ES Parking Enforcement NTK response advice

Umkomaas

See CM’s thread about updating the NEWBIES sticky.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5781722

Quentin

broughsupn wrote: »

Just trying to make sure I get this right, has the appeal template for IPC members been changed recently, some of the information in it previously appears to have been cut and some of the wording changed,...

The template has changed, but with IPC companies you need to realise the objective in sending either this or the previous appeal is so that you can show a judge in the future that you didn't simply ignore the matter.

broughsupn

Hi,

After almost 6 months from sending the appeal template letter I have received a final demand for £125 including threats to pass it onto a debt collection agency if not paid. They have not answered any questions from the appeal letter, (added below) but I notice the advice and appeal template have change in the last 6 months. Do I respond to this letter and if so what do I say. The facts still remain I am the owner of the car but was not driving it / parking it at the time the ticket was issued this can be proved. I also have in my possesion a valid parking ticket with correct registration number for the time of the alledged offence.

Thanks

Reggie



Dear Sir/Madam,

Re PCN number:

I am the keeper of the vehicle which received this purported 'parking charge'. There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn. I am not liable and I believe that your signs fail the test of 'large lettering' and prominence, as established in ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis. Your unremarkable and obscure signs are in small print and the onerous terms are not readable.

Should you fail to cancel this PCN immediately, I require the following information with your template rejection:

1. Does your charge represent damages for breach of contract? Answer yes or no.
2. Please provide dated photos of the signs that you say were on site, which you contend formed a contract.
3. Please provide all photographs taken of this vehicle.

I am alarmed by your contact and I do not give you consent to process any data relating to me, or this vehicle. I deny liability and will not respond to debt collectors. You must consider this letter a Section 10 Notice under the DPA, and should you fail to respond accordingly, your company will be reported to the Information Commissioner.

I have kept proof of submission of this appeal and will also be making a formal complaint to your client landowner.

If you are a current BPA member, send me a POPLA code. If you are an IPC firm, cease and desist with all contact.

Yours faithfully,

Quentin

Too late now for further appeals (You knew your initial appeal was futile!)


See #4 for advice on he debt collectors stage

Coupon-mad

Just ignore them, the appeal was just an exercise anyway. Come back if they try court!

broughsupn

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Just ignore them, the appeal was just an exercise anyway. Come back if they try court!

Thank you will do

broughsupn

Hi,
I am trying to stay one step ahead of things so am looking for some answers to a couple of questions.



I have noticed on a few example responses there are occasions where there are three exclamation marks followed by some number for example, “-!!!8220; establishing yourself as the creditor!!!8221”. What do these numbers refer to?


Also, I got sent a final demand on 08/5/2018 that had to be paid within 14 days which takes it to 22/05/2018. As I understand it the next possible step from the claimant is a letter before claim, which on the examples I have seen you must reply to within 7 days.
I am concerned it could arrive just after I go away on holiday, and I will be away for 14 days, thereby missing the respond within 7-day request.


Regards


Reggie

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74286101#Comment_74286101

A forum glitch, especially when we quote another person who has Smart Punctuation.

As I understand it the next possible step from the claimant is a letter before claim, which on the examples I have seen you must reply to within 7 days.

Where?

A real LBC has to allow 30 days, under the pre-action protocol, linked here earlier:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74298670#Comment_74298670

HTH

broughsupn

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Just ignore them, the appeal was just an exercise anyway. Come back if they try court!

I have received a letter before claim from Gladstones and have drafted a response. Any advice on it will be appreciated.

Regards

Reggie

I received your letter before claim on Monday 15th October and sent a request for help in creating a login via your website enquiry facility. I had received no response by Thursday 18th October I phoned your office and spoke to Samantha who advised I should send my response to enquires@gladstonessolicitors.co.uk and this would suffice. On 20th October I attempted to obtain a login via your website to enable me to complete your online reply forms. Your web site took my details but failed to send me a confirmation email required to complete your form.

Your LETTER BEFORE CLAIM refers to the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998. Specifically stating, “We refer you to Paragraph 2.1© of the PAP which obliges the parties to act reasonably and proportionally”. Yet, your letter contains insufficient detail of the claim and again, fails to provide the photographic evidence which I requested as long ago as 31/01/2018 from your client. It does not even say what the cause of action is. Nor does it contain any mention of what evidence your client intends to rely on, or enclose copies of such evidence.

This action on the part of your client is a clear breach of its pre-action obligations set out in the Practice Direction - Pre-Action Conduct, as your client, a serial litigator of small claims, must surely be familiar with the practice direction. As you (because you quoted the Practice Direction to me and your client) must know, the Practice Direction binds all potential litigants, whatever the size or type of the claim. Nobody, including your client, is immune from the requirements and obligations of the Practice Direction.

I also requested specific answers related to my purported liability from your client in my letter to them on 31/01/2018, the answers to which I believe will help with my defense and are therefore pursuant to paragraphs 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998.

Your client cannot simply refuse to provide the relevant information. If (as your letter states) you intend to commence legal proceedings, I require your client to comply with its obligations by sending me the following information/documents:

1. an explanation of the cause of action
2. whether they are pursuing me as driver or keeper
3. whether they are relying on the provisions of Schedule 4 of POFA 2012
4. what the details of the claim are (where it is claimed the car was parked, for how long, how the monies being claimed arose and have been calculated, what contractual breach (if any) is being claimed)
5. a copy of the contract with the landowner under which they assert authority to bring the claim
6. a copy of any alleged contract with the driver
7. a plan showing where any signs were displayed
8. details of the signs displayed (size of sign, size of font, height at which displayed)
9. If they have added anything on to the original charge, what that represents and how it has been calculated.

I am clearly entitled to this information under paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c) of the Practice Direction. I also need it in order to comply with my own obligations under paragraph 6(b).

If your client does not provide me with this information then I put you on notice that I will be relying on the cases of Webb Resolutions Ltd v Waller Needham & Green [2012] EWHC 3529 (Ch), Daejan Investments Limited v The Park West Club Limited (Part 20) – Buxton Associates [2003] EWHC 2872, Charles Church Developments Ltd v Stent Foundations Limited & Peter Dann Limited [2007] EWHC 855 in asking the court to impose sanctions on your client and to order a stay of the proceedings, pursuant to paragraphs 13 ,15(b) and (c) and 16. I will draw to the court the fact that I have expressly information regarding, breach of contract details, dated photographs, signage and the contracted party as early as 31/01/2018 yet your client has refused to provide it.

In your letter before claim you also state “you have failed to settle the debts that are owing, or provide valid reason for non-payment.”

On the contrary, upon receiving a Notice To Keeper (NTK) invoice from your client dated 16/01/2018 I wrote to them on 31/01/2018 giving a valid reason as to why I was not liable for the debt.
Your client initially claimed I was liable for a sum of £100 in their NTK invoice, stating 1) “The driver of the above vehicle is liable for a Parking Charge in the above amount” 2) “if you were not the driver of the vehicle to notify us (in writing) of the name of the driver” and 3) “reason of Issue: Did not pay and display a pre paid voucher or place it in view”, any subsequent additional claimed debt by your client stems from this initial invoice.

1) I was not the driver of the vehicle so according to your clients own NTK I am not liable. 2) I informed your client in my letter of 31/01/2018 “ there will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn”, this is because I cannot comply with their request to name the driver, as I was not driving or a passenger in the car when it was parked. 3) I am not liable for this or any additional debt, a pre paid voucher was paid for, and was issued by your client for the time date and registration number of my car, covering the period your client claims the car was parked without a valid ticket on their NTK. I have attached a picture of the original ticket as proof.

Regards

broughsupn

I have received the following response to my above letter, as well as the letter I sent them a photograph of a valid ticket with valid registration for the car and date in question.

Thanks

Reggie

Not sure what my next step is.

15th January 2019

Re : Our Client : Es Parking Enforcement Limited
Amount Due : £160.00

Dear Mr

Thank you for your correspondence received on 23 October 2018. We initially apologise for the delay in responding to you.

You have received correspondence from Gladstones Solicitors in pursuit of an unpaid parking charge incurred on November 2017, at a site known as. You are now held liable for the outstanding parking charge as a result of your parking in such a manner as to breach the terms and conditions of parking. In this instance you “failed to pay and display a pre-paid voucher”, thereby accepting the charge of £100.00.

The terms and conditions of parking are made clear on the signs within the managed area. The signs form the contract between you and our client, ES Parking Enforcement Limited. In light of this, the agreement between our client and the landowner will not be provided at this stage, as it is not relevant to the contract between you and our client.

I attach the bundle of documents our client would seek to rely on should a claim in this matter be issued.

The photographs attached to this email not only show the charge having been affixed to your vehicle, but also the signs which formed the contract and which you were responsible for seeking out. Furthermore, the photographs also demonstrate your breach of contract and therefore the reason the charge was incurred. In particular it can be seen that the ticket displayed within your vehicle was dated “01/10/2017” and therefore invalid.

We note you aver that you were not the driver of the vehicle. Our client accepts that this may be the case however as you have failed to correctly nominate who was driving (full name and address) our client will continue to pursue you pursuant to Schedule 4 (4)(1) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ('the Act') which states:

'The creditor has the right to recover any unpaid parking charges from the keeper of the vehicle.'

If you nominate the driver by providing us with their full name and address prior to a claim being issued our client will pursue them not you.

Upon review of the above we invite you to make payment in the sum of £160.00. You can pay by one of the following methods;

Online https://www.gladstonessolicitors.co.uk

Phone 0333 0230 049.

Cheque Payable to ‘Gladstones Solicitors Ltd’

Bank Transfer Name – Gladstones Solicitors Ltd
Sort Code – 20-24-09
Account Number – 33028712


You must include your reference when making payment. If you fail to do so, we may be unable to allocate your payment. This may result in further costs being incurred, for which you will be liable.

In the event payment isn’t made in the next 30 days further legal action will be taken.

Yours sincerely,


Gladstones Solicitors