Gladstones Letter before Action

brentmeister2k

Hi there,

I've received a letter before claim from Gladstones, they are acting for UK Car Park Management, for a parking fine around 2 years old.

They say they have traced me as I moved in January although I had stopped receiving any letters about this for some time before moving.

They are providing 14 days (although only 5 left now and letter received yesterday) to pay in full £160 and add that "in the event the debt is not paid in full they are instructed to commence legal proceedings. Their client is satisfied that it has sufficient evidence to support the claim and if necessary will rely on this evidence in Court."

They refer me to the gladstones solicitors payment portal or offer several alternatives.

From memory I believe on receiving the ticket I wrote an initial appeal email or letter as I was genuinely confused with the parking rules. The car park allowed free parking for 2 hours (or similar) and I left well within the timeframe, however I still needed to get a ticket. I had tried but think the machine was faulty. When I was leaving there were a ridiculous number of other cars with similar PCN's on the windscreen as it seemed everyone had a similar issue. I believe I did a decline to my appeal and I have ignored letters since, believing they would give up. I stopped hearing for a long time but now that they have gone to the trouble of tracing me to my new address I am concerned this will progress to court.

Any guidance on whether I can/should appeal at this stage and on what grounds would be appreciated.

If you require any more detail please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

It is too late to appeal.

Edit your post to remove information about who did what/who parked. Only ever refer to The Driver and The Keeper, who are two different people.
You/The Keeper should wait for the real LBC then respond using the guide to court written by bargepole that you will find in post 2 of the NEWBIES.
(The real LBC will give you 30 days to respond and include financial questions that you do NOT fill in. Thanks to beamerguy for reminding me of this.)

You can only use facts. If you can't remember who was driving because the alleged event was some time ago, then say so. If you were "an occupant" of the car and are absolutely certain you can remember what The Driver did, then say so.

Do not reveal the driver's identity at any stage unless you are absolutely sure it will help the case.

What happened when you complained to the landowner?

Don't forget to complain to your MP about this unregulated scam.

beamerguy

They are providing 14 days (although only 5 left now and letter received yesterday) to pay in full £160 and add that "in the event the debt is not paid in full they are instructed to commence legal proceedings. Their client is satisfied that it has sufficient evidence to support the claim and if necessary will rely on this evidence in Court."

That is the infamous 14 day letter which is a nonsense debt collector letter. To take this further Gladstones MUST comply with the law and issue a letter of claim giving you 30 days to respond and providing proof of their claim plus the charges.

Gladstones has added a FAKE £60 to their claim and that breaks the law of POFA2012 which the courts say is ABUSE OF PROCESS

ABUSE OF PROCESS
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75929156#Comment_75929156

They say their client has sufficient evidence which is very doubtful

What Gladstones do not have is evidence that they have the authority to break the law by adding a further £60 to their claim.
They do not have the authority to circumvent the courts own ruling about double recovery.

These money scammers often refer to the ParkingEye v Beavis as a leading authority but ignore what the Supreme court said in this case ...

198. ''...The charge has to be and is set at a level which enables the managers to recover the costs of operating the scheme...''
Thanks to coupon-mad

That level is now £100 and the Supreme court deemed it includes costs of recovery ... not a penny more

So Gladstones are attempting to circumvent the Supreme Court

Therefore, await for a REAL Letter before claim giving you 30 days to respond and let's see if Gladstones wish to continue to break the law

The_Deep

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

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

brentmeister2k

Thanks all, I will just add that in their letter they do mention that they are providing me "extra time" as they have traced me to my new address and so I wouldnt have seen their last letter which provided a full 30 days notice. They have included a copy of this for my reference which is dated over a month ago and which states a full 30 days notice.

I thought it was worth bringing to your attention in case it changes your view on the fact they've only provided 14 days rather than the required 30.

Coupon-mad

Never mind the 14/30 days. You will get a claim soon so your ABSOLUTE priority is to make sure that is filed and served with your CURRENT address on, as PPCs are well known to revert to an old address for the actual claim. Then people get a CCJ and only learn about it too late.

Search the forum for RECTIFICATION NOTICE NEW ADDRESS and do that!