Moorside Legal - Letter Before Claim - Automated response

PCGuruSwami

Hi all,

Quick summary : UKCPS issued a No Stopping "invitation to pay". Appealed to both Leeds Railway Station and UKCPS Appeals process for being stationary adjacent to the Drop Off / Pick Up area for the grand total of 37 seconds. Both rejected. Now have a LBC from Moorside Legal  for an "unpaid invoice" and have just emailed a response based on Post 2 of the Newbies thread.

Their automated response says that the help@moorsidelegal.co.uk address is "not monitored" - so what's the point of having that email address in the first place?

The last thing I want to do is put any details into their online Portal system, so do I have the forlorn hope that my email will actually be read or should I just now wait for the actual Court paperwork?

Many TIA's for the wonderful advice given in these Forums, it is much appreciated!

This is their automated response:

==========================================

Thank you for contacting Moorside Legal.

Please be advised that this mailbox is not monitored. We request that you access our online portal at hxxps://moorside Portal URL and follow the instructions provided to submit your enquiry.

Alternatively, you may contact us by telephone on 0330 822 9950 between the hours of 9:00am and 5:30pm, Monday to Friday.

Third parties
If you are contacting us on behalf of someone else, we will need their authority before we can speak with you. They can provide us with this authority by calling us on 0330 822 9950 or by writing to us confirming their full name, address, reference number, your full name, and that they consent to us sharing their personal data with you.

Alternative contact
For immediate payment, please visit hxxps://moorside Portal URL

If a claim has been issued
Please note that if a County Court Claim has been issued against you, sending an email or a portal request will not suspend or delay the proceedings. You must comply with any instructions issued by the Court to avoid a Judgment being entered against you. You may also wish to obtain independent legal or debt advice.

Yours sincerely
Moorside Legal

0330 822 9950
moorsidelegal.co.uk

This email may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient (or have received this email in error) please notify the sender immediately and delete this email, together with any copies from your system. Any unauthorised use, copying, disclosure or distribution of the material in this email is strictly forbidden and may be unlawful. Please note that neither Moorside Legal nor the sender accepts any responsibility for viruses, and it is your responsibility to scan any attachments.

Moorside Legal Services Limited trading as Moorside Legal Registered in England and Wales with Company Number 15069347 Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority - SRA ID 8006077 Registered office address: Unit 1.01, Hollinwood Business Centre Albert Street, Failsworth, Oldham, England, OL8 3QL © 2023 Moorside Legal Services Limited All Rights Reserved

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Gr1pr

Just wait for the Money Claim N1SDT pack from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL to arrive in the post in due course,  especially if UKCPS and Moorside Legal have the correct details for the service of papers ( your current name and address)

ChirpyChicken

If the address needs changing you just do it in the portal

Xboxman02

Just wondering if there has been any update on this thread? I'm watching with interest as I also have a LBC from Moorside Legal for the exact same alleged offence of stopping for 20 seconds at Leeds train station..

You were fortunate it seems to be able to respond via eMail but it appears as of some point mid Jan 2026 all eMail addresses have become officially unavailable with a confirmed bounce.

I have had to respond using the exact same template letter but by post.

I have seen others to say not to use the portal from Moorside..

I shall start my own thread in the coming days but would be grateful to know of your experience too ..@ PCGuruSwami

I never saw any signage when I stopped, it certainly wasn't at eye level when seated in the car as I never got out, but even so 20 seconds is not sufficient time to read any proposed T&Cs to determine if I wanted to enter into a contract with the landowner or not either..

ChirpyChicken

It matters not

You/they will get a court claim

Chelsealad

I'm in the same position, leeds train station Moorside legal

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81947032#Comment_81947032

Await the Claim form and then start a new thread. Never fear, easy to beat.

Xboxman02

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81947375#Comment_81947375

For those interested, I've begun the process & have started a new thread here -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6662563/ukcps-moorside-legal-parking-claim-march-2026

PCGuruSwami

Hi All, as an update my friend received an MCOL from Moorside dated 18/03/26 so date served = 18+5 = 23rd (I think it did actually arrive on 23rd), I did the AOS online on 31st Mar so 28 days later = 20th April if i'm not mistaken.

I'm about to do the Defence based on the Templates in the Forum.

Just for some additional fun & games, here's the reply I got to my appeal directly to National Rail. I'm very tempted to reply back to Claire Durkin informing her of the MCOL claim and stating that we're defending it & would like to gain copies of the unredacted CCTV footage of the 30 min period either side of the alleged offence & the name of someone we can call into Court as part of said defence. I wonder if she'll reply?

One strand of any additional defence is that doing what was done actually improved traffic flow and reduced inconvenience, considering the trains were all cancelled and my friend queued along the Leed City Councils public highway for 15 mins to even approach the Drop Off area behind the station.

Regarding MCOL itself, apparently there will be a Mediation phone call, which my friend is happy to deal with. We've discussed how he's going to approach it and elements of our defence & it will be interesting to see how that goes, if it gets that far.

BTW is there any point is submitting a counter claim for all the time we've spent defending this? As an IT Trainer I can demand £400 per day as fees, so I fancy billing them £1200 for 3 days of my time :-)

===============================================
Appeal reply to Network Rail Leeds: Claire Durkin

Response By E-mail Claire Durkin 24/10/2025 09.15 AM

Good morning XXXXXX (my friends name)

I hope this message finds you well. Firstly, thank you for writing to us, regarding your recent experience at our Leeds Station. We appreciate your taking the time to share your concerns about the pick-up and drop-off arrangements.

Our Leeds Station team has come back to me with the below:

As part of our responsibility to ensure the station area is safe, accessible, and efficient for all users, we conducted a thorough review in light of consistent non-compliance with various instructions over a two-year period. The non-compliance was sufficient to cause extensive congestion, impacting Leeds City Council highways and the experience of our customers. We introduce regulations and commissioned an independent company to manage this for us.

We do not have access to the evidence that is relevant to individual parking charge notice and as such are not in a position to overturn a parking charge notice if the conditions below have not been met.

ANPR cameras will capture your entry and exit from the drop off/pick up zone area

10 minutes of free time allowed

Blue Badge holders get 30 minutes of free waiting time when parked in an accessible bay and clearly displaying a Blue Badge.

Failure to depart within the time limit will result in a £100 parking charge, which will reduce to £60 if paid within 14 days.

No return within 15 minutes

There is no stopping, pick-up or drop-off on the main entrance and through road known as Princes Square. This is a no parking roadway to assist with the free flow of traffic and for Health and Safety purposes.

Our signage has been audited through the Independent Parking Community and we are confident the signage meets the requirements for clear signage and navigates the parking, we have numerous repeater signs around this area advising ‘No Stopping’.

Under the Equality Act 2010, we have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled motorist, which we have complied with by clearly marked out DDA parking bays within the drop off zone. We have also extended the free waiting time for those motorists parked in those bays displaying a blue badge from 10 minutes to 30 minutes.

If all bays are full, we have a multistorey car park next to the drop off zone that can be used with a further 12 DDA bay and 305 car parking bays. There is also a 10-minute grace period in this car park and a charge of 70p for 20 minutes thereafter.

Any driver has the right to appeal a parking charge, the relevant information is on the NTK 'Notice To Keeper'. Initially the driver would appeal to UKCPS. If unsuccessful with the UKCPS appeals process, the driver has the right to an IAS 'Independent Appeals service' appeal

I am sorry this will not be the answer you were hoping for and wish you success with your appeal to UKCPS.

Kind regards,

Claire
==============================================================================

Coupon-mad

Just for some additional fun & games, here's the reply I got to my appeal directly to National Rail. I'm very tempted to reply back to Claire Durkin informing her of the MCOL claim and stating that we're defending it & would like to gain copies of the unredacted CCTV footage of the 30 min period either side of the alleged offence & the name of someone we can call into Court as part of said defence. I wonder if she'll reply?

Yes, do it. 😄

Annoying landowners with complaints (and suggesting their staff might be called to court) might make them question if using a PPC is worthwhile.

A counterclaim for the time of the defendant (not their helper) is unlikely to win but can be done fairly cheaply (£35 fee for up to £300) and makes Moorside work a lot harder!

PCGuruSwami

Regarding para 3 is this acceptable?
3. Regarding signage, none of the signs are illuminated & there are no repeater signs in the vicinity of where the alleged offence occurred, despite the claims of National Rail. Their response to a direct appeal can be provided, with their claim that these prosecutions are required due to congestion in the area. The fact that to exit from the Drop Off point a vehicle needs to cross the lane of the queueing traffic trying to enter the Drop Off point seems to be beyond their comprehension. The yellow box junction is most frequently ignored, causing congestion in the first place.