Letter from Gladstones Solicitors

mart1g

Hello. Looking for any guidance I can get on this please.
 I received a private parking ticket over 4 years ago (November 2017). Unless I'm mistaken, the advice at the time was to ignore the ticket as they weren't enforceable. I have now received a letter from Gladstones Solicitors, telling me I have to pay £170 or face court action and a possible CCJ. 
The original ticket was issued by UK Car Park Management Limited. I'm just wondering if I was mistaken to ignore the ticket in the first place, and if this is unusual to receive this type of letter nearly 5 years later?
Apologies if there are any other posts like this. I have tried to find one but may have missed it. 
Any advice would be much appreciated please.

D_P_Dance

 I have now received a letter from Gladstones Solicitors, telling me I have to pay £170 

They have added what appears to be an extra unlawful amount of £70 for debt collection.

This amounts to double recovery and Judges all over the country are dismissing these spurious additions. Indeed some judges have dismissed entire claims because of this. Read this and complain to Trading Standards and your MP,

Excel v Wilkinson

At the Bradford County Court, District Judge Claire Jackson (now HHJ Jackson, a Specialist Civil Circuit Judge) decided to hear a 'test case' a few months ago, where £60 had been added to a parking charge despite Judges up and down the country repeatedly disallowing that sum and warning parking firms not to waste court time with such spurious claims.   That case was Excel v Wilkinson: G4QZ465V, heard in July 2020 and leave to appeal was refused and that route was not pursued.  The Judge concluded that such claims are proceedings with 'an improper collateral purpose'.   This Judge - and others who have since copied her words and struck dozens of cases out in late 2020 and into 2021 - went into significant detail and concluded that parking operators (such as this Claimant) are seeking to circumvent CPR 27.14 as well as breaching the Consumer Rights Act 2015.   DJ Hickinbottom has recently struck more cases out in that court area, stating: ''I find that striking out this claim is the only appropriate manner in which the disapproval of the court can be shown''.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/16qovzulab1szem/G4QZ465V Excel v Wilkinson.pdf?dl=0

However, VCS appealed this so it may not apply in all cases, read this

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ntksx9g7177ahyg/VCS v Percy v1 Amendments (2).pdf?dl=0Also read this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6279348/witness-statements-2-transcripts-re-parking-firms-false-costs-recorder-cohen-qc-judgment-2021/p1

Also this,

"Abuse of process – the quantum

13. In addition to the disputed Parking Charge Notice claim amount of £100, the Claimant has added a sum of £60 that is disingenuously described variously as 'debt collection costs', ‘additional charges levied to cover the cost of recovery’, ‘additional administration costs’, ‘debt recovery costs’, ‘initial legal costs’ and ‘recovery costs’. The added £60 constitutes double recovery and the court is invited to find the quantum claimed is false and an abuse of process as was found by District Judge Claire Jackson (now HHJ Jackson, a Specialist Civil Circuit Judge) in Excel vs Wilkinson: G4QZ465V, a similar case in which £60 had been added to a parking charge, heard in July 2020 (the transcript of which is exhibit XX-04). The Judge concluded that such claims are proceedings with 'an improper collateral purpose'. Leave to appeal was refused and that route was not pursued."

Also consider complaining to The SRA about the solicitor, if one is involved They are fully aware of the unlawful nature of most of thse additions yet persist in adding them..

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

go-on-then

Have you read the ' Newbies thread as everyone is advised to do for excellent step by step guide on what to do.

Threats of bailiffs and ccjs are used to scare people into paying, you wont be paying unless a judge tells you to but that's a while away and it may not get that far.

Please also read lots and lots of other posts to get an idea of how this game works.  

Complain to your MP !!

Umkomaas

Unless I'm mistaken, the advice at the time was to ignore the ticket as they weren't enforceable.

You are wholly mistaken, in Nov 2017 that advice was already over 5 years out of date. Today it's almost 10 years out of date.

patient_dream

Gladstones Solicitors, telling me I have to pay £170 or face court action and a possible CCJ. 

Gladstones ???...such fools.??

Of course you don't owe £170. Gladstones are scamming you with a fake £70 which recently government has banned.

Come on Gladstones, stop being so stupid, you know that a CCJ can only happen if you win and the defendent did not pay in time ... but who says you will win ?   We know your track record.

Ask about the fake £70 .... no legal has a logical answer because it's a scam