Potentially one year worth of PCNs (WON)

Baylex

Hi all. As the title suggests I potentially have a years worth of PCNs to fight off. I am starting to take action but will potentially need some advice and guidance. Just to give a bit of context of the situation.

Story:
Over a year ago I moved to a new flat where it has a parking lot specifically for residents. Each flat has its own parking bay and I always parked my car on my own parking bay. However, I only changed the address on my V5C of my vehicle 10 months later or so, as I completely forgot to do this (this was done around October 2022). I do not drive my car very often, as I commute my motorcycle to work. After I changed my address on the V5C, I received a PCN from early November stating that I did not have a permit and that I had to pay £100. I then quickly rushed to my vehicle and noticed the permit fell onto the passenger's footwell, and has potentially been there since the beginning of 2022. A few days later I received a LBC from Gladstones with 3 PCNs from February 2022. A month goes by and I received yet another PCN from March 2022. You are probably now understanding where this is going right? Because now I have changed the address on my V5C and they got my new address from my council they are now sending the outstanding PCNs to my new address. And I think there's still more to come... In the meantime I bought a new, much better, permit holder to prevent this from happening in the future. The PPC managing the parking spaces is UK Car Park Management and they have the "warning sign"/Contract reasonably visible in the parking area.

What have I done so far about this?
The first PCN I received, I appealed though the UKCPM website, explaining the situation and that the permit fell off my window. Obviously they didn't care and rejected my appeal, giving me a chance to appeal to the IAS which was pretty much futile as they went in favour of UKCPM.
The second instance was the LBC from Gladstones with 3 PCN in one from February time. These all had around 2 days difference from each other. I appealed to Gladstones as soon as I got it but haven't heard anything back from them yet. 
Then eventually I got the 2nd LBC from Gladstone with a PCN from March. I haven't done anything with this one yet.
It was then that I decided to look online and found the newbies post here on MSE.
Since then I put together a SAR to UKCPM and an email to Gladstone advising that a SAR was sent to UKCPM. Below are the examples:

SAR
Dear Sir or Madam

Subject access request ( Data Protection Act 2018 / General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) )

My name is ******************* and currently reside at ***********************************.

My previous address was ***********************************.

Please supply the data about me that I am entitled to under data protection law relating to myself.

I am requesting the following:

• All the PCN against my name and vehicle
• I also need all of these PCN to be made into one claim instead of several, as these relate all to the same problem
• All photos taken for all the PCN
• All letters and emails sent and received, including all appeal correspondence earlier
• I need to know all PCNs that have been sent to Gladstones Solicitors

I have attached a utility bill alongside this email, to prove my identity. It may be helpful for you to know that data protection law requires you to respond to a request for data within one calendar month.

If you do not normally deal with these requests, please pass this letter to your Data Protection Officer, or relevant staff member. If you need advice on dealing with this request, the Information Commissioner’s Office can assist you. Its website is ico.org.uk or it can be contacted on 0303 123 1113.

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Email to Gladstones

Good Afternoon,

In regards to the PCN that you have sent me with Ref ********************.

I might have more PCN against me and I am unaware of their references as I have moved addresses, but just treat them all as one case.

I am currently seeking debt advice but I deny any debt and all cases that you may have of me must be put 'on hold' for not less than 30 days under the PAP for debt claims 2017.

I have sent your client a SAR requesting for all data they may have of me.

Just to confirm my ID, my name is ************** and I currently live at *********************************.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where do I stand now?
So far I haven't received anything from them. I still have some questions, even after reading the Newbies post and doing some research.
Beyond this point, do I just wait for Court and try to defend myself?
All of these PCNs sent to Gladstones, are being treated separately. Will I have to go to court multiple times?

As it stands now, I am looking at £170 per PCN with a total of 5 so far, totalling to £850.

Thank you in advance.

Regards

Mouse007

Look at your lease, what does it say about parking and permits?

Then Read this

Coupon-mad

You've picked up this dropped ball well.  Done all you can, but do respond to every LBC that arrives and attach a copy of your permit every time and tell them you are an authorised resident.

It is recommended that you also (immediately) strongly complain to the MA or HA that runs the estate, to see if they will insist UKCPM cancel some or all PCNs under the circs.

You will not be paying £170 per PCN even if you lost at court!  Laughable scam.

Baylex

Just a quick update on this. I did get a response back from UKCPM on the SAR and found out that I have a total of 17 PCN to fight off. All the way from March 2022 to November 2022. A physical PCN on the windshield would have avoided me a lot of grief, but oh well...
In the meantime I am getting in touch with my landlord to find out, hopefully, who is the owner of the land. I live in a building with several flats. So I have no clue as to who could be the owner of the building.

If my landlord ends up letting me know who the land owner is, I will obviously try and reach out to them to remove these PCNs. 

Otherwise, I actually don't know what else to do next, other than wait for a court call. Any other suggestions on what I could try in the meantime?

Coupon-mad

Involve your MP.

B789

Baylex said:

Otherwise, I actually don't know what else to do next, other than wait for a court call. Any other suggestions on what I could try in the meantime?

Dig out your lease (or deeds) and read it carefully for any mention of car parking. This is crucial in this case. Do this as soon as possible and let us know on here exactly what your lease (or deeds) say on this matter.

Have a search for "cause of action estoppel" and get to understand the meaning. Understand what an "abuse of process" is.

Mouse007

Mouse007 said:

Look at your lease, what does it say about parking and permits?

Then Read this

and how did you get on with this?

Baylex

Just an update on this. Things escalated too much and at this point in time I think I am kind of stuck.
Since my last message, I got in touch with the property managers that tried on my behalf to get the PCNs removed by contacting UKCPM. However, they did not remove them since it had already gone to Debt Collectors at that point.
Next I contacted the Debt Collectors, which is Gladstones Solicitors, tried to explain my case but obviously they didn't care. I contacted them by email. Then eventually I left this whole thing as it was and decided to wait for the Court letter to present my defence.
But the problem big problem started here, Gladstones sent my old address to the court. I asked them why they didn't update my address on the system, since I did receive their letters at the new address, and I contacted them by email after the fact. I would assume they would have updated my address, but they said because I didnt reply to the letters, they reverted back to my old address again. And because of that the Court sent all letters to my old address. I only realised I had the CCJ because it showed up on my credit file.

I contacted the Civil National Business Center to get more details around the CCJ since I had absolutely no details about it and checked what I could do in this situation. Was told to fill out a N244 form but apparently I have to pay £275 to set aside the CCJ, which to me is baffling. They told me to also send a EX160 form to try and fight off the cost, but that has been rejected.

It's infuriating how I have to pay £275 to set aside the CCJ when I've never received any court letters to present my defence, when the claimant had my new address...

Now, what options do I have?
Pay the £275, try and get a hearing and risk having to pay the full CCJ amount? Because at this stage nothing guarantees me that the Judge would even rule this in my favour... 
Some ideas would be helpful at this stage. Thanks

UncleThomasCobley

If they sent the claim to the wrong address, they must set aside the CCJ under CPR 13.2. You can ask for the costs to paid by the claimant at the set aside but some judges may reserve the costs to be decided at an actual hearing where the claim is defended.

You must act quickly once you have found out that you have a CCJ. Do not delay.

When you contacted Gladrags about your new address, did you do so through their DPO and instruct them to rectify your address for service and to "erase" your old address? How do you argue against the allegation that you received correspondence at your new address but did not respond? Do you have evidence of having informed them of your new address.

In addition to the above, you can add as a backup to your set aside that it also be considered under CPR 13.3 which is a discretionary set aside as the claim has a good chance of being successfully defended.

Coupon-mad

But you'll get that money back.  The parking firm will almost certainly be ordered to pay it when your application is heard.

Read any other recent CCJ set aside thread, plus we assume you already read the NEWBIES thread section on this.

Baylex

UncleThomasCobley said:

If they sent the claim to the wrong address, they must set aside the CCJ under CPR 13.2. You can ask for the costs to paid by the claimant at the set aside but some judges may reserve the costs to be decided at an actual hearing where the claim is defended.

You must act quickly once you have found out that you have a CCJ. Do not delay.

When you contacted Gladrags about your new address, did you do so through their DPO and instruct them to rectify your address for service and to "erase" your old address? How do you argue against the allegation that you received correspondence at your new address but did not respond? Do you have evidence of having informed them of your new address.

In addition to the above, you can add as a backup to your set aside that it also be considered under CPR 13.3 which is a discretionary set aside as the claim has a good chance of being successfully defended.

Firstly, thank you for the help!

Yes I initially did an appeal through Gladrags website. After that I requested a SAR to UK CPM. I mentioned my new address and my old address, I requested for all the cases to be put into one case too. However, I did not request a SAR to Gladrags.
When I contacted Gladrags as soon as I saw the CCJ, I asked why they didn't update the address on my files, and that they've given the Court the wrong address, they said that I should have contacted them through the normal channels, meaning reply to the letters that arrived at my new address. But I did make an enquiry/appeal and when filling in the form, they asked for my current address. So technically they had my new address. I have the email confirmation of the appeal/enquiry and an example of their online form. 

My SAR email:
Dear Sir or Madam

Subject access request ( Data Protection Act 2018 / General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) )

My name is [name] and currently reside at [new address].

My previous address was [old address].

My vehicle reg is [reg].

Please supply the data about me that I am entitled to under data protection law relating to myself.

I am requesting the following:

• All the PCN against my name and vehicle
• I also need all of these PCN to be made into one claim instead of several, as these relate all to the same problem
• All photos taken for all the PCN
• All letters and emails sent and received, including all appeal correspondence earlier
• I need to know of all PCNs that have been sent to Gladstones Solicitors

I have attached a utility bill alongside this email, to prove my identity. It may be helpful for you to know that data protection law requires you to respond to a request for data within one calendar month.

If you do not normally deal with these requests, please pass this letter to your Data Protection Officer, or relevant staff member. If you need advice on dealing with this request, the Information Commissioner’s Office can assist you. Its website is ico.org.uk or it can be contacted on 0303 123 1113.
-----------------------------------

So at this point, should I pay the £275 to get the set aside going? And hopefully defend this and claim the money back from the claimant?