URGENT advice: UKCPM/Gladstone Solicitors -CCJ applcnt judgement set-aside/court date

mani90

Dear Team,

I have read the newbies thread, would be grateful if you can check my scenario below?

Would appreciate any advice or guidance on the matter.

1. UK Car Park Management claim i owe them over £400 for failing to respond to a parking charge issued by them on April 2017 for unauthorised parking on a private road.
2. The date this apparent charge relates to was when my car was given to a workshop close-by for repair and was never parked by me on any unauthorised private parking.
3. I never received a single letter or picture of the offence and the first i found out was a letter from Northampton county court highlighting i have a CCJ (October 2018) followed by a letter from Bailiffs (October/November 2018) highlighting i owe an amount over £400.
4. I contacted UKCPM and Gladstone numerous times and their line never goes through, so i contacted Bailiff who were able to only confirm the location and date of contravention and highlighting they also had no other information i.e. pictures and only options i have was to do a N244 application (paying an astonishing £255) for something i have know knowledge of.
5. My N244 application was based on the following/below points and now have a court date for Mid February2019 and have a 15minute hearing, are the below points sufficient or ahead of this should i be contacting UKPCM via recorded delivery to request proof and find out further as i have no more details on this apparent offense?

What should i do over and above below to put my self in best position and some forums do say they do not turn up and I'm really not sure what they have vs what other defence i should have or need?

What order are you asking the court to make and why?

I kindly request an order of dismissal from the court or, failing which, the right to defend a judgement against me as firstly, I have no knowledge of what this is related to and secondly having not received any correspondence prior to receiving an alarming letter few days ago with a County Court Judgement. I hold a clean license of 23 years of driving and have not been subject to any parking offence as such in the history of my driving. In regards to the CCJ, I have not seen any clamps/tickets on my car and therefore are completely astonished as to what this is reference to.

What information will you be relying on, in support of your application?

I wish to highlight the following points to the court for consideration in support of this application:

1. I had no knowledge or awareness of this claim until receipt of the abovementioned correspondence and County Court Judgement. My residential address has been known to cause some confusion as well leading to previous incorrect deliveries/posts. This is due to the fact that I live next to a business park whereby there are numerous number 1's on the same roadi.e. Unit 1 X Court, Unit 1 Y Road, 1 Office Village. Therefore, it could be highly likely that there has been confusion with this hence the claim has not been contested prior to this.

2. As mentioned, I am holding a clean concrete license whereby I have not had any offences. Nonetheless, in regards to the above claim I have not received any photographic evidence or any material highlighting a road offence.

3. After research on the claimant and it's legal representatives I have found ample forums and web pages online ridiculing their deceitful methods of obtaining money off people by issuing unlawful tickets in the hope that many innocent drivers would pay up.

4. I have tried in good faith to contact both UK Car Park Management Ltd and Gladstone Solicitors to discuss this matter further and to request both further information and evidence of the infraction. Unfortunately I could not get through to them (line seemed to be closed and unattainable) and no attempt has been made by them to contact me to discuss the matter further. Furthermore, this is also something many other motorists are experiencing (read through the various forums/websites and reviews on this matter).

Therefore, I am hoping this CCJ could be disregarded based on the points mentioned above and more clarity to be provided as to what this actually is.

Additional Information:

· Further to point 1 with respect to potential delivery confusion, I have since checked with the business park addresses who have confirmed no letters for my address are with them and if there were these would be forwarded to my house. Unfortunately nothing was received before coming to light of this via a CCJ.

I look forward to hearing back on this matter.

Thank you

The_Deep

Have you moved house recently? If so, when did you inform The DVLA of your change of address. for your driving licence and you registration document, (two separate notifications)?

The whole industry is a scam, relying on threats of court, and the public's ignorance of the Law, A bill is currently before parliament which will regulate the scammers, many of whom are ex-clampers.

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. Is has been suggested by an MP that some of these companies may have connections to organised crime.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, (especially 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.

Sir Greg Knight's Private Members Bill to curb the excesses, and perhaps close down, some of these companies passed its Second Reading in the Lords this month, and, with a fair wind, will l become Law later this year..

All three readings are available to watch on the internet, (some 6-7 hours), and published in Hansard. MPs have an extremely low opinion of the industry. Many are complaining that they are becoming overwhelmed by complaints from members of the public. Add to their burden, complain in the most robust terms about the scammers.

Umkomaas

You say you've had no prior paperwork on this. Have you moved address during the time you have had the vehicle under which registration number they have sued you? If so, please check your V5C (logbook) to see what address is showing on that.

The PPC having used a former address is almost guaranteed to see a set aside granted. You really need something a Judge can work on - better than simply saying you have never received anything.

bargepole

mani90 wrote: »

... I hold a clean license of 23 years of driving and have not been subject to any parking offence as such in the history of my driving. ...

Judge: Oh well Mr Mani, that makes all the difference, you clearly are an upstanding member of the community, who could not possibly have committed this alleged parking offence which you say you have no knowledge of.

I will immediately issue an Order setting aside this Judgment, and a supplementary Order committing the Directors of UK Car Park Management, and Gladstones Solicitors, to a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years.

I shall also be passing a recommendation via the Ministry of Justice to the Royal Household, that you be considered for inclusion in the Queen's next birthday honours list.

Off you go, and call by the reception desk on your way out, and tell them I said to give you your £255 back out of the petty cash.

Coupon-mad

What should i do over and above below to put my self in best position and some forums do say they do not turn up and I'm really not sure what they have vs what other defence i should have or need?

Here's a report detailing what a Judge will need to be satisfied about, to set aside:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74864199#Comment_74864199

3. I never received a single letter or picture of the offence and the first i found out was a letter from Northampton county court highlighting i have a CCJ (October 2018) followed by a letter from Bailiffs (October/November 2018) highlighting i owe an amount over £400.
4. I contacted UKCPM and Gladstone numerous times and their line never goes through, so i contacted Bailiff who were able to only confirm the location and date of contravention and highlighting they also had no other information i.e. pictures and only options i have was to do a N244 application (paying an astonishing £255) for something i have know knowledge of.

You need to email UKCPM a SAR (see NEWBIES thread post #2) and you will get to see all the letters and where they were sent.

Like most other PPCs, UKCPM have a privacy page for SARs (again - see NEWBIES thread).