Gladstones LBC 1st Response

lon_85

Hello everyone, 

Apologies for any errors,  I'm not well at moment and feeling very stressed about this letter :-( 

I have a LBC from Gladstones solicitors for £170. (Attaching original letter below). 

I checked the newbies 2nd post and found the 1st reply template  - just wanted to double check it is the right one that I send to Gladstones by email 

"Dear Sirs,

Your ref: [insert pcn number]

Proposed legal proceedings

Claimant: Private Parking Solutions 

I refer to your letter of claim.

I confirm that my address for service for the time being is as follows, and any older address must be erased from your records:

[Insert correct address here]

You should revert to your client because the 'propensity to pay' score in my case is zero, so any claim is hopeless and a waste of the court fee (whether 'fronted' by your firm or not).

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

Yours faithfully,


Also in terms of the reasoning - not sure if they will accept it but I only went into the area as I was lost, I was looking for a new development and after following my map I did not see the entrance so i had to go to a safe place to use my phone to check the address again and call the company.  I couldn't stop anywhere else temporarily. I didn't park as I was still in the vehicle, just temporarily stopped so I didnt think that would incur a fine but anyway lesson learned for next time.


 

Coupon-mad

"Also in terms of the reasoning"

DO NOT ADD DETAILS.

DO NOT ASK FOR EVIDENCE. 

DO NOT TRY MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES.

THIS IS CERTAINLY NOT A 'FINE'.

Just send the template LBC reply and wait and see if they try a claim. Usually they don't.

lon_85

Thank you @Coupon-mad!

Gr1pr

More redacting required 

Your VRM details and pcn reference are on show,  redact and replace 

lon_85

Updated   

Car1980

You can either ignore or reply. Doesn't make any difference which.

If you want to reply you only need to say the alleged debt is denied and that you look forward to the county court claim.

cls63

i have also had my lbc from Gladstone's recently, for which i used the template and included questions about vat, now i have changed address since and haven't updated it (but still have a contact for who lives there and get all my mail in a timely manner).They ignored the questions and sent this: In order to address your rectification and erasure request, we should be most grateful for you to kindly provide the below information, in order to satisfy our identification checks [as your email does not contain any categories of personal identifiable data]; 

 

1. Your full name [and any previous name]

2. Your previous address; OR

3. Are/were you the driver, hirer or keeper of vehicle registration [my reg]

Should i even respond now i've already sent off my initial response to the LBC?

Coupon-mad

Well obviously not q 3

lon_85

Update: just received the below email from a legal assistant at Gladstones:

Good Morning,

 

Thank you for your email dated 29th November 2025.

 

As this appears to be a template response commonly available online, we do not intend to engage substantively with its contents, particularly as it is unlikely you fully understand the implications of the statements made.

 

However, we note your assertion that you will "vigorously" defend any court proceedings. In light of this, we have today arranged for legal proceedings to be issued to recover the debt in full.

 

Upon receipt of the claim form, we recommend that you follow the instructions provided within it carefully. At this stage, if you are uncertain about any aspect of the process, we strongly advise that you seek independent legal advice.

Currently awaiting claim form to proceed next step

Car1980

As this appears to be a template response commonly available online, we do not intend to engage substantively with its contents, particularly as it is unlikely you fully understand the implications of the statements made.

Scratching my head what implications the apparently very easily misunderstood sentence "here is the address to send the claim form to" could possibly have.

There is nothing within its contents that requires engagement with either. It's a statement, not a conversation starter 

lon_85

I've never been to a court before in my life, only seen it on tv  😬 guess there's a 1st for everything!