Court pending after paying fine!

F1neF1ghter · 17 June 2018 at 11:23AM

Hello all,

So to sum up I live on an estate that has private enforcement by UKCPM. When I first moved in I was not told by anyone where I could or couldn't park (aside from the obvious such as in another person's parking bay, double yellow lines etc). I had NEVER parked on a double yellow area, on a paved area etc but where others were parking and displaying their permits. I then over the course of the first 2 weeks of moving in received numerous fines. I had (with photo evidence) appealed this to UKCPM but they disagreed and fined me regardless despite showing them their own signage which was directly next to where I had parked (not on double lines, or paved area and clearly displaying my permit that all others were showing) that said you can only park on non-double yellow lined areas etc whilst showing a valid permit (which I did and have pictures proving this).

After this I then received subsequent letters from Debt Recovery Plus offering me a discount of paying £125 as opposed to £149 including 'final settlement' letters which contained 3 'fines' as the letter stated that I had at one point gained 3 separate fines all on ONE day lol despite the original fines I had received never stated that.

Fast forward nearly a year later and Gladstones sent me a 'Total amount outstanding' letter of £149. It clearly states that the total amount of fines I owe to UKCPM is £149 and that if I pay this then I shall avoid any future court action. As this was dragging on I decided to pay it and be done with this situation as I have not been fined since living in the same area almost 2 years on.

Fast forward 10 months on from paying this 'final' fine (and have an email receipt along with bank statement confirmation) I have now been told I owe nearly £700 including court charges etc as of the issue date of 11th June 2018.

The Gladstones letter is the ONLY letter I have ever received and it clearly states the 'TOTAL AMOUNT OUTSTANDING' and I have not received anything else from Gladstones before or since and this is why I thought by paying this, it would be over.

What would be the best way to go about this?

Thank you all very much in advance.

Umkomaas · 17 June 2018 at 11:33AM

I thought by paying this, it would be over.

Paying it was the worst thing you could have done, it did little more than expose you as a likely soft touch, so they have come after more.

I have now been told I owe nearly £700 including court charges etc as of the issue date of 11th June 2018.

Who has sent you this letter?

To whom does it say you should pay the £700?

How is the £700 arrived at?

The_Deep · 17 June 2018 at 11:36AM

You owe this company nothing unless a judge says so. They are not fines, they are speculative invoices, a.k.a. as scams.

Most of these, especially in residential car parks, are totally without merit.

Are you an owner or a tenant? What does your lease/AST say about parking? Does it ment needing a permit? Read this, watch the video, and complain to your MP

https://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2016/11/residential-parking.html

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.

F1neF1ghter · 17 June 2018 at 11:55AM

Umkomaas wrote: »

Paying it was the worst thing you could have done, it did little more than expose you as a likely soft touch, so they have come after more.

Who has sent you this letter?

To whom does it say you should pay the £700?

How is the £700 arrived at?

Unfortunately this is true! They are absolute scum.

It appears to be from the County Court Business centre in Northampton, 1st page titled 'Claim Form'. It just says that UK Car Park Management Limited are the claimant, underneath that it states the address for who I should send docs and payment to (Gladstones), the reason for the claim which states that I was fined on the 22/09/2016, 22/09/2016 and 22/09/2016 lmao (when I returned to my car the next day I did not have 3 separate yellow fines on my windshield and certainly did not receive anything originally from UKCPM for 3 fines in one day until Debt Recovery Plus came about stating the same thing...3 fines in one day is hilarious though.

Total is £480 for fines, interest of £62.76, pursuant to s69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at 8% pa, continuing to Judgement at £0.11 per day.

Final breakdown £542.76 claimed, court fee £60, legal representative cost £70 - total amount: £672.76

That's the first page signed by the Claimants legal Representative along with saying to log on to moneyclaim.gov.uk and enter a claim number and a given password. There is a County Court badge on this page too.

The other 3 pages are looking like registration docs asking about personal information, employer details, income, debt, if I dispute etc.

Apart from being signed on the first page by the legal representative I don't actually know who this is from!

Thanks for all your help

KeithP · 17 June 2018 at 9:06PM

What is the Date of Issue of your Claim Form?

You now need to read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.
In there you will find a Dropbox link to a pictorial explanation about how to Acknowledge Service.
You nee to do that to get yourself an extra fourteen days to prepare your Defence.

DoaM · 17 June 2018 at 10:28PM

You weren't fined at all ... you were issued with speculative invoices.

Coupon-mad · 17 June 2018 at 11:19PM

I am sad that you paid one, especially a 3 figure sum. Look where that got you.

I suspect the Gladstones letter saying the amount outstanding was £149 had a reference number/date re just one of 4 PCNs, and this claim is for the other three? Have a closer look at the letter.

It is interesting that they've mucked up the POC by citing 3 PCNs on one day.

F1neF1ghter · 18 June 2018 at 9:14AM

KeithP wrote: »

What is the Date of Issue of your Claim Form?

You now need to read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.
In there you will find a Dropbox link to a pictorial explanation about how to Acknowledge Service.
You nee to do that to get yourself an extra fourteen days to prepare your Defence.

Thanks so much for that.

I have now done this. What would be the next step? I actually can't believe these crooks, upon further inspection it actually says on the claim form that I have been fined 3 times on the same date! I have found the original 'fines' aka invoices and I was fined 3 times in 5 hours lol but only had one yellow fine sticker on my windscreen. The pictures they have taken clearly shows me parked NOT on double yellows or on the pavement clearly showing my permit on the dash. These people need to be brought to justice it's unbelievable!

Thank you all in advance for all your help.

F1neF1ghter · 18 June 2018 at 9:22AM

Coupon-mad wrote: »

I am sad that you paid one, especially a 3 figure sum. Look where that got you.

I suspect the Gladstones letter saying the amount outstanding was £149 had a reference number/date re just one of 4 PCNs, and this claim is for the other three? Have a closer look at the letter.

It is interesting that they've mucked up the POC by citing 3 PCNs on one day.

This is the irony...it doesn't say anywhere that it is for an individual fine for a certain date. It 100% says that it is the 'total remaining amount' with their own internal reference number that is not associated with the original fines. This is what I also found very odd and it's my only letter from them unlike Debt Recovery Plus and UKCPM themselves.

Regardless I won't be getting my money back from these sickos, it's just so annoying that I have followed rules with permits etc and get this crap even after showing how innocent it was when I originally got fined through an appeal they didn't give a damn. Daylight robbery and I've been a fool as I have never been in this situation before so pure naivety from me but 3 fines in one day? Really?

Half_way · 18 June 2018 at 9:46AM

Please stop calling this a fine, it is nothing of the sort.

I've noticed that this is for a residential site, if this is an own space issue, then there area a few avenues open to you to get your money back, and possibly more, but you will need to provide a little information so we can assess your situation and provide relevant advice.

first of all is this a lease/rental or what?
what dues your lease/freehold/rental etc say about parking?

Half_way · 18 June 2018 at 9:54AM

Please stop calling this a fine, it is nothing of the sort.

I've noticed that this is for a residential site, if this is an own space issue, then there area a few avenues open to you to get your money back, and possibly more, but you will need to provide a little information so we can assess your situation and provide relevant advice.

first of all is this a lease/rental or what?
what dues your lease/freehold/rental etc say about parking?

Court pending after paying fine!

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