County court claim

lolaive

Hi all.Apoligies if this has been covered already but I cannot find anything relating to this case .I am hoping someone may be able to help me . I have received a County Court Claim form from Northampton CC in relation to a claim made by Gladstones Solicitors. The claimant is saying I owe £246 roughly for a parking contravention on the land where I live. I have received no prior correspondence to this , only this CCC form. I just wondered how to proceed. I am going to acknowledge the claim and opt to defend it but cannot recall events of the day in question as it was last year. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Quentin

Have you moved house since the date of the incident??

There is normally lots of correspondence prior to a Court claim

lolaive

Hello.No I have not moved house but my wife has just made me aware that there was a picture of the car sent to our address some months back.She says that as the picture of the car had no ticket on the windscreen and didnt show any surrounding areas and signage , she just threw it in the bin thinking it was scammers. She says the letter was from UKCPM who are the people that patrol the estate.

The_Slithy_Tove

Plenty of threads here relating to "own space" claims and UKCPM, so get searching. But first, make sure you read the NEWBIES thread, which details what you must now do relating to the claim. DO NOT miss any deadlines, or you'll lose by default. There's no way you will be paying £246, even If you end up losing (which you won't - these kind of claims are easily defended, as their case is so weak).

NeilCr

Can you tell us a bit more about how the parking works on your estate (is it private, council or Housing Association)?

Do you have your own allocated space, for example? Or are there no allocated spaces and everyone who is a resident has a permit which allows them to park in the car park etc etc

Quentin

lolaive wrote: »

Hello.No I have not moved house but my wife has just made me aware that there was a picture of the car sent to our address some months back.She says that as the picture of the car had no ticket on the windscreen and didnt show any surrounding areas and signage , she just threw it in the bin thinking it was scammers. She says the letter was from UKCPM who are the people that patrol the estate.

Maybe other correspondence (including the lbcca) arrived but she binned it too??

The_Deep

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£246 is tantamount to fraud imo, a lot more than the law allows. The solicitors know this but hope to sucker you into paying.

Even if they won their claim in court, which is unlikely, the most a judge is likely to award would be £175 - £200, the rest is think of a number money.

I suggest that that you complain to the regulatory body, the SRA about this demand for unlawful costs.

http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page

Also, complain to your MP

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

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week, hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. It has even been suggested that some of these companies have links with organised crime.

Watch the video of the Second Reading and committee stage in the House of Commons recently. MPs have a very low opinion of this industry.

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

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-07-19/debates/2b90805c-bff8-4707-8bdc-b0bfae5a7ad5/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill(FirstSitting)

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business in the not too distant future.

lolaive

Hi. Yes we live on the estate and it is on private property for which UKCPM manage the parking. We rent from Notting Hill Genesis Housing .I am not going to lie , it is parking for permit holders only but not everyone that lives on the estate is entitled to a parking space and it really is not fair that people , some of whom have children have to park their car on a poorly lit road and walk into the estate.I know this is no defence just a grievance really. We are not the only property to have been bothered by these people as talking to my neighbours earlier I foundl out.I just wanted to know really whether to enter defence notes now when I return the claim form or just acknowledge and notify the court I am defending the claim and enter defence notes at a later date. Thanks guys.

Quentin

Before you do anything read up on this in the newbies FAQ thread near the top of the forum

#2 there covers Court claims right through to the hearing

Your questions regarding AOS are answered there together with a link to a step by step guide to competing the form

Quentin

The_Deep wrote: »

.
...... complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business in the not too distant future.

Irrespective of your 100000 thanks, this is wildly unrealistic

OP don't miss any deadlines when dealing with this thinking that this PPC will be out of business so no need to worry about this issue!

lolaive

Thank you for the replies guys . I seem to be having a bit of dificulty finding the NEWBIES thread.Can anyone point me in the right direction to find it please.