Gladstones LBC

nortoon24

Morning. I received an Letter Before Claim from Gladstones Solicitors whilst away on holiday, asking for £160 (including £60 charge for for time facilitating the recovery of the debt) due to a car registered in my name being parked in a shared carpark between a pub and supermarket. This was in late 2017. I requested SAR (received) and did not provide details of who was driving. I took photos illustrating the inadequacy of the signs and did not pay any money to Gladstones. Although I received an LBC from Gladstones at start of 2018, which I replied to using a template found on this site, and numerous threatening letters from a range of companies (DRP and Zenith Collections) I ignored them and things have been quiet since. However, I now have this new LBC from Gladstones asking to pay or dispute the debt within 30 days for fear of being taken to court (again). Interestingly, they have made an obvious mistake in their 'Estimated Claim Value' by stating that the Estimated Total if Court Proceedings are issued, will be £0.00!

Shall I continue to ignore and await any court date, or reply with another standard template as I did in 2018?

1505grandad

Who is the claimant?

KeithP

React as suggested in the second post of the NEWBIES thread.

nortoon24

The claimant is National Parking Enforcement Ltd

nortoon24

Keith P - do you mean I dispute the debt with Gladstones?

Coupon-mad

Do not ignore a LBC. The Judge later on won't like you ignoring the pre-action protocol.

You respond robustly and you get a SAR from NPE (as the NEWBIES thread explains).

Please see and adapt to suit, this robust LBC reply example that I linked in my advice to this person here who also has a Gladstones LBC:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79840745/#Comment_79840745

nortoon24

Okay, so I now have the SAR from parking company after I requested in response to the LBC I received from Gladstones. I guess I just wait until I receive further correspondence i.e. a hearing in Court? One thing I am wondering: I will be out of the country a lot this year; what if the hearing is when I am out of the country? Am I able to ask for a postponement until I am back in UK?

B789

If or when you receive a court claim, after you have done your AoS and submitted your defence, you will eventually receive a DQ (N180) where you can note all the dates you will not be available for a hearing. Make sure you add a few buffer days around any dates you will be out of the country.

Here is a copy of the N180 so you can familiarise yourself with it:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1079639/N180_Final_Form.pdf

nortoon24

Many thanks for that help - it is very kind and much appreciated!

Coupon-mad

nortoon24 said:

Okay, so I now have the SAR from parking company after I requested in response to the LBC I received from Gladstones. I guess I just wait until I receive further correspondence i.e. a hearing in Court? One thing I am wondering: I will be out of the country a lot this year; what if the hearing is when I am out of the country? Am I able to ask for a postponement until I am back in UK?

Make sure someone at home will open your letters!

You cannot miss seeing a court claim.

nortoon24

Just a thought - from end of November, the PCN will be time barred as it will be over 6 years. If I am unable to go to court as I will not be in the country until after November, will the claim be out of date?

I have been getting prepared for this to go to court. Am I right in thinking that the parking company must have permission from the landowner to pursue me? Is it incumbent on them to provide evidence that they have permission? The landlords of the pub this PCN concerns is different now to what it was years ago? I would have tried to sort this with them in the first instance but they're no longer there.

Just one final question, I have always referred to the claim of £160 as an invoice when communicating with NPE and Gladstones (neither of whom know who the driver was). They have argued that because it is not subject to VAT then it is considered a fine and not an invoice. Is this correct?

As always, many thanks in advance for any help/advice offered.