Gladstones LBC on behalf of Parking Control Management ltd

Canon7601

Hi all, 

I have recently joined and although I have read the thread you guys advise us newbies to do, I am still looking for another opinion. 

I received a LBC from Gladstones for a PCN dated few months ago for parking in a private spot run by them. This is because I couldn't see any sign when I parked there:came home late at night, the signage was obstructed by bushes, couldn't see it. The following morning, on a Saturday, around 7 am, I saw the PCN attached to the windscreen. I appealed it too late, after the deadline, and they told me it had already been passed to the solicitors' firm. 

From the photos taken by their agent it clearly shows that the branched obstruct more that 40% of the sign and it is not fully visible. I can ask for footage from my council showing that I arrived around midnight to prove in court that there was no way to see their sign at that time. Is this advisable?

Steps taken so far:

-asked for a SAR from PCM (haven't received a reply yet. However, their 40 days are not up)
-asked for a hold of 30 days from Gladstone: I have sent an email to enquiries@gladstonessolicitors.co.uk asking to dispute the debt as seen here - this was merely sent last week, given the fact I had just 5 working days left to take action)

I am absolutely horrified of what is to follow. 

Any piece of advice for what to do next, shall I ask for the footage from the council?I live in SW London.


If you require any photos, I can always attach. 

Thanks in advance.

Coupon-mad

Don't be horrified at the thought of a claim. Defending a court claim is EASIER than trying an appeal, and with no risk.  

Stop worrying, calm down, forget the footage (you cannot get that from a Council) and send Gs the suggested response in the NEWBIES thread then report them to HMRC on suspicion of possibly not accounting properly for VAT on the false added DRA 'fee'.

See the suggested response.  None of these Roboclaim firms are answering properly about VAT, so they will all be reported to HMRC until HMRC do something to investigate.  I've reported one myself already.  I may report more of them to HMRC because this suspicion isn't going away.

Read a few recent Gs threads about court claims.  Nowt to worry about. Easy to beat.  No risk, no CCJ, nothing bad. 

nopcns

What to do next? Please read the Newbies/FAQ thread.

SAR must be responded to within 30 days, not 40. However we don't recommend an SAR until after a claim has been filed. When the time comes to file a defence, you will have the evidence to show that the signs are rubbish and were obscured.

For now, spend some time reading the second post of the Newbies/FAQ thread to understand what you need to do and when.