Fighting my PCN from parking control management

danny95

Update:
Hi again,

I waited it out and have just received a solicitor's letter from Gladstone telling me to pay up or else! So yeah I was told to come back here and get further advice when this happened so here I am.
I have read the advice given in the 'NEWBIES' thread, but I'm no that's too good with all this legal stuff and would really appreciate a helping hand.
I received the letter today (30th Jan) and have 14 days to respond. Could anyone give me any advice on how to proceed as I'm kinda bricking it.

Thanks!

Dan

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Hi all,

I'll do my best to keep this brief!
On the 15th of October I went to deliver a television to my girlfriends new student accommodation. The entire estate in which she lives is a restricted parking zone, in that you can only park in a marked residents bay with a residents permit. There are many many visitors spaces but you need to apply for a visitors permit, which are only issued once a year :think:

The nearest available public parking is in a small commercial area around half a mile away from my girlfriends house, so I decided to park slightly on the kerb outside the house to deliver the to, then go and park elsewhere and walk over once the tv was sorted. It is worth noting that, while parked on the kerb, there was definitely enough room for a shopping cart/buggy to pass by unobstructed.

So I sort the tv out and around 20 minutes after I parked up, I leave the house to move my car, but alas I see the bright yellow sticker on my window

I've appealed through pcm (rejected) and was going to appeal to the ipc but didn't realise there was a 21 day limit although I read it's pointless anyway as they're extremely biased.

Yesterday I received a letter from a debt collectors stating that I owe a fee of £160. My question is, does anyone think I have grounds to fight this any further or should I just pay up?
I feel as though the ticket was unfair as I was unloading a heavy, expensive electrical item, but I understand that my opinion is biased also.

Any advice and help is welcomed and I thank you for it! I'll try to answer any further questions as well as I can.

Also, apologies for bad formatting and structure, I'm typing on a rather slow tablet.

Fruitcake

Do not pay.

Ignore debt collectors. The NEWBIES explains why it is safe to do so anywhere in the UK.

It is believed that the IPC guarantee to reject 80% of IAS appeals, so it is very unlikely that such an appeal will do you any good, and may embolden the scammers to try court when they "win."

If they do try court, come back for further help. There are several cases on the Parking-Prankster's blogspot where judges have found for the defendant in residential permit only car parks.

danny95

Fruitcake wrote: »

Do not pay.

Ignore debt collectors. The NEWBIES explains why it is safe to do so anywhere in the UK.

Could you direct me to the part of the newbies thread that talks about this? I've read through it but a lot of it just goes over my head!

So you're telling me to ignore the demand for payment (demanded for December 21st) and not to communicate with them until I receive a letter from the courts? Just a little terrified, I don't want to affect my credit score or incur outrageous charges on top of the £160.

Thanks!

danny95

I have received a solicitors letter and have updated the thread accordingly. Help please!

safarmuk

What does the solicitors letter say, is it just a letter asking for cash or is it a real letter before claim?

Coupon-mad

danny95 wrote: »

Could you direct me to the part of the newbies thread that talks about this? I've read through it but a lot of it just goes over my head!

Come on, the post that talks about ignoring debt collectors. Post #4. It cannot possibly go over anyone's head, hardly clearer = ignore debt letters. If you are trying to read this forum on a phone, don't.

So now you have a Gladstones letter is it one talking about making payment to a debt collector, in which case it is still just a debt collector letter in the chain?

Or is it a Letter Before Claim from Gladstones, which you will find covered in loads of threads if you simply search 'Gladstones LBCCC'.

danny95

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Come on, the post that talks about ignoring debt collectors. Post #4. It cannot possibly go over anyone's head, hardly clearer = ignore debt letters. If you are trying to read this forum on a phone, don't.

So now you have a Gladstones letter is it one talking about making payment to a debt collector, in which case it is still just a debt collector letter in the chain?

Or is it a Letter Before Claim from Gladstones, which you will find covered in loads of threads if you simply search 'Gladstones LBCCC'.

That was months ago! But yeah I found I and ignored X3. The letter received from gladstones is a letter before claim but it doesn't adhere to the practice directive. I'm going to write to them asking them to rewrite it and Be compliant, then I will write to them acknowledging the letter before claim.

Do you feel these are the correct step steps to take?

Redx

no because Gladstones dont spend the time or the money in doing this as has been mentioned in dozens of other threads

yes you can write to them , but their scanty template roboclaim juggernaut will continue anyway and I doubt they read anything they receive

they especially dont follow the practice directions and your one-upmanship wont change that

you can read all about it here

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/minster-baywatch-you-got-gladstoned.html

they get paid by their clients if a court case happens , so they dont care about the finer details and they definitely wont "drop it" if their client tells them to go ahead

so by all means reply to their LBC , but dont expect them to dance to your tune , because they wont , they arent paid to do that, they get paid regardless

try reading maybe 20 or 30 recent GLADSTONES threads over the last 3 months to get the gist

Coupon-mad

Infernouk found a better version he's just posted up:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5549342

Loads of examples but a court claim is likely regardless, hence why that poster has already started to draft a defence as well.

danny95

Thanks for all the help guys. Inferno's thread was particularly helpful as im fairly sure our disputes happened on the same site around the same time.
I have prepared a response to the LBC with all the practice directive riff raff and i am currently preparing my actual response to thier reply. Then i will move on to my actual defence.

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Dear Gladstones Solicitors

I have received your letter before claim dated 25th January 2017.
Firstly, I wish to state that I deny any outstanding debts owed to your client, Parking Control Management (Uk) Limited.
Secondly, while your letter refers me to the Practice Direction for Pre-Action Conduct under the Civil Procedure Rules, there is no reference to your letter being fully compliant with the Practice Direction. It is in fact woefully defective and appears to be a deliberate attempt to mislead the recipient.
I therefore request that you send me a Letter before Claim that is fully compliant with the Practice Direction.
You also cannot presume that I possess all the documents referred to in your letter.
Please send me copies of all the documents sent by the client including the windscreen notice if one was attached to the vehicle.

When these are supplied, please also confirm whether the intended action is founded on a contractual charge, a breach of a contract or trespass
Please confirm that your client's contract with the land-holder includes specific authority to take legal action and that this will be produced for the court.
I also require an explanation for the £150 charge including how it has been calculated and how your client has had a loss of income that equates to said charge.
[FONT=&quot]Finally, please can you confirm how the disputed charge of £100 was communicated to the public as well as evidence that the sum was agreed. I request this information because courts have found that PMC’s signage is prohibitive.When I receive the documents and your explanations I will be in a position to make a more detailed response.
It would be unreasonable to proceed with litigation before you have clarified your client's cause of action.[/FONT]Faithfully
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Finally, i know i have been taking my time with my response. Unfortunately i have had a family illness, a relationship end and a solicitors letter all in one week! while i know i need to be speedy with things, it all got a bit much for me and i buried my head in the sand.
I now know that i must act fast and focus on the task in front, but all the support i receive from the forum is really helping me forward.

I really appreaciate you guys and what you do for people!

Coupon-mad

OK, looks fine, get that posted and get proof from the PO (not signed for, not recorded, just a certificate of posting via 1st class ordinary post).

It won't stop them anyway, it's just important to show your judge at your hearing that you acted reasonably and didn't ignore this trash.

Did you see the cases won this week?

Gin and Milk, gemstonelife, Lamilad and Bobby2k2, all won!