LBC from Gladstones/PS24

Umkomaas

I’m conscious that I have 2 weeks left to respond to the LBC from Gladstones (funnily enough the issue date on the paperwork is the 27th June but somehow it took 11 days to get to my address….)

Can you confirm the date of issue of the Gladstone's LBC, because we seem to have conflicting information here?

In May 2022 I received a LBC and straight away I submitted at SAR to PS24 and sent back a request for paper forms from Gladstones which I have now received.

Coupon-mad

I'd email on Monday and state both things. Buys you a month to hear from the BPA.

unapologicallyme

Umkomaas said:

I’m conscious that I have 2 weeks left to respond to the LBC from Gladstones (funnily enough the issue date on the paperwork is the 27th June but somehow it took 11 days to get to my address….)

Can you confirm the date of issue of the Gladstone's LBC, because we seem to have conflicting information here?

In May 2022 I received a LBC and straight away I submitted at SAR to PS24 and sent back a request for paper forms from Gladstones which I have now received.

Original LBC received in May, paperwork requested and issued by Gladstones on June 27th but not received until 8th July

Umkomaas

unapologicallyme said:

Umkomaas said:

I’m conscious that I have 2 weeks left to respond to the LBC from Gladstones (funnily enough the issue date on the paperwork is the 27th June but somehow it took 11 days to get to my address….)

Can you confirm the date of issue of the Gladstone's LBC, because we seem to have conflicting information here?

In May 2022 I received a LBC and straight away I submitted at SAR to PS24 and sent back a request for paper forms from Gladstones which I have now received.

Original LBC received in May, paperwork requested and issued by Gladstones on June 27th but not received until 8th July

Hard to tell when their 30-day deadline expires for the purposes of you requiring them to provide a further 30-day extension for receipt of debt advice.

Was their covering letter with the paperwork headed 'Letter of Claim' with a new 30-day deadline given?

unapologicallyme

Umkomaas said:

unapologicallyme said:

Umkomaas said:

I’m conscious that I have 2 weeks left to respond to the LBC from Gladstones (funnily enough the issue date on the paperwork is the 27th June but somehow it took 11 days to get to my address….)

Can you confirm the date of issue of the Gladstone's LBC, because we seem to have conflicting information here?

In May 2022 I received a LBC and straight away I submitted at SAR to PS24 and sent back a request for paper forms from Gladstones which I have now received.

Original LBC received in May, paperwork requested and issued by Gladstones on June 27th but not received until 8th July

Hard to tell when their 30-day deadline expires for the purposes of you requiring them to provide a further 30-day extension for receipt of debt advice.

Was their covering letter with the paperwork headed 'Letter of Claim' with a new 30-day deadline given?

Sorry for the delayed response- so the paperwork that came through the post isn’t headed up “letter before claim” however does state

 “YOU HAVE 30 DAYS FROM THE DATE AT THE TOP OF THE ENCLOSED LETTER TO FILL IN AND RETURN THIS FORM. IF YOU DON’T IT COULD RESULT IN COURT PROCEEDINGS.”

When I received the LBC back in May I was advised to request paper copies of the reply forms to give myself time to get a SAR from PS24. 

The letter enclosed with the reply forms was issued on 27th June so the 30 days would be towards the end of July I think? 

There is a section on the reply form where you can let them know that you are seeking debt advice and on the front of the reply form it says that they recommend that you do so if you have any doubt about whether you owe the debt.

I made a complaint against them to the BPA following some really helpful advice from this forum - I’m not sure what their timescales for responding are though. 

Coupon-mad

We've no idea but sounds reasonable to respond at the end of this month.  You will get a court claim in the end anyway.

unapologicallyme

Coupon-mad said:

We've no idea but sounds reasonable to respond at the end of this month.  You will get a court claim in the end anyway.

Cheers! Do you know if PS24 are very court active? 

Umkomaas

unapologicallyme said:

Coupon-mad said:

We've no idea but sounds reasonable to respond at the end of this month.  You will get a court claim in the end anyway.

Cheers! Do you know if PS24 are very court active? 

They're not in the Premier League of court claimants. Hardly ever hear of them even for bog standard parking charges. Do a forum search on 'PS24 court' or 'Parking Solutions 24 court' and see what you can find, I suspect very little. 

HOW TO USE THE MSE SEARCH FUNCTION MOST EFFECTIVELY

Follow the steps in the link below to get the most effective results from the MSE search function. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6289402/weve-updated-the-search-function/p1

unapologicallyme

Just wanted to post an update/get a bit more advice if that’s ok

Heard back from the BPA and they hadn’t seen my evidence (I’m guessing it didn’t attach to the complaint when I uploaded it), but now they have the evidence and I’m in contact with someone through email so I’m hoping they respond tomorrow.

I’ve spent the weekend going through every Gladstones thread to try find some inspo for the reply- I came across the below on a fairly recent thread and tweaked it to my case, should I take out the bit about the complaint with the BPA or leave it in? And does the content of this reply still stand? 

I plan to send this tomorrow just so I am responding within their timelines, would an email replace the paper forms/online reply (not even looked on that so don’t know what the format is!) or would I need to complete these too?

Gladstones Solicitors

Ref quote : XXXX

I have sent your client a SAR and I am also seeking debt advice but I deny any debt and the case must be put 'on hold' for not less than 30 days under the PAP for debt claims 2017.

I have also made a complaint to the BPA regarding your clients breaches of the Code of Practice:

a) alleged ‘ghost ticketing’ as your client failed to provide evidence of the windscreen PCN in the SAR.

b) the only notice received was the “notice to keeper” which demanded £78 then £130, whereas the signs in the car park say £30 rising to £60. 

Also update your system with the following address for service and delete any other addresses on your system

XXXX

Regarding the "Estimated Fixed Solicitor's Costs" I'm sure you are more than aware but the max legal costs for a small claim of this size is £50. I'm unsure why it's £80 on the Letter Before Claim you have sent.

Further, the Government has banned the false 'debt recovery costs' noting that these were never actually incurred because the 'private parking DRAs' were operating free of charge for the parking industry, until the 'fixed late fee' scam was stopped this February.

In his Ministerial Foreword, DLUHC's Neil O-Brien talks of "aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees designed to extort money from motorists":  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-parking-code-of-practice/private-parking-code-of-practice

Under 'Escalation of costs' the statutory Code states: "The parking operator must not levy additional costs over and above the level of a parking charge or parking tariff as originally issued."

Whilst the Code of Practice is not retrospective, there cannot be a clearer steer for the courts than the fact that the DLUHC has declared the false added fixed fees to have been "designed to extort money from motorists".

Moreover, it is my position that any parking roboclaim legal firm which now issues a claim enhanced by the false 'debt recovery' costs - despite knowing that the DLUHC has banned them and declared this element to amount to 'extortion' - cannot possibly be acting in good faith.

As such, if you do now proceed to issue a claim enhanced by the (known to be false)  £70 'fees', I will report you to the Solicitors' Regulatory Authority for breach of the STaRs: failing to act with 'honesty & integrity' or in a way which upholds public trust and confidence:

https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/principles/

This is the last time we will respond outside of the court process. 

Kind Regards

XXXX

Coupon-mad

I'd get rid of this because it might suit you to play email tennis for a while:

"This is the last time we will respond outside of the court process."

And were you unaware that the New Code of Practice is temporarily withdrawn? It's all over the forum, has bern since the start of June.  Google it!