Gladstones solicitors - pay or court?

oa139

Hi all,

I'm a newbie to all this so please help! I received a windscreen PCN from Parking Control Management in october 2017 for parking in a residential area without a permit. I submitted an attempt at an appeal online on the grounds of poor/obscured signage and that the charge was not proportionate to losses incurred. I wish i had come across this platform before submitting my initial appeal. When submitting the online appeal i (stupidly) entered my university address which is where they sent their response rejecting my appeal - saying that signage was adequate, that 'the operator does not have to justify the costs incurred' and that i entered a contract by parking there etc etc. However, I did not receieve a 'notice to keeper' to the address where my car is registered (family home), so assuming they were only able to contact me due to my initial appeal? Anyway i ignored their response and then eventually received two letters from Trace Debt Recovery in Dec 2017 and Jan 18, demanding I pay full charge + costs. Ignored those too. Now, february 2018, I have received a letter from Gladstones solicitors demanding i pay within 14 days or their "client may instruct" them to take legal action against me in the County Court. This letter was a bit scarier seeing as it has come from the solicitors itself. I'm a university student and a bit clueless when it comes to all this stuff. Should I send a letter to Gladstones denying the debt? Should I ignore it? Will they actually take me to court. Please help

The_Deep

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences. [/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Parking Eye, Smart and a smaller company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (who take hundreds of these cases to court, and nearly always lose), who have also been reported to the regulatory authority. [/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind most of these companies may well be put out of business by Christmas.[/FONT]

Quentin

Assuming that the letter you have now received is not a lbcca then ignore it

You need to familiarise yourself with the game you are now caught up in by reading up on this in the Newbies FAQ thread near the top of the forum.

If you do get a lbcca or Court correspondence then come back for advice on how to defend this

Throughout here you are advised never to reveal who was driving

If you have not revealed who was driving to the PPC then you need to edit your post to remove details of who was driving

The ppcs monitor this forum and can use your posts against you

oa139

Thanks so much Quentin! Reading the Newbie thread now. I will wait and see. Hopefully I don't get an LBCC. Unfortunately i unintentionally revealed who was driving when i submitted the initial appeal