost residential claims

Homeguard v Keefe

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.com.es/2016/11/tenancy-agreement-not-overruled-by.html

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.com.es/2016/11/link-parking-lose-in-wrexham-flat-owner.html

My advice, as the owner of a property company, would be to engage a solicitor and a barrister, as did Ms Jopson, and sue the MA and ther PPC jointly as did Ms Jopson.

You may be able to contact her of Facebook, I think that she is one half of the "Twins who Travel" blog. See if you can get your former landlord on-side.
If my MAs treated my tenants thusly I would be spitting feathers and do all I could to help my tenants, n

kirstielauren

£600 was in respect of 3 tickets, there are something like 23 more! Thank you for your guidance.


So you think we should seek legal help to fight it?

Umkomaas

kirstielauren wrote: »

£600 was in respect of 3 tickets, there are something like 23 more! Thank you for your guidance.


So you think we should seek legal help to fight it?

Given that number and the potential cost to you - maybe. But there may be help available from the BMPA who might be interested in helping in such a potentially high profile case, especially as the Jopson case blows in your favour.

Coupon-mad, the foremost contributor here has connections to the BMPA, so wait until she comments before doing anything just yet. She works during the day (often looks in during breaks) but will definitely be along early evening.

Have you had any Letters Before Action from Gladstones in relation to (any of) the outstanding 23 tickets?

kirstielauren

Yes we have had a letter from Gladstones in relation to a further 4 of the collection. I have called them and asked that they put all cases for us on hold for a few weeks whilst I desperately try and figure out what to do!

I am just stunned that this can happen. I fully appreciate that we were technically in breach of the requirement for a permit but we simply had no other choice- we had nowhere else to put our car and couldn't obtain a permit! How can we be pursued for upwards of £5000 for land that isn't even theirs!

The_Deep

Gladstones, who also own the IPC and IAS, so they are hardly independent, are currently being investigated for conflict of interest, and several alleged malpractices, by the SRA.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5553131

There have been dozens, perhaps hundreds of complaints that they are seeking sums to which they have no entitlement, , misleading consumers, failing to comply with CPRs, and threatening CCJs when they have not yet gone to court

Here is a letter of complaint I wrote to the SRA about them

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5509488

If they are found guilty they could be severely sanctioned.

If therefore you feel that they have acted in an unsolicitory manner, please also complain to the SRA. They operate the IAS, an adjudicatory service which is heavily biased towards their clients and fails to comply with Government regulations

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-dispute-resolution-for-consumers/alternative-dispute-resolution-for-consumers

Who knows, your complaint could be the one which finally brings them down.

Umkomaas

Just bumping this back to the top of the forum, wondering whether CM has seen it?

It was just about to disappear on to page 3.

Coupon-mad

kirstielauren wrote: »

Yes we have had a letter from Gladstones in relation to a further 4 of the collection. I have called them and asked that they put all cases for us on hold for a few weeks whilst I desperately try and figure out what to do!

I am just stunned that this can happen. I fully appreciate that we were technically in breach of the requirement for a permit but we simply had no other choice- we had nowhere else to put our car and couldn't obtain a permit! How can we be pursued for upwards of £5000 for land that isn't even theirs!

Missed this so far, thanks Umkomaas. Interesting one.

So, kirstielauren, you've now had a chance to read The Oxford 'Laura Jopson' case. So you can see how to defend this, yes? If not then go back and read it.

Where are you - nearest city please, just approx?

kirstielauren

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Missed this so far, thanks Umkomaas. Interesting one.

So, kirstielauren, you've now had a chance to read The Oxford 'Laura Jopson' case. So you can see how to defend this, yes? If not then go back and read it.

Where are you - nearest city please, just approx?

I'm not sure whether the case will be relevant for me though as we weren't loading we were parking there every day? Sorry I'm not very good with all this

We are based in Swansea

Carthesis

I'm not going to jump into this one, as C-M is the expert, and others with the appropriate experience will jump in as necessary.

The only thing I would say is this:

SPREAD YOUR STORY AROUND FAR AND WIDE WITH A HUGE SHOVEL!

Write to your MP for your old address.

Write to your MP for your new address, if they aren't the same person.

Copy in the Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid.

Copy in the PM.

Write to your local paper.

Write to the Daily Mail (as hateful as that is), because they're taking an interest.

Get the story on the telly via the local news.

Kick up the biggest, foulest stink about this as you can manage, because you've been taken for an absolute ride here.