Gladstones Solicitors Letter Before Claim (PCN) Advice

wahidur35

I have had a thorough run through the NEWBIES thread regarding the stages once receiving an PCN, although I would still appreciate any advice on this situation. 

The original ticket is from UK Car Park Management Limited. I parked and paid for the correct time on the paybyphone app, however the incorrect number plate was selected on the app. I tried to appeal this directly with them (UK Car Park Management Limited) however they ignored my appeal and passed the debit on.

How should I appeal this? According to the NEWBIES thread I shouldn't respond through their website and email them instead? Also should I structure my appeal as below from the NEWBIES thread:

Dear Sirs,

Your Ref. ############
Proposed Legal Proceedings
Claimant: xxxxxx xxxxxxxx Ltd

I refer to your your letter of claim.

I confirm that my address for service for the time being - assuming you don't faff about and delay any claim - is as follows, and any older address must be erased from your records:
[Correct address here]

The alleged debt is disputed and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended.

I am sourcing and seeking independent debt advice and as such, I formally request that this matter be put on hold for an additional 30 days, in accordance with the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims 2017 ('the PAP').

I note that the amount being claimed has increased by a hugely exaggerated amount which the Government called "extorting money from motorists".

Don't send me your usual blather about that.
I have two questions, and under the PAP I am entitled to specific answers:

1. Am I to understand that the additional £70 represents what you lot dress up as a 'Debt Recovery' fee, and if so, is this nett or inclusive of VAT? If the latter, would you kindly explain why I am being asked to pay the operator’s VAT?

2. With regard to the principal alleged PCN sum: Is this damages, or will it be pleaded as consideration for parking?

Yours faithfully


Also I should add to the above I shouldn't have had the ticket in the first place as I already paid on the app but the wrong number plate was selected?

Any help would be appreciated.

KeithP

You appear to have found the right response to a Letter of Claim.
Send it when you are ready.

KeithP

@wahidur35, anything further happened yet?

wahidur35

KeithP said:

@wahidur35, anything further happened yet?

Hi KeithP, they have responded to me. I have made a new post: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81038907#Comment_81038907

I would appreciate if you could also give your input before I make my next response

wahidur35

wahidur35 said:

KeithP said:

@wahidur35, anything further happened yet?

Hi KeithP, they have responded to me. I have made a new post: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81038907#Comment_81038907

I would appreciate if you could also give your input before I make my next response

Sorry scratch that, I have two ongoing cases one for my wife which is with gladstones (this post) and one with me with DCB Legal which is what I linked. Would still appreciate your input in this case. Gladstones have also replied which I will put up a post for in a abit.

wahidur35

Hi Gladstones have replied to my response, below is the original response: 
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6545829/gladstones-solicitors-letter-before-claim-pcn-advice#latest

This is response they have gave back:

Good Afternoon,

We acknowledge receipt of your recent correspondence, and apologise for the delay. The contents of which have been noted and our response below.  

We write regarding the outstanding parking charge you hold on our files. 

By way of background, this matter relates to an unpaid Parking Charge Notice ("PCN") issued by our Client to the vehicle with registration [removed by Forum Team].

The PCN was issued at our Clients site Travis Street Manchester (ANPR) for the following reason: vehicle not registered.

Your correspondence has been duly acknowledged, however, your vehicle was parked in a manner that contravenes the terms and conditions for the use of the private land on which it was photographed. 

These terms and conditions are clearly stipulated throughout the area and upon review, we are confident that the PCN was correctly issued, in line with these signs.  

Please refer to the attached documents for your reference, the contents of which we trust you will find self - explanatory.

This car park is run by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras which take a time and date stamped image of the vehicle on entry and exit, measuring the length of time the vehicle remained on site, this information is then cross-referenced with the data from the payment services. Since no payment was made for a vehicle with your registration, a PCN was issued.An obligation of yours, pursuant to the contract (the signs at the site), was to ensure that you entered your correct vehicle registration so the payment would reconcile. On this occasion you did not and therefore incurred the charge.It is an integral part of the parking scheme that a valid registration is entered as otherwise the scheme would be unmanageable. If our Client were to waive one charge based on your argument it would open the floodgates to the waiver of many more charges making the parking management process that has been put in place entirely redundant. 

As payment of the charge was not forthcoming within the relevant time frame, the contract between yourself and our Client was breached.

Further costs have since been incurred as a direct result of the breach in facilitating recovery of the outstanding debt. 

As the charge remained unpaid, our Firm were instructed to seek recovery and £70.00 has been added as mentioned in the Formal Demand. 

Notwithstanding the above, our Client remains satisfied that the charge was issued correctly and £170.00 remains outstanding. 

You can make payment via the following methods: 

  

Online 

Visit 

Over the Phone 

Call 0333 0230 049 

  

Via Bank Transfer 

Gladstones Solicitors Limited 

Account Number: 33028712 

Sort Code: 20-24-09 

  

You must include your reference xxxxxx.xxxxxx when making payment.   

If you fail to do so, we may be unable to allocate your payment. This may result in further costs being incurred, for which you will be liable. 

In the absence of payment by 24/10/2024, our Client may elect to issue proceedings without further notice. 

Should it become necessary to issue legal proceedings, we suggest you follow the steps on the claim form upon receipt of the same.    

It is at this juncture we remind you of your right to access legal advice if you are unsure of the process.  

Kind Regards, 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

How should I respond? As mentioned in my original post I paid for the parking (in fact I paid for 24 hours when I only parked 1) but the wrong number plate was selected. I tired to appeal with the original issuers but they ignored. Would appreciate any help.

KeithP

wahidur35 said:

KeithP said:@wahidur35, anything further happened yet?

Hi KeithP, they have responded to me. I have made a new post: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81038907#Comment_81038907

I would appreciate if you could also give your input before I make my next response

Ah... a second thread about the same incident. People aren't going to leap about the internet trying to follow a story.

Please ask MSEForumTeam to merge your two threads. Probably the easiest way to do that is to hit the Report button below your post.

KeithP

As mentioned earlier. please keep all discussion about one incident to a single thread.

wahidur35

KeithP said:

wahidur35 said:

KeithP said:@wahidur35, anything further happened yet?

Hi KeithP, they have responded to me. I have made a new post: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81038907#Comment_81038907

I would appreciate if you could also give your input before I make my next response

Ah... a second thread about the same incident. People aren't going to leap about the internet trying to follow a story.

Please ask MSEForumTeam to merge your two threads. Probably the easiest way to do that is to hit the Report button below your post.

okay will do, just to clarify the post in the link is for another ticket with DCB legal. However I do have another post for this case which I need to merge.

Coupon-mad

I'd let that new thread die, by not replying. No need to merge as it's unimportant really.

You don't need to respond to Gladstones, you just report them to HMRC like in every single other Gladstones LBC VAT concerns thread.  Search the forum.

Mr.Generous

Probably not a great move to include your vehicle reg number for your 2ltr white Audi diesel in the post