Gladstones / PCM defence

Johano123

Dear members,

I hope everyone is well.

A few days ago my father received a County Court Claim Form as the Registered Keeper, but spends most of the year living abroad. As he is out of the country he will be unable to defend it (and rarely opens his post).

I understand that this situation is unlikely to be unique, and I have tried searching the forum for further information, but apologies if you will be repeating yourself.

What should he do? Complete the AOS? Can I complete the AOS in his place? Is there a way to move this defence into my name? I am really unsure as to the next move.

Quentin

Now he has a claim he must deal with it. Not you. Presumably he is out of jurisdiction!


Edit your OP to remove details of who was driving


The ppcs monitor this forum and can use posts in your thread against you

Fruitcake

The Registered Keeper should give their overseas address, and proof of residency in that country, thus making this out of UK court jurisdiction.

Alternatively the day to day keeper (the person in charge of the vehicle at the time) should defend this, and the driver should not be identified. You need to edit your post accordingly as scammers read these fora.
This will only work if the scammers and BW do not already know the identity of the driver.
I hope nobody told them!

However, the registered keeper is in a much better position to get this quashed.

Post 2 of the NEWBIES has a step by step guide to court.

KeithP

The Defendant cannot be changed.

By all means do all the work on your father's behalf but he is the Defendant.

What is the Issue Date on the Claim Form?

The_Deep

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 by in the not too distant future..

Johano123

Thank you for the swift replies.
I don't think the out of jurisdiction works, as for tax purposes he is still a UK resident.
The identity of the Driver has not been mentioned to them.
The Issue Date is 7 Nov 2018. Does he have to be present or would I be able to represent him in court?
It is c.£600 that I would prefer not to pay Gladstones, but it will be difficult to access his mail if things have to be posted to him - will there be any mail from courts or Gladstones after the AOS or will documents be emailed?

KeithP

Johano123 wrote: »

The Issue Date is 7 Nov 2018.

With a Claim Issue Date of 7th November, the Defendant has until Monday 26th November to do the Acknowledgement of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. To do the AoS, follow the guidance offered in a Dropbox link from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.

Having done the AoS, the Defendant then has until 4pm on Monday 10th December 2018 to file a Defence.

That's almost four weeks away. Loads of time to produce a perfect Defence, but don't leave it to the very last minute.


When the Defendant is happy with the content, the Defence should be filed via email as described here:

1) Print the Defence.
2) Sign it and date it.
3) Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
4) Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
5) Just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.
6) Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
7) Wait for the Directions Questionnaire and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES thread to find out exactly what to do with it.

Quentin

Johano123 wrote: »

Thank you for the swift replies.
I don't think the out of jurisdiction works, as for tax purposes he is still a UK resident.
The identity of the Driver has not been mentioned to them.
The Issue Date is 7 Nov 2018. Does he have to be present or would I be able to represent him in court?
It is c.£600 that I would prefer not to pay Gladstones, but it will be difficult to access his mail if things have to be posted to him - will there be any mail from courts or Gladstones after the AOS or will documents be emailed?

It's his address that makes this out of jurisdiction!


As already advised the defendant will have to deal with this


EXpect both email and postal communication

Johano123

Again, apologies if I am not fully grasping this - does the defendant have to be present in the court?

Quentin

Yes

(Assuming that this progresses to a hearing)

KeithP

But later in the process, the Defendant will have an opportunity to state dates when he is not available.