Letter before claim wording

ponypower

There seem to be many knowledge people contributing here so I hope someone can help me.

Brief synopsis:
I bought a car, in cash, back in February. Some time later I received a PCN from UK Car Park Management Ltd for parking in a private car park 5hrs before I purchased the car. The V5 lists me as the registered keeper from the date of the PCN but obviously the time of transfer of ownership isn't recorded.

I'm frequently abroad for long periods of time so further letters arrived unopened and ignored.

I now have a "letter before claim' from Gladstone solicitors saying that they have been instructed to commence legal action against me. It says I have the opportunity to reply pursuant to the Pre Action Protocol (PAP).

My defence is that I was neither the owner, keeper nor driver of the vehicle at the time of the PCN. I can provide the name and address of the previous owner.

I have read Daisy's very informative post with a template for "the defendant was not the driver" but I understand that to be out of date.

I would be extremely grateful if someone would help me with a reply.

Redx

the daisy info is out of date , yes

find and use a recent rebuttal to an LBC

add a note in it that says what you said above, also stating this will be pointed out to the judge if an MCOL comes your way and will form the basis of the defence and that punitive costs will be asked for if it is not cancelled forthwith


do not reval the prvious owner details at this stage, it is for the claimant to prove that they have the correct person "in the dock"

ponypower

Thank you!

So what I've written above is ok, I was worried about it not being in legal lingo.

I've been looking for a template but I'm struggling to find one that covers the defendant not being the driver/keeper.

KeithP

...more PCN's arrived unopened and ignored.

That's slightly worrying.

You haven't said, but as they arrived later, do they refer to parking incidents that were later, i.e. following the car purchase?

If any refer to dates/times when you were the owner of the car, then they of course will be your responsibility to deal with as the keeper.

Redx

you may not find one that specifically states this, so adapt one that may say any of those terms and add the other terms into it

so find a recent 2018 one that says about not being the keeper (or not the driver , or not the owner) , add the extra caveats into it

dont worry too much about it not being in legal lingo

do NOT fill their forms in , plus reply within the 30 days

you can post the proposed LBC rebuttal draft below if you want advice on its legal jargon etc


ps:- there should only be one pcn, with one reference, the letters after that should be follow up letters like debt collector letters, but only chasing one single outstanding pcn

ponypower

KeithP wrote: »

That's slightly worrying.

You haven't said, but as they arrived later, do they refer to parking incidents that were later, i.e. following the car purchase?

If any refer to dates/times when you were the owner of the car, then they of course will be your responsibility to deal with as the keeper.

Ah sorry I worded that badly. All letters relate to the same incident before I purchased the car.

Redx

ponypower wrote: »

Ah sorry I worded that badly. All letters relate to the same incident before I purchased the car.

in which case, edit post #1 to something more suitable

ponypower

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for your letter of 03/10/18.

The Defendant was neither the owner, keeper nor driver at the time PCN xxxxx was issued on 04/02/2018.

The car was purchased by the Defendant at 17:30 on 04/02/2018, which was 5hrs after the PCN was issued. The Defendant is happy to show proof of transfer of ownership in court.

Yours faithfully

---

I'm more than happy to give the details of the previous owner, will that not help the situation?

KeithP

It would be a good idea to remove the PCN no. from your latest post.

As PCNs tend to be issued well after the time of parking, perhaps the second sentence would be better as:

The Defendant was neither the owner, keeper nor driver at the time of the parking event referred to by PCN 1234567.

System

I bought a car, in cash, back in February.

Unless there is a timed receipt (or a matching ATM transaction) this will go all the way to a hearing where a judge will make their decision on your honesty.

You might want to see if the previous owner will confirm the time of the transaction as if not, your a bit exposed.

ponypower

IamEmanresu wrote: »

Unless there is a timed receipt (or a matching ATM transaction) this will go all the way to a hearing where a judge will make their decision on your honesty.

You might want to see if the previous owner will confirm the time of the transaction as if not, your a bit exposed.

My phone bill shows a call to the seller when I left to view the car, then my bank statement shows a cash withdrawal midway between my address and the seller's address, then I made another call to the seller when I arrived.

I also have a text conversation with my sister discussing going to see the car, sending her a screenshot of the advert and arranging for her to pick me up at 4.45pm to go and view the car.

The seller has responded to my messages about the problem so maybe he will co-operate.