Gladstones solicitors - court threat

y2121pc

Hi,

I have received a letter from Gladstones Solicitors which states that they "have now been instructed to commence legal action" against me as I've failed to settle the debts that are owing.
This is in relation to a PCN that I was given in November 2016.
They have said that they require a response within 14days and if no satisfactory response is received they "are instructed to start proceedings against (me) without any further notice".
Should I respond to this letter? I have not responded to any that I have received in the past but I'm worried that they will take me to court. Do they usually act on this?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Redx

yes you should respond

yes they do take people to court

they issue dozens of roboclaims every week

read some of the other similar threads and do what they did

which is

send a rebuttal of "debt denied"

they wont bother reading it but do it anyway

and expect an MCOL in the next few weeks , so start prepping

[Deleted User]

This is the real deal, precisely because it states they are instructed, not that their client may instruct them...

If their letter does not set out in detail why they say they are entitled to the cash, provide details of the alleged contract etc, a summary of the proposed claim, re state your requests for them seeking their compliance with PD to pre-action conduct para 6(a)

[Deleted User]

As Redx notes the claim form will no doubt follow, but I favour signposting breaches of the rules along the way

y2121pc

Thank you both for your responses.

I was parked in the space that they are referring to (which is outside some shops which take some deliveries) but I was sitting in the car at the time and was able to move immediately which I did when a truck came.

Will I have any right to appeal as I never left the car or should I just pay the fine?

Will I need to pay the increased amount of £160?

Redx

your definition of "parked" is not a legal definition, being in or out of the vehicle is not relevant

there is no "fine" its an invoice

only you can decide if you wish to defend the case in court or not, but its unlikely that a lesser fee will be offered , not now they have you on the hook

its too late for any appeals , that boat has long since sailed

y2121pc

Ok. I don't believe I actually attempted to define parking, I stated that I was parked. I just added that I was in the car to ask if this made any difference; I wasn't suggesting that I was not parked.
Thanks for your advice.

Redx

unfortunately , most of the people that say those words try to justify their actions and the definition of "parking" , hence my reply

the driver was "trespassing" in a space where the driver should not have brought the vehicle to a stop or remained stationary in that private parking area, so the Parking company issued an invoice for doing so, namely a PCN

the fact that this pcn (invoice) was not paid means they have the right to issue a court case to try and recover the money

they have 6 years to do this, same as anyone does for any unpaid invoice (its been that way since 1973 - the small claims court , now called an MCOL)

its important that you understand what is going on , then its either pay in full or defend in court

we would suggest you do the latter

the choice is yours

beamerguy

Take note of what has been said above.

You need to do some reading about the infamous gladstones
and understand how they work and where they fail

Search Gladstones on the Parking Prankster site

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2017/

Coupon-mad

y2121pc wrote: »

Will I have any right to appeal as I never left the car or should I just pay the fine?

Will I need to pay the increased amount of £160?

No.

I'm worried that they will take me to court. Do they usually act on this?

Yes,. but we beat them 99% of the time! And even if you lost a small claim you would likely pay about £150, so it is DAFT if people pay up now, just because it's scary.

You need to reply to the LBCCC and this is covered in full, in the NEWBIES thread post #2, with example replies to copy & adapt. Plus the info about court defences that you will need, as G's are likely to press ahead with a useless claim (we win them).

y2121pc

I have only just seen some of these replies. I responded to Gladstone disputing the fine and they did not come back to me. I have now received the claim form. Are they allowed to just send that without responding to my letter first?