Potentially one year worth of PCNs (WON First round, second round about to start)

Coupon-mad

Second option, is to handle the current 5 PCNs in this claim, I pay £400 and have them help me handle this case. Doing this, might get UKCPM to drop all of the PCNs, so this way I wouldn't have to pay for the whole lot. Now, if they were to do more claims with other PCNs, Contestor Legal would be happy to help me fight those off as well, for the respective fee, obviously. But at least we would try and see if they give up on them...

I understand that most people will think "Oh just pay the £1440,

Errr, none of us will say that!

Terrible option and VERY expensive for PCNs that aren't even at court (dead easy to handle those without paying anyone a fee).

Do the £400 option.  It is a no-brainer IMHO.  You need urgent help now with these five because you seem to be overwhelmed and didn't get a great first hearing.

You need them to help you turn this mess around but you won't need Contestor Legal for the other PCNs, We can help you see those off.

Gladstones is 'debt recovery'

You did email UKCPM's Data Protection Officer, yes? Their DPO email?  You need to reply again and tell UKCPM that this is a data rectification notice and their DPO must handle it and confirm that they have ERASED THE OLD ADDRESS from every PCN.

Baylex

Yeah sounds like focusing on the 5 right now will be the best option. I did ask the person I was talking to, from Contestor Legal, to give me some feedback on my witness statement and my defence in general. They said that it was properly built, with good detail. So I asked why would the judge not have granted me the wish to strike out the claim, they said that it really comes down to some luck and the Judge you get. They said "Some Judges might be a bit more sympathetic with your case, some will not... and for me to not take it personally, it is just how the judicial system works sometimes".

 Originally, for the SAR (months back), I did send the request to their normal email address and eventually got to the DPO. But this time it clearly didn't, so followed your instructions and sent it directly to the DPO's email address. Thanks for the shout.

Tomorrow I will get in touch with Contestor Legal again to complete the agreement and get them to start helping me in preparation for my defence.

Baylex

I'm here to update my post since well over a year ago. I can now say that I have won against UKCPM and Gladstones!! Took a while but its now done!

After I got in touch with Contestor Legal, they have allocated a solicitor to my case and the person was just amazing!! Guided me through the process, done all the homework for me, represented me in Court and pretty much won me the case!

I can only say that, if anyone is in the same pickle as I was, do get in touch with them because they are that good!! Well worth the money!

Essentially, I managed to win the case because of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 schedule 4 paragraph 9(2)(b) that says:
"inform the keeper that the driver is required to pay parking charges in respect of the specified period of parking and that the parking charges have not been paid in full;"

So, essentially most of these PCNs are unlawful since they do not have a period of parking and simply a time stamp. Because of this the Judge ruled it in my favour to dismiss the PCNs.

Gr1pr

Brilliant,  well done,  especially based on the no period of parking aspect 

This will have cost them hundreds of pounds chasing up the case from the very start, plus saved you well over a grand too

Umkomaas

Did the judgment award costs to Contestor?

Coupon-mad

Baylex said:

Background, Jan 2023:

Baylex said:

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.

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

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

then CCJ to old address

then Feb 2025:

Hearing finished.... Unfortunately things did not go my way...
Judge did not accept the fact that I communicated with UKCPM and Gladstones and told them about my address many times before. He said that because the address with DVLA was not updated and because I did not respond to Gladstone's letters, he would not strike out the claim. He said it was my responsibility to have it updated, because of that the result is a set aside.

He obviously did not give me the right to get the £275 from the claimant...

He also said he was not bound by what the judge in CEL V CHAN decided...

The claimant now has 14 days to present a new claim and I'll have 28 days to defend.... 

Another discussion was that in this claim there was 5 PCNs, 3 of them for a motorcycle... He said motorcycles meed permits... They do not even have windscreen I told him, he said "lets not grt too technical"... I also told the judge that is unrealistic to have a permit there and it would get stolen, he didnt care much about that. 

So yeah.... I'm pretty much screwed at this point... I can't defend against a permit having fallen off of my windscreen.
To top it all off, the Judge said he didn't see much prospect in me defending this case, as the contract says that I have to display a permit at all times...

Don't really know what to do...

Most likely will have to pay all PCNs... 18 of them, equating to more than £4k....

Just going back over your thread as this case has been hanging over you for over TWO YEARS which is terrible harassment of a resident.

Utter catalogue of rogue practice:

First of all, you didn't even know about ANY of these 2022 PCNs until 2023 because UKCPM failed to affix any PCNs to the vehicle(s) on the days in question and just harvested your old address, then sat on their hands for a few months, then passed your data to debt crawlers.

Nobody reissued these PCNs when they knew you hadn't received the postal NTKs. They all knew you were denied a chance to appeal.

Not that this would have made amends because there should only ever have been ONE windscreen PCN on day one, in my view. 

That would have been fair/best practice - a timely 'consumer notice' to inform you immediately, as required under the CRA 2015.

Then you had to set aside a CCJ because Gladstones IGNORED the new address they had (which you had confirmed by email) and deliberately sent the Claim for these 5 or 6 PCNs to an older address.

Idiot first Judge blamed you for that and didn't grant your costs either!

But now a different story:

Baylex said:

April 2025 

I'm here to update my post since well over a year ago. I can now say that I have won against UKCPM and Gladstones!! Took a while but its now done!

After I got in touch with Contestor Legal, they have allocated a solicitor to my case and the person was just amazing!! Guided me through the process, done all the homework for me, represented me in Court and pretty much won me the case!

I can only say that, if anyone is in the same pickle as I was, do get in touch with them because they are that good!! Well worth the money!

Essentially, I managed to win the case because of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 schedule 4 paragraph 9(2)(b) that says:
"inform the keeper that the driver is required to pay parking charges in respect of the specified period of parking and that the parking charges have not been paid in full;"

So, essentially most of these PCNs are unlawful since they do not have a period of parking and simply a time stamp. Because of this the Judge ruled it in my favour to dismiss the PCNs.

Yay!

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

I take it today was a different Judge?

And did Contestor Legal get all costs for their work order by this Judge to be paid by the Claimant UKCPM?

What's happening about the other 12 unfair PCNs? Are they still at threatogram stage?

Baylex

Coupon-mad said:

I take it today was a different Judge?

And did Contestor Legal get all costs for their work order by this Judge to be paid by the Claimant UKCPM?

What's happening about the other 12 unfair PCNs? Are they still at threatogram stage?

Yes it was indeed a different Judge, a much nicer lady this time around.

No, Contestor Legal did not get any costs for these, since it went to Small Claims. I think there was a limit of £95 that I could ask for costs for winning the case. Also, the solicitor allocated to help me with this case was only there as a lay representative. So I'm not sure if that is the reason why they couldn't claim their costs from the Claimant.

Answering that third question... hold onto your hats folks! I have literally a few days ago received two more letters. This time around from BW Legal, and not Gladstones. Both Letters of Claim, one with 10 PCNs and the other with 1 remaining PCN. I thought I had 12 left, but its actually only 11 more. And this is it, they are now chasing me for the all remaining PCNs.

I have contacted Contestor Legal for some advice on how I could prevent BW Legal from chasing legal action against me, given the fact that I literally just won the same exact case a few weeks ago. However, they are not in a position to help me without getting into an agreement with me. That means helping me with everything, including getting in touch with BW Legal, but that obviously comes at a cost.
They have said that even though I could tell them about the case that I just won, and although that could deter them from taking legal action, there is also a good chance that they will continue to work for UKCPM and follow their instructions. Obviously, BW Legal wants to get paid by UKCPM regardless if they know they win or lose. At least that's how I see things, I could be wrong.

I have until the end of the month to get in touch with them and try to persuade them to give up on the idea of coming after me. But I just wanted to check what you guys think. Should I call them? Should I just pay Contestor Legal and let them handle it? Their price is obviously not cheap, considering its 11 PCNs, bear that in mind.
If I was to call them, what would be the best way to go about it?

Coupon-mad

Neither.  Certainly no phone calls, eek!

What I'd do is this:

Reply to BW Legal in the portal (but ONLY replying re the ten ticket one). Quote that letter's ref only and send them the standard reply in the second post of the NEWBIES thread to slow that one down by a month. ONLY REPLY AT THE END OF THE 30 DAYS IN THE LETTER.

I'd let the other one continue on its normal course to reach a claim quicker (i.e. do not reply to that LBC) because you can then easily defend that one first, by using the template defence and adding stuff about Henderson v Henderson (search the forum). Hopefully that single PCN claim comes first which will be good practice.

Then the second one - 10 PCNs - you might either want to let CL handle it or consider a counterclaim for harassment, unreasonable duplicate litigation and interference with your lease, when you defend that one.

Adding a well argued counterclaim to that 20 PCN case (added on the end of that defence) might be worth a punt because it will definitely go to a hearing and you may as well have a claim of your own at stake in that hearing, for the judge to have to consider. Also these 'roboclaim' legals really don't like counterclaims as it means they can't just use their template stuff & have to reply properly. Makes the hearing harder for them too.

Any chance of giving a relative's address in a reachable but different city or county, so you might avoid ever facing that first judge at a hearing again? He sounds awful.

Baylex

Coupon-mad said:

Neither.  Certainly no phone calls, eek!

What I'd do is this:

Reply to BW Legal in the portal (but ONLY replying re the ten ticket one). Quote that letter's ref only and send them the standard reply in the second post of the NEWBIES thread to slow that one down by a month. ONLY REPLY AT THE END OF THE 30 DAYS IN THE LETTER.

I'd let the other one continue on its normal course to reach a claim quicker (i.e. do not reply to that LBC) because you can then easily defend that one first, by using the template defence and adding stuff about Henderson v Henderson (search the forum). Hopefully that single PCN claim comes first which will be good practice.

Then the second one - 10 PCNs - you might either want to let CL handle it or consider a counterclaim for harassment, unreasonable duplicate litigation and interference with your lease, when you defend that one.

Adding a well argued counterclaim to that 20 PCN case (added on the end of that defence) might be worth a punt because it will definitely go to a hearing and you may as well have a claim of your own at stake in that hearing, for the judge to have to consider. Also these 'roboclaim' legals really don't like counterclaims as it means they can't just use their template stuff & have to reply properly. Makes the hearing harder for them too.

Any chance of giving a relative's address in a reachable but different city or county, so you might avoid ever facing that first judge at a hearing again? He sounds awful.

Seems like a good plan. Unfortunately, I do not have any family of friends living in any close cities in order to do what you suggested.

I am trying to send the email through their portal, but the only option available there is to send a query about my case. The problem is that it only allows 200 characters, that's not nearly enough for the email itself. Am I doing something wrong? Today is literally the last day for me to do this, as the advice was to do this on the last day to delay as much as possible. Anyone with experience around BW Legal's portal?
I'm assuming an email won't suffice?

EDIT
I have done a bit of research and found this email in the forum disputeresolution@bwlegal.co.uk
Should I send the email there you reckon?

Coupon-mad

Yes. And cc in complaints@