PCM/IAS + mitigation: should I just give in & pay up?

grassmarket

The link to LazyDaisy is in Parking Cowboys - as I said:
https://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/letter-before-claim/

Umkomaas

grassmarket said:

The link to LazyDaisy is in Parking Cowboys - as I said:
https://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/letter-before-claim/

Some of the Parking Cowboys stuff is well out of date - fish and chips newspaper wrapping. We can't influence it. 

grassmarket

I understand that & have ignored it, but that isn’t really pertinent to my question. 

KeithP

grassmarket said:

I understand that & have ignored it, but that isn’t really pertinent to my question. 

OK, your question is...

grassmarket said:

So - why not just dispute the debt via the official Reply Form (with all my evidence) & get it over with?  

Disputing the debt via the reply forms will achieve nothing.
Using the reply forms requires you to reveal your financial details and for that reason too, don't bother with the reply forms.

The first few paragraphs tell you how to respond to a Letter Before Claim, and to summarise that guidance -
1) do not complete the Reply Forms,
2) send a SAR to the claimant - not their solicitor,
3) write to the solicitor telling them to put the matter on hold for thirty days.

There is nothing that you can do now that will 'get it over with'.

grassmarket

Appreciate your reply, KeithP.
I trust that you also appreciated me replying to your query about the out of date PC link? 

Re your warning about financial info: the Reply forms I’ve been given by Gladstones don’t ask me for any financial info. Are you thinking instead of the actual court claim forms, which would ask about payment? 

Re the guidance summary:
1) Why do you say Reply forms  will achieve nothing? If they get the Claimant & their solicitor to stop threatening me & actually do something - surely that’s an achievement? They will have to either go to court or drop it. 

2) & 3) I did my best to read the Newbies guide fully so think I understand who to send SAR etc to  - but what is the point? I don’t want any further delay in settling this - I’ve already had to put up with months of debt collector letters. Does causing further procedural delay make them less likely to go to court, eg due to the extra costs? 

Finally - what makes you say that there’s nothing that can be done to ‘get it over with’? Sorry - I really don’t understand that. Surely if I now state my case/evidence promptly, without any further delay - then the ball is firmly in their court? They then have to decide either to take it to court or to drop it? 

KeithP

grassmarket said:

I trust that you also appreciated me replying to your query about the out of date PC link? 

Yes thank you for that.

grassmarket said:

Re your warning about financial info: the Reply forms I’ve been given by Gladstones don’t ask me for any financial info.

Really? Can you please show us the forms you are talking about then? 

grassmarket said:

Are you thinking instead of the actual court claim forms, which would ask about payment?

No, I wasn't thinking about that. You haven't received any court forms yet, have you?

grassmarket said:

Re the guidance summary:
1) Why do you say Reply forms  will achieve nothing? If they get the Claimant & their solicitor to stop threatening me & actually do something - surely that’s an achievement? They will have to either go to court or drop it.

Experience has shown that whatever response you make to Gladstones will not deflect them from their course.
You are right... they will either go to court or drop it. In my opinion, nothing you can say at this stage will get them to drop it.


I won't bother with a detailed response to the rest of your post, but just to say, they want some money from you. They are focussed. They will not be deviated from their course at this stage.

I respectfully suggest that your best course of action is to now...
1) send a SAR to the parking company to find out what else they have on you,
2) send an email to Gladstones telling them to allow you thirty days to seek debt advice (not that you actually need to get debt advice),
3) start thinking about your Defence.

This isn't going to end quickly and other than paying them what they are asking for, there will be a court case some time in the six years following the alleged parking event..

Coupon-mad

And attach the photos in darkness that I suggested back in January should be gathered in readiness for this LBC stage.

This is your chance to shout 'put up or shut up!'.  Not to meekly fill in a form.

If you read any other Gladstones LBC threads since April, you will find dozens of examples of how to robustly respond. By email.  I wrote (several times since April) a suggested response that people ran with - no idea which usernames but they are all there for the sake of a search.

No using the useless 'debt' reply forms - unless you really want to do this snail mail and look like a 'hooked in' consumer victim (which is IMHO what it looks like when people use the reply forms in a roboclaim parking case).

This is not a debt. Don't let the likes of Gladstones dictate the form of your response as if you are a debtor.

grassmarket

Thanks both for your latest replies.

Keith: the form (I have now used) is Gladstones online version of this:
https://www.gladstonessolicitors.co.uk/brandings/3/resources/documents/pap-reply-form.pdf
I simply ticked the ‘dispute it’ box & attached my documents (max 5) ie darkness photos & medical emergency evidence. No financial info requested or given.
Unless I’m missing something, a SAR request & debt advice letter as you suggest will just delay the outcome I want ie a final resolution of the matter. If I am still missing something - please explain.
You say they’ll go to court anyway. I say: bring it on.

Coupon: darkness photos gathered as you suggested & now submitted. Non-meek email being prepared. 
I’ll check out the Gladstone LBC threads as you suggest (thanks) & incorporate anything relevant. My email will be robust but also make clear that I (at least) am doing my best to comply with behaviours required by the Ministry of Justice Practice Direction, ie giving Claimant all the info they need to avoid bothering the courts. 

If there’s any further advice you both can give me, I’d be grateful to receive & I promise to post the outcome - good or bad. Maybe the new Code of Conduct for PPCs from DLUHC will have actually started by then! 

1505grandad

"No financial info requested or given."

Did you see page 14 onwards:-

"ANNEX 2 STANDARD FINANCIAL STATEMENT "

Obviously - as KeithP states - not to be filled in.

grassmarket

1505 - thanks for reply.

As said - I used their online form, which didn’t have all that extra financial stuff. 

All it had was a drop-down menu, select ‘dispute debt’ & add up to 5 supporting documents/photos. The rest will be in my email. Thanks.