County Court Claim - Gladstones

beanparking · 19 November 2018 at 10:59PM

Hello all,
I received a County Court Claim through from Gladstones solicitors about a week ago, and now am trying to figure the best way to go about dealing with it.

After reading a fair few posts here (it's a lot to take in), I've got to moneyclaim.gov.uk to Acknowledged Service of the claim, stating I will defend in full.

I'm currently preparing my defence, but feel like I'm running out of time. Here are the particulars of my case

The car was parked outside a Tescos express, where some of the parking spots are allocated for Tescos customers, some are for private parking. My car was parked for what was probably around 10 minutes in what they are claiming is a private bay. For this, they are asking for approx £160 (up to approx £240 after the court claim).
The bays were not clearly marked indicating which are for Tescos customers, and which are private. This can be confirmed with google map street view history (from about 6 months before) and even the photos of my car they had sent shows the bays had no individual signage (which have since been added). Over the last year or so, they have made several changes to the carpark to make it more obvious, which surely shows they knew people would be confused?
The ticket was served at night (or at least, when it was it was dark). The signage was not illuminated (aside from ambient street light).
I don't know if this makes any difference, but you can see in the photo the bays surrounding my car were empty.
The car park has no signs on entrance and only small signs at ground level to warn about parking restrictions.
My first letter was from debt collectors, several weeks after my alleged offence, with no ticket given at the time.

I also have some general questions that I can't seem to find answers for. I apologize if this is covered in other threads, it's all a little overwhelming!

I'm seeing in some threads about turning up to court. For me, taking the day off work to go to court will be expensive and very difficult. Is this really necessary? Can it not be defended by paper?
I am going to be out of the country next week for a couple of weeks. Is there is a way I can prevent this from going forward whilst I'm not here?
I understand that even if I lose (I don't believe this will happen, as I believe my case is strong), I will not have any negative effects on my credit unless I don't pay within 30 days. Are there any exceptions to this?

I appreciate you lovely people taking the time out to help!

KeithP · 19 November 2018 at 11:02PM

Hello and welcome.

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Please can you state the exact content of the Particulars of Claim box on the form - with personal detail obliterated of course.

Redx · 19 November 2018 at 11:02PM

yes, it can be defended on paper, anytime up to about a week before the court hearing, so proceed as if you are going and decide a week or two before if it gets that far

it will be your local county court anyway

irrelevant, it will be months before you get any court hearing date, these matters take up to 6 months, so nothing will happen in a couple of weeks

if you lose , pay in full , promptly, within one month and no credit rating issues , pay on your way out of the court or as soon as the CCJ papers arrive , preferably by cheque

see the recent defences by member BARGEPOLE and use them to start your defence draft

Coupon-mad · 19 November 2018 at 11:03PM

I am going to be out of the country next week for a couple of weeks. Is there is a way I can prevent this from going forward whilst I'm not here?

Yes by acknowledging the claim and working out the date by which you then must defend. Please answer KeithP's questions.

beanparking · 20 November 2018 at 8:28AM

Thanks, everyone for your swift replies.

The issue date is 7th November.

nosferatu1001 · 20 November 2018 at 10:23AM

So you now know you have 33 days from 7th november to get the court your signed, PDF'ed and emailed defence

You have not given us te exact PoC text.

Post 2 newbies thread is your start so get cracking on a defence.
If youre just copying and pasting, show us the sourc e- a link broken to say "hxxp" instead of "http" - so we know how much to read.

KeithP · 20 November 2018 at 2:03PM

beanparking wrote: »

The issue date is 7th November.

With a Claim Issue Date of 7th November, you have until Monday 26th November to do the Acknowledgement of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. To do the AoS, follow the guidance offered in a Dropbox link from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.

Having done the AoS, you then have until 4pm on Monday 10th December 2018 to file your Defence.

That's nearly three weeks away. Loads of time to produce a perfect Defence, but don't leave it to the very last minute.

When you are happy with the content, your Defence should be filed via email as described here:

1) Print your Defence.
2) Sign it and date it.
3) Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
4) Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
5) Just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.
6) Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
7) Wait for your Directions Questionnaire and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES thread to find out exactly what to do with it.

beanparking · 21 November 2018 at 8:34AM

Thank you! I had done the Acknowledgement of Service earlier in the week, so that's taken care off.

My problem is that I'm going away soon until the 9th December, and have very little time to prepare a defence.

With the Directions Questionnaire, will this arrive before the 10th December deadline/have to be submitted before that?

beanparking · 21 November 2018 at 8:38AM

Apologies, I had missed the bit about a PoC. Here it is:

The driver of the vehicle registration ('The vehicle') incurred the parking charge(s) on xx/11/2017 for breaching the terms of parking at XXXX
The defendant was driving the Vehicle and/or is the Keeper of the Vehicle.
AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS
£1XX for parking Charges / Damages and indemnity costs if applicable, together with interest of £11.13 pursuant to s69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at 8% pa, continuing to judgment at £0.04 per day.

I've left out some details, as I understand it's best not to share everything?

The_Deep · 21 November 2018 at 8:47AM

£240 is more than the law allows, they are trying to scam you into paying monies to which they/their client is not entitled. They know this but keep adding on these scam charges as peole think that, as so
solicitors they are correct, they are not.

Even if they won in court, the most a judge is likely to award them is iro £175 - £200, the rest is down market law firm scam money.

Report them to their regulatory body, the SRA, for claiming for costs they know are not allowed.

http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page

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

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week, hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. It has even been suggested that some of these companies have links with organised crime.

Watch the video of the Second Reading and committee stage in the House of Commons recently. MPs have a very low opinion of this industry.

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

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-07-19/debates/2b90805c-bff8-4707-8bdc-b0bfae5a7ad5/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill(FirstSitting)

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by in the not too distant future..

Coupon-mad · 22 November 2018 at 2:59AM

With the Directions Questionnaire, will this arrive before the 10th December deadline/have to be submitted before that?

No. Submit your defence before you go, by email to the CCBCAQ email address, and the DQ might be waiting for you when you get back but gives 14 days to complete, file & serve to the other side which will be well into late December or later.

County Court Claim - Gladstones

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