Elms Legal - Letter Before Claim

gixxerthouguy

Hello All, I am hoping you can give me some advice. As registered keeper of a vehicle, I recieved a letter from Excel parking stating I had been parked illegally in a business park I was visiting for a meeting. I ignored this letter.

I then received a 2 letters from DCBL debt recovery. I tried to phone these guys, but they never answered thier phone.

Today I have recieved a "Letter before Claim" from Elms Legal, advising me to pay £130 or it will go to court, and with costs, likely to be £250.

I have read the newbies thread but I think I may be too late to fight this. Can anyone advise what action I should take at this stage in the process, bearing in mind I have not had any conversations / correspondence with these parties, other than recieveing their standar letters.

Many thanks in advance!

Gr1pr

I doubt that it said illegally,  no laws were broken,  just an alleged breach of the parking contract on that private property 

Ignore the powerless debt collectors,  no phoning them,  no contacting them 

If that Letter of Claim gives you 30 days notice to deal with it,  email the LoC template response to Elms legal 

Then await any further developments

Ps, doesn't matter what happened so far,  because your appeal would have been rejected,  no payment made,  so same place as you are now 

gixxerthouguy

Gr1pr said:

I doubt that it said illegally,  no laws were broken,  just an alleged breach of the parking contract on that private property 

Ignore the powerless debt collectors,  no phoning them,  no contacting them 

If that Letter of Claim gives you 30 days notice to deal with it,  email the LoC template response to Elms legal 

Then await any further developments

Ps, doesn't matter what happened so far,  because your appeal would have been rejected,  no payment made,  so same place as you are now 

Thats great, thank you so much for your help. I will look for that template now and get it sent. Thank you again!

gixxerthouguy

Just to confirm, this is the correct template to use when receiving a letter before claim?

Dear Sirs,

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

I refer to 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

Gr1pr

If you copied and pasted that from the 2nd post in the newbies sticky thread in announcements,  then yes, correct  !

gixxerthouguy

Gr1pr said:

If you copied and pasted that from the 2nd post in the newbies sticky thread in announcements,  then yes, correct  !

I did - just making sure. I'll send it now. :-)

Mirandallama

I've received the same letter today, thanks for all the comments. 

gixxerthouguy

Mirandallama said:

I've received the same letter today, thanks for all the comments. 

Good luck! For your info, I just mailed them at their info address. I have had no response from them yet.

Car1980

Today I have recieved a "Letter before Claim" from Elms Legal, advising me to pay £130 or it will go to court, and with costs, likely to be £250.

Bear in mind I could make a claim against you right now for £10,000 if I had a spare £500. I won't win whether my claim is £10k or £100, so it's just a scare tactic.

gixxerthouguy

So it's been roughly a week since I emailed Elms legal. I have had no response. 

Should I call / contact them to confirm they have recieved my response? Or is it better to sit tight and do nothing?

Many thanks in advance. 

Gr1pr

The latter,  wait for developments, it's a marathon,  not a 100 yards sprint