Gladstone Solicitors - 'Letter before claim received'

littleinholmes

Further emailed letter from Gladstone Solicitors, shall I keep arguing or just pay?! :

Thank you for your email of 28th November 2018, the contents of which are noted.

Please find attached the bundle of documents on which our client intends to rely should this matter proceed to issue.

The signs displayed at the site clearly state that there is to be no parking outside of a designated parking bay. Our client’s photographs demonstrate your breach of the terms and conditions of parking as your vehicle can be seen parked over the bay lines. By parking in such a manner you accepted the charge of £100.00. Payment of the charge has not been forthcoming and as such the contract between yourself and our client UK Car Park Management Limited has now been breached and further costs have been incurred as a direct result.

We note you state that our client does not have authority to monitor the site. This is rejected. We are advised that our client wrote to the residents on 27th October 2014, copy correspondence can be provided if necessary. Further we note you state that a valid permit was displayed within your vehicle which demonstrates you were aware of the parking conditions and accepted the same.

We note you state that you did not cause obstruction by parking in such a manner. 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.

In view of the above it is our Client's position that the sum of £160 remains outstanding within 30 days from the date of this letter. In the event that neither a substantive response nor payment is made within this time-frame our Client may elect to issue legal proceedings without further notice.

Payment can be made by calling our payment line on 0333 0230 049 or on our website.

Coupon-mad

shall I keep arguing or just pay?!

Such statements are unofficially banned here!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=75456433#post75456433

You have a defence:

In July 2017 I received a parking ticket as I parked outside of the white lines of a parking bay at the car park of my home address (I am a leaseholder). I was displaying a valid permit which is non-specific to my car. The reason I was outside the white lines is that the bays are narrower than the UK recommended width of 2.4m, and sometimes cars park on the edge of the white lines which causes a knock-on effect for the rest of the cars in the row. As a result of this, I parked as close to my brother's car (who was in the neighbouring bay) as I could, so I could avoid having to exit my car by crawling out of the boot and I knew that I leave for work before him everyday - it was no issue to him and he didn't even notice I had blocked access to his drivers door. My brother, at the time, lived at the same address as me and both cars are registered to my address.

I would say to them that their client's position looks very shaky, given that you have primacy of contract as a resident who already had a right to park without suffering the private nuisance of the likes of UKCPM ex-clampers sniffing around your cars and pretending they can offer a new contract to park, and given the fact UKCPM have had to cease some of their ticketing until the IPC allow them to continue:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0003xcg/xray-series-18-episode-18

Ask them if this was 'self ticketing' at this site too, and point out how open to abuse it is, and that the ticketers are incentivised and untrained, and out of control.

littleinholmes

So I have now received a letter stating that, as I did not return a claim form, I have lost the case and have been asked to pay £280.90. I contacted the County Court to find out more, as I have not received a claim form or been told when the case is going to court. They advised the claim form was sent to me on 10th June by 'normal' post and that I now have to pay nearly £250 to complete an N244 form to appeal. They have emailed me the N244 (when in the past they have stated they cannot write to me by email).
A relative who works for the council and knows the person responsible for baliffs, they have confirmed I did not return my claim form and therefore I have lost the case, but that by paying I am admitting liability anyway. They have said my initial defence is not considered valid (parking over the lines next to my brothers car) but that the parking company not having permission from leaseholders could be valid but I would still need to appeal.
I don't have the money to pay the charge to end this or to pay the appeal fee. So I am being threatened with baliffs if I do not pay, yet I have not been given the right to appeal. I am completely new to this process so did not know I had to chase a claim form, as I have written my defence in letters and emails on numerous occasions so I thought I had presented my defence and made it clear I was fighting this.

So, from the information I have read, I either pay the appeal fee or pay the fine as otherwise baliffs will appear at my door! I have been offered a loan for the appeal cost on the basis that if I win they would get the money back, but I am hesitant to take up this offer as it seems too risky at this point. Any advice would be appreciated.

Quentin

When you say you can get a loan for the appeal you mean set aside application

You won't get that back automatically if you win a set aside

Read up on set aside to get an understanding of what's involved

You are correct that bailiffs are a possibility, but you would know before they arrived were the claimant to start enforcement action to get paid

littleinholmes

Quentin wrote: »

When you say you can get a loan for the appeal you mean set aside application/QUOTE]

Yes, I mean to set aside the county court judgement. I will continue reading up on this, but I am relieved to know the baliffs aren't coming for me straightaway!

Coupon-mad

A relative who works for the council and knows the person responsible for baliffs, they have confirmed I did not return my claim form and therefore I have lost the case, but that by paying I am admitting liability anyway. They have said my initial defence is not considered valid (parking over the lines next to my brothers car) but that the parking company not having permission from leaseholders could be valid but I would still need to appeal.

The relative has no clue. Honestly, stop listening to them. No paying the scammers, but deal with the set aside if the claim form never arrived.

Did you ask the CCBC to send you a copy of the claim form so you could check the address and details on it? You need a lot of data (claim number, date, claim details) from it to set the case aside, and you need to check the scammers didn't use an old address for you!

I don't have the money to pay the charge to end this or to pay the appeal fee.

So, have you checked if you qualify for Help with Fees and might not have to even pay the set aside £255? Only takes Googling. This is free for people on a lowish income.