UKPM - County Court Business Centre letter

safarmuk · 13 October 2017 at 4:56PM

So with a bit of investigation it appears the landowner for the site you refer to above is "Proxima GR Properties Ltd".

Further investigation reveals this is one of a number of limited companies with the same directors and registered office. Each company appears to hold real estate (mostly blocks of flats or commercial building) assets.

All these companies also share the same registered address with another limited company called Estates & Management. As per "DanielSans" thread Estates and Management are the company who represent the landowner to the lessees (e.g. the person whom your friend rented their property from) collecting ground rent and so on.

This is one avenue for you to pursue now - contacting the freeholder or the company that represents them and explaining you were a genuine visitor to a tenant in a flat (you will need the tenancy agreement and a letter from the tenant for proof) and without any further notice you have suddenly received a court claim for £247.59 for doing nothing wrong at all (and certainly nothing you were not allowed to do as a visitor of a tenant). You might like to ask them if they have even authorised a third party to take legal action on their behalf or even if they have a contract with the PPC (probably more likely via a Management Agent)? If you can get the landlord to help, even better.

Let us know what you have found out.

safarmuk · 24 October 2017 at 10:39PM

@berko_lad ... if you are still on the forum, get in touch. I now have contact details (email) and a phone number for you to contact the freeholder about this. Can't post them here as the moderators don't like us posting peoples email addresses so once you make contact I will get them to you via a mutually acceptable method. This is an avenue for you to get this stopped potentially

On another note, how is your defence going? You don't have an indefinite amount of time to craft it.

Berko_lad · 28 November 2017 at 4:05PM

An update on our case.

Despite offering to settle the original parking fee on account of havng no knowledge of this matter and having never been sent any 'proof' of the offence until we requested it, Gladstones are now insisting on going the court route and have sent us a copy of their N180 Directions Questionnaire via email. I'm assuming from reading the various threads that we will be receiving our copy to respond any day now.

The text of their email is as follows:

]UK Car Park Management Limited
-v-
Miss XXXX XXXXXX

We act for the Claimant and have notified the Court of our Client!!!8217;s intention to proceed with the claim.

Please find attached a copy of our Client!!!8217;s completed Directions Questionnaire, which will be filed with the court upon their request. You will note we intend to request a special direction that the case be dealt with on the papers and without the need for an oral hearing

This request is sought simply because the matter is in our Client!!!8217;s opinion relatively straightforward and the costs incurred by both parties for attending an oral hearing would be disproportionate.

You will note our Client has elected not to mediate. Its decision is not meant to be in any way obstructive and is based purely on experience, as mediation has rarely proven beneficial in these types of cases. Notwithstanding this, our Client would be happy to listen to any genuine payment proposals that you wish to put forward.

Yours sincerely

***
Litigation Assistant

My intention is to go to court with this matter however, given that they have included a 'payment proposal' offer in this email, is it worth repeating my offer to pay the original fee?

beamerguy · 28 November 2017 at 4:28PM

Berko_lad

Please delete the defendents name above or mark
it XXX

This is now a typical Gladstones wheeze, they don't want to
go to court because they will probably get whooped
in court yet again.

They are trying to give you the impression that they
will win ...... Gladstones are very bad solicitors and
UKCPM know that already, they have been subjected
to the incompetence of Gladstones

SAY NO TO PAPERS .... You want it heard in front
of a judge.

Two things will happen, Gladstones will discontinue
or they will brace themselves for another whooping in court

Berko_lad · 12 February 2018 at 9:08PM

Latest update.

Having been unable to obtain a response from the friend mentioned above, I contacted Gladstone's and informed then that since I only learned of this offence some months after it occurred and was therefore not afforded the 28 day grace period, I am only willing to pay the discounted fee rather than the full amount they are now claiming (£247). They refused to accept this and as I refused to accept the judgment, I now have a court date of 24 April.

I obviously have to submit a defence in advance so would welcome any advice on how best to construct this.

nosferatu1001 · 12 February 2018 at 9:23PM

Haven!!!8217;t you already filed a defence?

Have you read and reread newbies thread, post 2, all about small claims?

Coupon-mad · 12 February 2018 at 9:36PM

Berko_lad wrote: »

Latest update.

Having been unable to obtain a response from the friend mentioned above, I contacted Gladstone's and informed then that since I only learned of this offence some months after it occurred and was therefore not afforded the 28 day grace period, I am only willing to pay the discounted fee rather than the full amount they are now claiming (£247). They refused to accept this and as I refused to accept the judgment, I now have a court date of 24 April.

I obviously have to submit a defence in advance so would welcome any advice on how best to construct this.

You contacted Gladstones - why? What were you expecting?

Waste of time!

So you have a court date, and you will have seen from that letter, the date by which you must serve to the court and claimant's solicitors, your Witness Statement and all evidence.

Just as the NEWBIES thread tells you, WS and evidence is the next stage, so look at the examples and show us your WS an evidence, numbered and organised so the Judge and you can follow it on the day.

There is no stage in the FAQS that says:

'Next step: pointlessly email or ring up Gladstones and beg them, showing you are scared of court...'.

KeithP · 12 February 2018 at 9:38PM

Surely it is Tina who is the defendant?
Is she still abroad?

Two and a half months ago it was suggested you remove the defendant's name from post #24.

This now becomes more important now that a court case is looming.

The parking companies trawl forums like this waiting for people to trip themselves up, and if they can relate a thread to a particular claim their job is much easier.

Please re-read the first line of post #25.

Can we see the defence that you have filed?
You must've filed one otherwise you wouldn't have a court date.

Berko_lad · 12 February 2018 at 10:03PM

Sorry, #25 now amended. Tina is my wife. It was her car but was being driven by a third party who has not been identified to the court. I am acting on behalf of my wife due to ongoing health issues.

I have not filed a defence thus far. I merely replied to the judgment stating that I would not accept it based on the fact that we only discovered this offence over a year after it took place due to the non-arrival of letters and as a consequence, since the person being visited was now living out of the country and was out of contact. we had been afforded no opportunity to construct a defence at the time or to settle at the reduced rate (within 28 days). I then requested that the case be held in front of a judge as per the advice offered above so that I could put this forward.

I also informed Gladstone's that to avoid any further time being wasted on this matter, I was more than happy to pay this reduced rate but this was obviously not acceptable.

KeithP · 12 February 2018 at 10:09PM

Berko_lad wrote: »

I have not filed a defence thus far. I merely replied to the judgment stating that I would not accept it...

I'm struggling with this.

"Judgment"? What judgment?

Let's go back a bit.

You received a claim form from Northampton CCBC.
Did you respond to that in any way?

I cannot understand how you can get a hearing date without having filed a defence.

UKPM - County Court Business Centre letter

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free