Gladstones letter before claim - On the verge of giving in

Motocross446

Hi

I am not sure as to whether I have been really stupid with this and should have just paid in the first place so if you could advise me that would be greatly appreciated!

Long story short, I got a parking ticket at my girlfriends apartment (underground car park with fob access) for not displaying her little bit of card with her number space etc, while I was parked in her space (as I do every weekend) for about 2 hours before I realised and rushed down to put the pass on display.

Having read forums a couple of years ago I was very happy to assume I could just ignore it and nothing would happen. I got the letter from parking and property management with the picture of my car now demanding £100. Again I ignored it (this might be the stupid part) and I eventually got a letter before claim from Gladstones demanding £160. This is when I decided it would probably be a good idea to do some research...

Having just studied corporate and business law as part of a chartered accountant qualification I decided to give it a go and created an online lo on and disputed the demand. This is what I said:

To whom it may concern

Firstly, let me apologise for taking so long to reply to this. I have made several attempts, which have all been thwarted by not being able to access your website or then being able to actually do anything while I was on it.
My reason for disputing this ticket is because I beleive it to be totaly unfair. My car was left in the space without displaying the pemit for literally a maximum of 2 hours and I was given a ticket. The parking attendents must have seen my car there many many times before with the permit, I was in my girlfriends allocated space and with her permission obviously. I have always been very careful with the permit and the one time I forget I don't think a £100 'charge' is fair. When I leave my motorbike in the space I am not able to leave the permit on it and I don't get a ticket?
As for court proceedings, I have no idea on what grounds as my girlfriend has still been paying the rent and I was not blocking any other spaces so I cannot see how your client has made any financial loss. The contract has not been breached as it is still in place.
From my understanding of the civil courts, any damages awarded would be to put both parties in the same position as if the contract had been performed,which it has.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.

Was this stupid?

I got the following reaponse:
Thank you for your correspondence, our reply to which is set out below.

Your opinion on the fairness of the parking charge cannot impact your liability to pay it. Quite simply in parking in the manner you did you understood (or ought to have understood) that a charge would apply. Our client's charges are issued in accordance with the guidelines set out by its trade association and are industry standard.

Paragraph 108 of the Judgment in the Supreme Court case of Parking Eye and Beavis (2015) said 'the concept of a negotiated agreement to enter a car park is somewhat artificial but it is perfectly workable provided one bears in mind it is objective..' ... 'In our view a reasonable motorist would have agreed to the term.' I submit that the term in our client's contract was no more or no less unreasonable than that in the ParkingEye case.

It is often the case that drivers parking on access roads and roadways feel that they are not impeding other motorists however parking spaces and access ways are meticulously planned in order to allow sufficient space for other vehicles. Parking contrary to the above can restrict traffic flow impede emergency vehicles from having ample access and can make developments look disorderly.



The charge sought is industry standard and is set at a rate so as to suitably satisfy our client's legitimate interest. In the case of ParkingEye v Beavis 2015 it was held that an £85.00 charge was neither extravagant nor unconscionable. The Accredited Trade Associations of which parking operators must be a member in order to apply for DVLA data prescribe a maximum charge of £100 and our client's charges are within this level. The charge is not therefore excessive.

The decision of the Supreme Court also made it clear that the charges are not penal nor do they have to be reflective of the parking operator's loss.

I trust this answers your questions.



You can pay by one of the following methods;

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


Yours sincerely,

Gladstones Solicitors


I don't feel they answered my questions and I don't know why they included the part about blocking access etc as I was parked well within my girlfriends space?

I am starting to loose my bottle and am considering just paying it to get it over and done with but I would like another opinion!

Any help would be greatly appreciated and please let me know if you need anything else from me!

waamo

Which parking company is this?

Browntoa

Have you already read the newbies thread and some of the other Gladstone's thread's ?

Motocross446

Parking and property management are the parking company.

Sorry, I know you must get a lot of posts and I did look before I posted but I couldn't see anything that is similar enough to my case and I was starting to panic a little bit!

waamo

There is a section in the Newbies thread at the top of this board that goes into the entire court process including dealing with an LBC.

Odds of them carrying out their threat can be seen here
http://www.parkingappeals.info/companydata/Parking_and_Property_Management.html

Motocross446

Thanks, I'm guessing the chances of getting them to drop it without the hassle of actually going to court are rather slim?

Coupon-mad

No, you don't have to go to court and can have a decision 'on the papers' but we prefer to coach people to go along and win in person.

WE HAVE A CONSISTENT 99% WIN RATE HERE. This is the stage that you can win at!

I got a parking ticket at my girlfriends apartment (underground car park with fob access) for not displaying her little bit of card with her number space etc, while I was parked in her space (as I do every weekend) for about 2 hours before I realised and rushed down to put the pass on display.

There is even a concise defence already in the NEWBIES thread, by bargepole (he is legally qualified) about a key fob residence PCN. Easy enough to carry on; I encourage you to fight this and be confident!

Umkomaas

Sorry, I know you must get a lot of posts

Between 60-80 cases every single day, ad nauseam. Endless!

Coupon-mad

You only have to put Gladstones claim into the search box to see them!

...wanna see all the wins?!

Search for these words only (ADVANCED SEARCH - THIS FORUM ONLY - SHOW RESULTS AS 'POSTS'):

another one bites the dust!

Shows you all the cases won I've seen this year, some discontinued, some won in court. Hundreds.

99% are won, no risk involved. No CCJ, nothing bad, no huge costs even if lost, in fact LESS than is being demanded now...

Motocross446

Ukomaas, You may moan about it now but what would you do with yourself if you didn’t have this endless nonsense to entertain you?!

I’m fully willing, with your support to take this on and fight it! Just need the confidence! I found the defense by yourself and bargepole and that looks good and actually makes a lot of sense with my limited knowledge of civil law.

Is it worth arguing with Gladstone’s now or am I wasting my time and might as well wait for them to issue proceedings? (Sounds terrifying not going to lie)

Thanks again

KeithP

Maybe not really too terrifying.

Have you seen this short video?...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n93eoaxhzpU