DRP > ZENITH > GLADSTONES ...what now?

jukedog

Hi there,

Apologies, for the new thread on an old topic !!!8211; but I!!!8217;ve been through all the newbie threads/posts, and can!!!8217;t find anything similar !!!8211; so here we go.

Driver parked on a private dirt track by the side of the kids!!!8217; school, like any other normal day. Not sure if it!!!8217;s allowed or not (no signs to say yay or nay), but all the school mum!!!8217;s have been parking there for years without issue or consequence. We get back from a family holiday to find a letter from DRP asking for £160 for !!!8220;parking within a restricted area!!!8221;. The creditor is listed as CUP Enforcement. Wife says there has never been anything affixed to the windscreen, and no original PCN notice received through the post, which I would have expected from CUP. I am new to this (and normally just pay parking fines), so I (probably) do all the wrong things by first calling DRP for more information. I get nowhere, so then I write to them. I also try CUP, but end up in circles. So my letter goes to DRP.

My letter doesn!!!8217;t admit anything, neither does it say who was driving. All I simply ask is if they can send me a copy of the original PCN notice which usually allows one to review the alleged infringement, and if one agrees, pay the charge promptly at a lower rate. My point is, that if the driver had parked incorrectly, and was fined, he/she would have just paid up. But he/she refuses to pay the higher rate of £160 if the driver never had a chance to review the alleged infringement in the first place, and pay the lower rate. I argued this on the phone, but was told that they did post out an earlier letter. We never received it, and I!!!8217;m sure this was a lie to get more money !!!8211; but they said that their franking stamp was proof of postage and also proof of it being received to me! So why didn!!!8217;t they just re-send it then, with proof of that franking stamp? (they never did).

Anyway, bottom line !!!8211; had they sent the first letter, or put something on the windscreen (neither of which they did) !!!8211; the driver would have paid up £50 quid (or whatever the reduced rate was) and moved on. But not £160 !!!8211; that is completely unreasonable if the driver never had the first chance. So since my first and only letter to DRP, I have ignored all subsequent correspondence from DRP, and also Zenith (about 5 or 6 letters) -- just to see what would happen, and also based on the advice from these type of forums.

However, I now have a letter from Gladstones Solicitors. This is still asking me to pay £160 to DRP, and the DRP phone number and reference (starts with a !!!8220;4!!!8221;) is all over the letter. They want £160 in 14 days. It mentions a case about !!!8220;Beavis v Parking Eye (2015)!!!8221;. Also, it is not threatening any court action, but it does say !!!8220;our client now has the option to commence proceedings in the appropriate Civil Court!!!8221;.

So, according to the forums !!!8211; I ignore this one as well, but the inevitability is that I will eventually end up with court papers. So I am pre-empting that, and asking for some assistance from the good guys in here before that happens. Just so I am prepared in good time.

By the way, a few !!!8220;no parking!!!8221; signs had quietly gone up around the time of us receiving this DRP letter (my wife says she hasn't see them, but I suspect they were there). The school mums all stopped parking there for a few weeks after they got word of our ticket, but now they are all back parking there again, even though the signs are still there! No-one is getting tickets. Seems we were unlucky. Perhaps the landowner has even asked the contractor (CUP?) to stop enforcing it now? No idea on this, but is probably worth me exploring I guess?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. And by the way, £160 is a lot of money, but I can afford to pay it, and will do so if you think I should to avoid the hassle and time, and risk of bad credit or something.

Best,
Jukedog

Umkomaas

However, I now have a letter from Gladstones Solicitors. This is still asking me to pay £160 to DRP,

Still a debt collector letter.

pogofish

jukedog wrote: »

Apologies, for the new thread on an old topic – but I’ve been through all the newbie threads/posts, and can’t find anything similar – so here we go.

But post four of the Newbies Sticky covers this completely...?

jukedog

i hear you, there is a LOT of information in that NEWBIE thread. And it's great that everyone is so helpful. The message is clear, IGNORE all debt collector letters. And I've followed that advice so far. And i will ignore this one as well. BUT, i am pre-empting the next stage. Having read lots of other posts, my court papers are being prepared now, and I will soon receive them. What then? What is my defense?

In this case (which is why I started a new thread), the driver really doesn't mind paying the reduced charge, if indeed this was an infringement. But the driver was never given the chance. The very first communication the driver got was from DRP asking for £160.
Anyway, not sure what the next step is, perhaps the following:

1. keep ignoring letters, wait for court papers, then:
a) write a defense and plead guilty but agree to paying just the reduced rate (whatever that was)
or
b) use some other defense approach to avoid paying anything at all (great, but not sure how that works)

2. Pay up £160 now and move on

3. Something else? ...any ideas?

pogofish

You are grossly overthinking this.

There are no other options at the debt collector stage - they just want money and talking to them is complete waste of time as they can do nothing else but try to scare it out of you.

You either be a mug and pay-up completely or get yourself ready to defend this properly if the issuing PPC (not the debt collector) chances a court claim - and that is by no means a certainty.

The_Deep

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

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.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.

beamerguy

DEBT COLLECTORS THAT ARE A LOAD OF RUBBISH

DRP
ZENITH
GLADSTONES pimped out letterheads asking you to pay DRP

DO NOT PAY SCAMMERS

If you get court papers then come back here for great help

Read up on the incompetent Gladstones

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=GLADSTONES

jukedog

Pogofish ...i'm with you mate ...it's just there is a lot of information about ignoring debt collectors ...and i can tick that box now ...since first letter - nothing else sent. Let's move on from that bit.

...the key bit from you (and for me) is this:
"or get yourself ready to defend this properly if the issuing PPC"

so can you help me start preparing ?!?! ...or direct me towards a thread for that??

as a reminder, the driver is not necessarily disputing the parking infringement here; but rather, the fact that an original PCN was never issued/sent ...and instead, just a straight debt collectors letter for 160 quid. That is not on, surely.

Allow the driver to review the infringement, and pay the reduced rate. Isn't that how this works normally?

jukedog

beamerguy ....court papers are coming ...we know that right? they take people to court all the time ....can we not start preparing now?

nosferatu1001

Then prepare by reading post 2
Seriously, youre way too defeatist. They do not take everyone they ticket to court.

beamerguy

jukedog wrote: »

beamerguy ....court papers are coming ...we know that right? they take people to court all the time ....can we not start preparing now?

You don't know that .... just because the plebbies are
writing to you

Of course prepare yourself in case real court papers arrive

Remember, it's only Gladstones and by law they must
follow the correct procedure to warn you and at the
same time provide you with proof of their claim.
Then they must give you 30 days to respond

You will get all the help here to zap them. Mind you, Gladstones
tend to zap themselves anyway