ES Parking Enforcement/Gladstones

edwj2001

Hi,

Before I get told off for starting a new thread, I have read all the threads relating to my issue on here, but I think I have a fairly unique situation that I would really appreciate some help and advice on please.

We live close to a council controlled road, which has two marked out parking bays on the pavement. My partner has been happily parking in those whenever they are free over the past 3 or 4 years. On the 25th May 2019, my partner parked her car there only to find she had a PCN ticket issued and affixed to her car by ES Parking Enforcement for allegedly parking in the bays. Unknowingly to my partner signs had been put up by ES Parking Enforcement claiming that the bays were private land and you are unable to park there without a valid permit. We are unsure when those signs went up but it must certainly have been fairly recently. The signs aren’t particularly clear, but were there at the time as backed up by their photo evidence. We were pretty annoyed by this, as she had parked there without issue for several years, but after a rejected appeal decided to pay the £60 fine to avoid any hassle.

We didn’t think anything more of it and haven’t parked there since until we received a Letter Before Claim in the last few days from Gladstones Solicitors claiming that the car had been parked in the same spot, but this time on an entirely different earlier date of the 13th April 2019. They are requesting £160. We have since received another Letter Before Claim from Gladstones solicitors claiming £320, for two other alleged offences on the 18th and 19th April. We have received absolutely no correspondence for any of these 3 claims previously up until we received the LBCs and parking tickets were definitely not issued and affixed to the car on those dates.

The LBCs we received were actually addressed to an address that my partner has not lived at for over 10 years, but were sent to our current address with a covering letter saying “we understand you may now reside at the following address”. They also say in the covering letter that they will continue to send correspondence to the old address to do with any litigation.

My partner and I have since discovered that the car in question is still registered to her old address, and presumably ES Parking Enforcement got that address from the DVLA. My partner had changed the address on her driving licence but had not changed the registered keeper address details. It’s a very old car that she has had for a long time.

We have followed the guidance on here by issuing the SAR to ES Parking Enforcement as we literally have not seen any evidence to date which backs up their three claims, and tickets were not affixed to the car on any of those dates. We have also issued a Restriction of Data Processing Letter to Gladstones which also tells them not to send any correspondence to the old address.

We are obviously really worried that there might be several other LBC claims coming through the post for dates between 19th April and the 25th May, where tickets were not affixed to the car but we were alleged to have parked there, which could amount to several thousands of pounds.

I am absolutely amazed that companies can issue fines without affixing tickets and/or issuing us with any sort of correspondence or evidence. They may have been sending letters to my partners previous address, but this still seems grossly unfair that we did not know that she was doing anything wrong, but could now be issued with over a months’ worth of parking tickets if they have done the same thing between the 19th April, and when they did decide to finally affix a ticket on the 25th May.

I would really appreciate any advice on if we have any chance of fighting this claim and the best steps to take.

Redx

No problem in you starting a new thread, just stick to this thread as the saga unfolds

There has been no need for windscreen tickets in over a decade, this won't change due to new technology, it's the same as anpr speed cameras on road bridges etc, all remote evidence gathering

Not changing the V5C address made it worse as this is mandatory with a possible fine of up to £1000, so hope it's correct now, if it isn't get it done asap

Had the vehicle received council tickets or speeding tickets that went unchallenged and unpaid it could have been far worse

Ensure a SAR to ES flushes out all documents and pictures and data about the keeper and vehicle

Post #2 of the newbies faq sticky thread tells the keeper about writing to get it on hold pending debt management advice etc, plus issuing a SAR too

Expect an mcol court claim form pack from the CCBC in Northampton to arrive in the next month or two, so prepare for this so you are not on the back foot

PS those spaces must be private property and not council controlled, which is more common than you might think

The_Deep

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams so consider complaining to your MP.

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, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but 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

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

edwj2001

Thanks Redx. Your response doesn't give me much hope we will be able to fight this, but thanks for the advice. I still can't believe we could be facing a fine of around £5-6k (if my partner parked there most days before she realised she wasn't allowed to) due to this.

Redx

edwj2001 wrote: »

Thanks Redx. Your response doesn't give me much hope we will be able to fight this, but thanks for the advice. I still can't believe we could be facing a fine of around £5-6k (if my partner parked there most days before she realised she wasn't allowed to) due to this.

No idea why you think that

For you to lose they would have to have the following

Landowner authority in writing
Full and clearly written signage
Warning signs up about the new rules for parking
Legible bay markings
Adhere to POFA to make a keeper liable
Full compliance with the Cop

Seems to me they failed because a driver kept parking there without knowing it was wrong

The fact they had done so previously doesn't carry any weight if the signs were clear, because they probably don't have permission before either, but you said the signs were not seen or clear

This reminds me of the infamous lay-by in the Mrs sunglasses case, Google it and read the info on parking prankster s website about it, plus the threads on here too

Contact your local council to see if the spaces are adopted or not, any complaints about them, contact trading standards and email your local MP about this trap, make a fuss

edwj2001

Thanks again. I have emailed the council about the adoption of the roads and pavements. I had already done this previously, and they confirmed that both the road and pavements were adopted, but perhaps i wasn't specific enough with the area of pavement i was talking about. Sounds as though i just need to gather all the info and evidence possible at this stage and wait for the court summons to come in?

Redx

Be specific because a private company cannot enforce on council adopted roads

No summons will arrive in the post, where on earth did you get that idea from ??

A court claim pack comes in the post as an MCOL from the CCBC in Northampton

You definitely will not receive a summons about this

edwj2001

Hi all,

Just as an update to this we have now received five separate court claims which have the seven alleged offences on them.

I'd really appreciate some more advice on how to defend the claim but just as an update on where we are up to now:

1) An area of pavement with a parking bay which was previously council controlled was made into a private parking bay and signs put up. I have evidence from google maps that the signs were not up their previously.
2) The driver was unaware of the change in circumstance and over a period of time 7 alleged parking offence took place in that bay. Tickets were not affixed to the car but we presume letters were issued to a previous address as we had not updated the DVLA address of the vehicle.
3) On an 8th occasion a parking ticket was affixed to the car, and we became aware of the new parking restrictions, having not received any of the previous 7 letters at this point. This PCN was paid.
4) We gradually became aware of the previous 7 alleged offences as LBCs starting coming to our correct address, with a covering letter to say they were aware that we had moved.
5) The vehicle address details were updated with DVLA when we realised the issue.
6) We issued a SAR to ES Parking, and received pictures of the car parked in the bay for all of the alleged offences.
7) The council confirmed the bay area is unadopted.
8) A also received a copy of the TRO from the council for the road in question that I am struggling to interpret.
9) We spoke to the court to ask them to consolidate the five claims into one but they have said they are unable to do so.

Then for our defence I was thinking of using the forbidding signage and obviously that the signage was unclear and that we were unaware of the new regulations. Is the fact that the notices were not issues to us a defence? Or is that our fault as we hadn't changed the DVLA address?

I have tried to attach some images of the bays and the signage but won't let me as I'm too new of a member.

Thanks in advance for your help.

The_Deep

Your response doesn't give me much hope we will be able to fight this

Properly defended claims have a very good chance of winning, judges are aware that many/most of these so-called breaches of contract are scams, as indeed is Parliament. In fact, nine times out of ten of these tickets are unlawful, so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra work.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, 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, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but 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

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies

Le_Kirk

What stage are you at with each claim? It should be possible by persisting to write to the court (or CCBC if it hasn't been allocated) a letter asking for all cases to be heard together in the interest of saving the court time and costs and to prevent an abuse of process by the PPC. If you are at or pre-DQ you can ask at DQ stage with a covering letter for all cases to be heard together. You do have to keep writing and persisting in the belief that a judge will eventually see all your letters and grant your request. Search the forum for posts by Coupon-mad with claims consolidated as your keyword(s) and you should find several, including THIS one - read from post # 15.

edwj2001

Claims were issued on the the 7th October, so considered served on the 12th October. I will have to acknowledge in the next few days.