£160X2 Letter Before Claim received from Gladstones, PLZ HELP!

stevegg

Dear Sir / Madam,

Ref....

The registered keeper received your reply form dated xxx in the post on xxx.

You failed to provide the information requested in the previous letter ( please see the copy of the original letter sent to you requesting the relevant information ) and only selectively provided the reply form ( they are black and white and you admitted your recipient of the request letter) with ignorance of the other requests.


Your letter lacks specificity and breaches both the requirements of the previously applicable Practice Direction - Pre-Action Conduct (paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c)) and the new Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (paragraphs 3.1(a)-(d), 5.1 and 5.2. Please treat this letter as a formal request for all of the documents / information that the protocol now requires your client to provide. Your client must not issue proceedings without complying with that protocol. I reserve the right to draw any failure of the Claimant to comply with the protocol to the attention of the court and to ask the court to stay the claim and order your client to comply with its pre-action obligations, and when costs come to be considered.

As solicitors you must surely be familiar with the requirements of both the Practice Direction applicable pre-1 October and the Protocol, which applies thereafter (and your client, as a serial litigator of small claims, should likewise be aware of them). As you (and your client) must know, the Practice Direction and Protocol bind all potential litigants, whatever the size or type of the claim. Its express purpose is to assist parties in understanding the claim and their respective positions in relation to it, to enable parties to take stock of their positions and to negotiate a settlement, or at least narrow the issues, without incurring the costs of court proceedings or using up valuable court time. It is astounding that a firm of Solicitors are sending a consumer a vague and unevidenced 'Letter before Claim' in complete ignorance of the pre-existing Practice Direction and the new Protocol.

Nobody, including your client, is immune from the requirements and obligations of the Practice Direction and now the Protocol.

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. a copy of the contract with the landowner under which they assert authority to bring the claim
5. a copy of any alleged contract with the driver
6. a plan showing where any signs were displayed
7. details of the signs displayed (size of sign, size of font, height at which displayed)
8. photographic evidence of the contraventions
9. what the details of the claim are; where it is claimed the vehicle was parked, for how long, how the monies being claimed arose and have been calculated
10. Is the claim for a contractual breach? If so, what is the date of the agreement? The names of the parties to it and provide to me a copy of that contract.

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 of the Practice Direction, as referred to in paragraph 7.2 of the Protocol.

I am unable to respond properly to the alleged claim until I am in receipt of the requested information/documentation. At this point it would be a waste of court time and costs for your client to issue proceedings. Should your client do so, and then I will seek an immediate stay pursuant to paragraph 15(b) of the Practice Direction and an order that this information is provided.

Yours faithfully,

Together with this, I will tick SECTION 1, BOX D ( I dispute the debt ) & SECTION 4, BOX I ( I need more documents or information )

Can I send this ?

Friends, please help.!!!!

KeithP

Delete that unique reference number from your latest post.

What are the differences between your two most recent posts?

Don't bother with the forms.

The guidance on how to respond to a Letter of Claim in post #2 of the NEWBIES thread was changed last night - might be worth re-reading it.

stevegg

ok got you.

will go through them again.

stevegg

do you mean NOT to fill in the form and send it back to them.?

stevegg

the paper reply form was dated 26th Oct with 30days time to respond. now it is approaching to the date. Do I still have time to ask for SAR from CPM as the reply form was sent from Gladstone. KeithP, what about the deadline on 25th Nov?

KeithP

stevegg wrote: »

KeithP, what about the deadline on 25th Nov?

What about it?

stevegg

KeithP wrote: »

What about it?

As the updated newbies on #2 suggest contact parking company for SAR.

However reply form was sent from Gladstones requesting 30days reply.

I am confused whether

a. to request SAR from parking company WITHOUT replying to gladstones.
b. to request SAR from parking company AND replying to gladstones using the draft that I posted today.

KeithP

From that NEWBIES post:

If you have a Letter Before Claim (LBC, sometimes referred to on forums as a LBCCC), a claim IS likely. So you must respond.

Option b) is the right one.

stevegg

:rotfl:

Thank you very much KeithP.

You are ABSOLUTELY a STAR, 5 star!!!!:beer: