Gladstone Letter Before Claim

Alfred890

Hi all,
I have a couple of questions about how to proceed with regards to a letter before claim from Gladstone on behalf of CPM.

I received a Parking Charge Notice through the post from CPM over a year ago (may) for ' failure to park within a designated area' at college where we play football. The area in question has no white lines to park within as the parking space is only marked by a small blob on paint on the tarmac carriageway (parking bay surface is gravel). It wasn't clear at all due the size of the marking's and the time of day, and in fact since then they have added white blocks within the gravel to mark the spaces more clearly. I had every right to park there as I was paying to play on the pitch and had registered my car on the number plate system.

After reading the various excellent posts on MSE I responded by email the same day challenging the PCN and telling them that other cars had already parked poorly in a busy car park and was using an available space. I got a snoty letter back with photos of my car parked outside the small white blob and got asked for payment.

I did nothing then and heard nothing more from CPM but in Nov had a letter from Debt Recovery Plus with an additional £60 added to the fine which I ignored.

I then heard nothing until Dec when I received a letter from Gladstones Solicitors. Basically saying pay up or we will look to go to civil court which I ingored.

Then this week I gotsa letter before claim. This requires payment to them and suggests if I have a valid reason for non-payment I should complete their Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) form on their site.

So, reading the NEWBIES thread it said to start my own thread. I about to send a holding letter to Gladstones and SAR to CPM to get all the data they have on me.
I will go to court as I feel I have a good case and I don't like being robbed.

Just wanted to check the above is the right course of action and whether I should complete the Gladstone PAP form? Also is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks for the help. Really appreciate it

KeithP

You seem to have the process well sussed. Carry on.

Coupon-mad

and whether I should complete the Gladstone PAP form?

No, to stop people filling in something they'd later regret, we tell everyone not to fill any forms in. You do not have to use the forms and will get a claim anyway, so a SAR to UKCPM and a holding email to Gs is all you need.

Just read ahead by searching the forum for UKCPM Gladstones. Loads of winning threads for you to learn from!

Alfred890

Hi Guys,

Thank you for your advice so far. I have been reviewing other threads, but I am not totally sure of my next steps.

I requested a 30 day extension to get the SAR information CPM. Gladstone agreed and set a new deadline of 16th of July, tomorrow. My SAR came through last week. So once I reviewed the information I emailed Gladstone last week and asked for another extension as I have started to seek debt relief advice. They have failed to address/ respond to this at all.

I also asked at the start of last week for ADR as suggested by the Para 2.1 of the PAP. The thinking behind this is that I want to show the judge I have been reasonable and that I trying to save the courts and our time, but also to save myself from having to go to court if i don't need too. They have failed to address/ respond to this at all.

As they have failed to respond to all of these request should I still provide a formal response as per the template outlined in the PAP ANNEX 1 e.g. BOX D saying I am contesting the claim, then BOX H stating why I dispute the claim?

I would really appreciate any help with this.

waamo

Yes respond to them. It's all about showing yourself to be reasonable and them not to be. Clearly making no attempt to avoid court is unreasonable.

The SAR may provide useful information for your defence.

The_Deep

Why not complain to your MP as nine out of ten of these so called breaches of contract are scams

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, and persistent offenders denied access. Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers.

Until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted