Claim Form from County Court Business Centre for unpaid parking tickets

wintapper

Hi

Need some advice as there seems to be some conflicting thoughts on dealing with unpaid parking tickets.  I received today a Claim Form from County Court Business Centre in Northampton on behalf of Gladstones Solicitors Ltd. The form looks like a photocopy with no official stamp. Is this for real? The date issued was 12th February 2020.

The claim is for two unpaid parking charge notices back in December 2019 and January 2019 whilst rightly parking at my daughter's martial arts class. As members of the club we are allowed to park in the overflow car park on the other side of the building if the other car park is full. I have and other members have done and continue to do so without any issues.

I was not aware of these charges of £160.00 each until 23rd March 2019 when I received a letter from the company Debt Recovery Plus Ltd.  I contacted them straightaway and informed them we are allowed to park in the carpark as my daughter is member of the gym, quite frankly they didn't take much notice and was very rude and unhelpful.  I then subsequently took the letters to the Manager of the gym who then immediately emailed UK Car Park Management Ltd informing them of the error and requested cancellation of said PCNs, which they did (I have copies of the email correspondence confirming cancellation).

Rightly, wrongly or naively, after being told to ignore any further letters from DRP and Gladstone Solicitors (mostly from forums like this and internet and youtube research;  whole thing was just a great big scam, I did just ignored them, until now! I am a bit worried that I will be taken to court and a CCJ put in place and as a single mother this is the last thing I want hanging over my head!

I have started to fill out the Claim Form and I am also in the process of drafting a letter to Gladstone Solicitors requesting 'proof of the claim and any original agreements and Dead of Assignment demonstrating that the claimant has a right to bring about a claim against me'. The italic part is suggested by Youtuber called Jo Blogg who I found on youtube the other day amidst my panic - Is this correct? I don't really understand the legal jargon:/

With regards to the Claim Form I am in the process of filling out the paper form (not online).  Do I need to give them my date of birth and email address as they have my address to send correspondence to? My defence will be mainly what I wrote above apart from the ignoring the letters part of course!

Any advice in the next few days would be most appreciated as I have 14 days from the 12th February (issue Date) to send of the letter to the Solicitors if needed and to complete the Acknowledgement of Service Form. 

Many thanks

Redx

from the above there are too many assumptions and issues to list , where do I start ?

DO NOT FILL IN ANY CLAIM FORM , NOR THE AOS FORM EITHER

login to the CCBC MCOL gateway site using the form reference , TO SEE IF THE CLAIM FORM IS REAL, NAME THE PARKING COMPANY TOO (is it UK Car Park Management Ltd  ?), NOT JUST THE SOLICITORS who are acting for UKCPM

you will need to email the DPO at the parking company with a copy of the claim form attached to get all your data, do that tonight

stop filling forms in , just check online to see if its real, if the CCBC in Northampton sent it , its almost certainly real

your DEFENCE will be emailed to the CCBC in due course , followed by your DQ later on

your email of a SAR to the DPO at the PPC needs to be done asap

then you need to read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread post #2 , do the AOS online , then start drafting your defence

there is no ambiguity if you read that newbies faq sticky thread , you wont be posting anything my snail mail and I have no idea why you would be filling in any date of birth either

KeithP

wintapper said:

I received today a Claim Form from County Court Business Centre in Northampton on behalf of Gladstones Solicitors Ltd. The date issued was 12th February 2020.

With a Claim Issue Date of 12th February, you have until Monday 2nd March to file an Acknowledgement of Service. If possible, do not file an AoS before 18th February, but otherwise there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. To file an AoS, follow the guidance offered in a Dropbox file linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822/newbies-private-parking-ticket-old-or-new-read-these-faqs-first-thankyou 

About ten minutes work - no thinking required.

Having filed an AoS, you have until 4pm on Monday 16th March 2020 to file your Defence.

That's four weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

When you are happy with the content, your Defence could be filed via email as suggested here:

1. Print your 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. No need to do anything on MCOL, but do check it after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defence received". If not, chase the CCBC until it is.
   
   After filing your Defence, there is more to do...
   
   
7. Do not be surprised to receive an early copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire. Nothing of interest there. Just file it.
   
8. Wait for your own Directions Questionnaire from the CCBC, or download one from the internet - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n180-directions-questionnaire-small-claims-track , and then complete it as described by bargepole in his 'what happens when' post linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES thread - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822/newbies-private-parking-ticket-old-or-new-read-these-faqs-first-thankyou"]
   
9. The completed DQ should be returned by email to the CCBC to the same address and in the same way as your Defence was filed earlier.
   
10. Send a copy of your completed DQ to the Claimant - to their address on your Claim Form.

Coupon-mad

Yes it's real and there is no conflicting advice here.  We help people defend cases and win them, no risk, no CCJ even for the odd person who loses at their local court hearing.  A real life experience in beating a scam, basically.

I have started to fill out the Claim Form

Stop right now, you are not filling in paper forms.  Why not read other UKCPM threads, we have LOADS!

 I am also in the process of drafting a letter to Gladstone Solicitors requesting 'proof of the claim and any original agreements and Dead of Assignment demonstrating that the claimant has a right to bring about a claim against me'. The italic part is suggested by Youtuber called Jo Blogg who I found on youtube the other day amidst my panic - Is this correct?

Nope it's hopeless.  He sounds like the type to require a 'wet ink signature'.  Forget his advice and get OFF Facebook; you will not find proper advice there.

WhenIam64_again

Dead Deed of Assignment demonstrating that the claimant has a right to bring about a claim against me'

The Deed would only be relevant if Gladstones were representing themselves as the new owners of the debt. The key word is Solicitors as Gladstones are acting as solicitors for the original debt owners. 

Like most of these ideas, there is a grain of truth which makes them seem plausible. You are better of staying here amongst people who know the issues clearly.  

D_P_Dance

If you think that Gladstones havebehaved improperly complain here.

https://www.sra.org.uk/

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra costs and work, and has been known to get the charge cancelled.

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.