Help please - Formal Demand Letter from CPM

Amaka123

So while it’s fresh in my mind here is my court report:

I arrived early and sat in the waiting room for an hour until my case was heard. It was a lady judge “Judge Thomas” at Walsall County Court.
I felt pretty well prepared and was at the point where i just wanted the whole thing to be over so I didn’t feel nervous as I thought I would do.

I thought that the claimant hadn’t turned up and was getting excited that the Judge may just strike out the claim but when I entered the court room the first thing the Judge said was that they had asked for the case to be heard on paper and had said they would not be attending. I actually had a cover letter stating this but I had misunderstood thinking it meant that UKCPM wouldn’t be attending (but Gladstones would). So that all got me a bit confused and made me feel a bit silly before we had even started!

Anyway the judge went on to question me about whether I admit I was the driver and I said no it could have been myself or my husband I can’t remember. The judge said even if it wasn’t me I am the registered keeper and they do have the right to pursue their claim against me as such. She then went on to talk about the signage at the site in which I explained in more detail and pointed out the many photos of taken as evidence to back up what I was saying.

She then said that she had heard enough and was ready to give her judgement unless I wanted to add anything. I said no and she ran through what had been discussed (felt like this took forever!) and she basically said the signage was not adequate, not visible enough and so I could not have formed a contract with Ukcpm. She said the claim is dismissed and asked me if I had incurred any costs. I said yes and pointed out my cost schedule in the pack. She said that she could only allow costs that I had incurred on the day today - which was day off work, petrol and parking. This totalled £103 and should be paid within 14 days. She didn’t allow me to claim for the 6hrs of my time at £19ph or the cost of printing/postage. I was a bit disappointed in this but overall glad I’d won so wasn’t going to argue!

I had gone in ready to bring up the fake signature issue but after getting a bit flustered over the claimant not being there and misunderstanding the letter about this I missed my moment and we had already begun talking though the facts of the case etc. I didn’t get as far as talking about the £60 added costs being an abuse of process etc as the judge had basically made her mind up on the rubbish signage. the time in the court room was only around 15-20minutes.

So all in all it was a good day. I was glad that I followed it through and won £103 in costs. It had taken 2 years and a lot of work on my part (researching/writing defence/WS etc) to get to this point and at times I was doubting whether it was all worth the hassle and stress. I’d like to think it was worth it and feel happy that it has ended up costing ukcpm a fair amount of money and has also stuck two fingers up to them.

Again thanks to all who helped me with my defence and WS and gave advice along the way. Really appreciate it.:j

Redx

Nice one

Bear in mind you saved the £100 charge that was the PCN , plus saved paying their court costs , so say saving £200 , plus was awarded £103 , plus cost them time and money

The costs of beating a sc@mmer at their own game is worth it , make no mistake , plus you have learned a lot about parking matters , court etc , these companies infest thousands of sites , including supermarkets and hospitals and airports and train stations etc. A lot of pubs and restaurants and hotels also use them so being forewarned is being forearmed

You are a winner , at any price that is good to be

Please stick around and help others beat these sc@mmers , that is reward in itself

beamerguy

Very good report Amaka123:T

Gladstones are just the joker in the pack and a very bad apple on the books of the SRA

As coupon-mad said you must complain to the SRA about the fakery of 'Jack Chapman'
https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems.page

The_Deep

Send the scammer an invoice for your time. When they ignore it send them a letter before action, and if they ignore/duck that a real claim.

Their claim was obviously without merit and they have wasted your time.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/legal-system/taking-legal-action/small-claims/making-a-small-claim/

Amaka123

I’ve had no paperwork at all from court and have received no payment from Gladstones/UKCPM. It’s two weeks tomorrow which is how long the court said they would have to pay me my costs.

What should I do now? Thanks

beamerguy

Amaka123 wrote: »

I’ve had no paperwork at all from court and have received no payment from Gladstones/UKCPM. It’s two weeks tomorrow which is how long the court said they would have to pay me my costs.

What should I do now? Thanks

Phone the court today for a copy and confirmation

Once the deadline has expired, write to Gladstones given 7 days to pay or you will instruct a court bailiff to collect. That costs about £100 which is added to the Gladstones debt which ou get back.
If Gladstones don't have the money, a bailiff can seize their goods