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Received a claim? Yes/No: Yes
Issue Date: 2nd Nov 2018
Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: No
Total Amount Claimed: £248.48
Claimant’s Name: Euro Parking Services Limited
Solicitors Firm: Gladstones Solicitors
Particulars of Claim:
The driver of the Vehicle registration **** *** (the Vehicle) incurred the parking charge(s) on 15/09/2017 for breaching the terms of parking on the land at *********(address).
The defendant was driving the vehicle and/or is the keeper of the vehicle.
AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS
£160 for Parking Charges/Damages and indemnity costs if applicable, together with interest of £13.48 pursuant to s69 of the Count Courts Act 1984 at 8% pa, continuing to Judgment at 0.04 per day
'The driver' received a parking ticket 15/09 for being parked in a disabled bay without clearly displaying a valid disabled persons badge .
I have written to dispute the claim with a letter before claim which was sent to Gladstones. Here is what I wrote -
Gladstones replied to my letter by emailing me with the following -
I never did call them. Do you think it would be worth me fighting this case in court ? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated....
Issue Date: 2nd Nov 2018
Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: No
Total Amount Claimed: £248.48
Claimant’s Name: Euro Parking Services Limited
Solicitors Firm: Gladstones Solicitors
Particulars of Claim:
The driver of the Vehicle registration **** *** (the Vehicle) incurred the parking charge(s) on 15/09/2017 for breaching the terms of parking on the land at *********(address).
The defendant was driving the vehicle and/or is the keeper of the vehicle.
AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS
£160 for Parking Charges/Damages and indemnity costs if applicable, together with interest of £13.48 pursuant to s69 of the Count Courts Act 1984 at 8% pa, continuing to Judgment at 0.04 per day
'The driver' received a parking ticket 15/09 for being parked in a disabled bay without clearly displaying a valid disabled persons badge .
I have written to dispute the claim with a letter before claim which was sent to Gladstones. Here is what I wrote -
Dear Sirs,
I am in receipt of your Letter Before Claim of 3rd May 2018.
Your letter contains insufficient detail of the claim and fails to provide copies of evidence your client places reliance upon.
Your client must know that on 01 October 2017 a new protocol is applicable to debt claims. Since proceedings have not yet been issued, the new protocol clearly applies and must be complied with.
Your letter lacks specificity and breaches both the requirements of the previously applicable Practice Direction - Pre-Action Conduct (paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c)) and the new Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (paragraphs 3.1(a)-(d), 5.1 and 5.2. Please treat [s]and therefore[/s[ this letter as a formal request for all of the documents / information that the protocol now requires your client to provide. Your client must not issue proceedings without complying with that protocol. I reserve the right to draw any failure of the Claimant to comply with the protocol to the attention of the court and to ask the court to stay the claim and order your client to comply with its pre-action obligations, and when costs come to be considered.
As solicitors you must surely be familiar with the requirements of both the Practice Direction applicable pre-1 October and the Protocol which applies thereafter (and your client, as a serial litigator of small claims, should likewise be aware of them). As you (and your client) must know, the Practice Direction and Protocol binds all potential litigants, whatever the size or type of the claim. Its express purpose is to assist parties in understanding the claim and their respective positions in relation to it, to enable parties to take stock of their positions and to negotiate a settlement, or at least narrow the issues, without incurring the costs of court proceedings or using up valuable court time. It is astounding that a firm of Solicitors are sending a consumer a vague and unevidenced 'Letter before Claim' in complete ignorance of the pre-existing Practice Direction and the new Protocol.
Nobody, including your client, is immune from the requirements and obligations of the Practice Direction and now the Protocol.
I require your client to comply with its obligations by sending me the following information/documents:
1. an explanation of the cause of action 2. whether they are pursuing me as driver or keeper 3. whether they are relying on the provisions of Schedule 4 of POFA 2012 4. what the details of the claim are; where it is claimed the vehicle was parked, for how long, how the monies being claimed arose and have been calculated 5. Is the claim for a contractual breach? If so, provide a copy of that contract bearing my signature. Or is the claim for trespass? If so, provide details. 6. a copy of the contract with the landowner under which they assert authority to bring the claim, as required by the IPC code of practice section B, clause 1.1 7. a plan showing where any signs were displayed 8. details of the signs displayed (size of sign, size of font, height at which displayed) 9. Details of the additions to the original charge, what that represents and how it has been calculated.
If your client does not provide me with this information then I put you on notice that I will be relying on the cases of Webb Resolutions Ltd v Waller Needham & Green [2012] EWHC 3529 (Ch), Daejan Investments Limited v The Park West Club Limited (Part 20) – Buxton Associates [2003] EWHC 2872, Charles Church Developments Ltd v Stent Foundations Limited & Peter Dann Limited [2007] EWHC 855 in asking the court to impose sanctions on your client and to order a stay of the proceedings, pursuant to paragraphs 13 ,15(b) and (c) and 16 of the Practice Direction, as referred to in paragraph 7.2 of the Protocol. I will draw to the court the fact that I have expressly requested this information since as early as [date or month/year of first request] yet your client has refused to provide it, saying that it will not do so until this matter reaches the court. [has it? this is taken from a precedent, check that all of it applies to you]
Until your client has complied with its obligations and provided this information, I am unable to respond properly to the alleged claim and to consider my position in relation to it, and it is entirely premature (and a waste of costs and court time) for your client to issue proceedings. Should your client do so, then I will seek an immediate stay pursuant to paragraph 15(b) of the Practice Direction and an order that this information is provided.
Yours faithfully
xxxxxxxxxx
I am in receipt of your Letter Before Claim of 3rd May 2018.
Your letter contains insufficient detail of the claim and fails to provide copies of evidence your client places reliance upon.
Your client must know that on 01 October 2017 a new protocol is applicable to debt claims. Since proceedings have not yet been issued, the new protocol clearly applies and must be complied with.
Your letter lacks specificity and breaches both the requirements of the previously applicable Practice Direction - Pre-Action Conduct (paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c)) and the new Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (paragraphs 3.1(a)-(d), 5.1 and 5.2. Please treat [s]and therefore[/s[ this letter as a formal request for all of the documents / information that the protocol now requires your client to provide. Your client must not issue proceedings without complying with that protocol. I reserve the right to draw any failure of the Claimant to comply with the protocol to the attention of the court and to ask the court to stay the claim and order your client to comply with its pre-action obligations, and when costs come to be considered.
As solicitors you must surely be familiar with the requirements of both the Practice Direction applicable pre-1 October and the Protocol which applies thereafter (and your client, as a serial litigator of small claims, should likewise be aware of them). As you (and your client) must know, the Practice Direction and Protocol binds all potential litigants, whatever the size or type of the claim. Its express purpose is to assist parties in understanding the claim and their respective positions in relation to it, to enable parties to take stock of their positions and to negotiate a settlement, or at least narrow the issues, without incurring the costs of court proceedings or using up valuable court time. It is astounding that a firm of Solicitors are sending a consumer a vague and unevidenced 'Letter before Claim' in complete ignorance of the pre-existing Practice Direction and the new Protocol.
Nobody, including your client, is immune from the requirements and obligations of the Practice Direction and now the Protocol.
I require your client to comply with its obligations by sending me the following information/documents:
1. an explanation of the cause of action 2. whether they are pursuing me as driver or keeper 3. whether they are relying on the provisions of Schedule 4 of POFA 2012 4. what the details of the claim are; where it is claimed the vehicle was parked, for how long, how the monies being claimed arose and have been calculated 5. Is the claim for a contractual breach? If so, provide a copy of that contract bearing my signature. Or is the claim for trespass? If so, provide details. 6. a copy of the contract with the landowner under which they assert authority to bring the claim, as required by the IPC code of practice section B, clause 1.1 7. a plan showing where any signs were displayed 8. details of the signs displayed (size of sign, size of font, height at which displayed) 9. Details of the additions to the original charge, what that represents and how it has been calculated.
If your client does not provide me with this information then I put you on notice that I will be relying on the cases of Webb Resolutions Ltd v Waller Needham & Green [2012] EWHC 3529 (Ch), Daejan Investments Limited v The Park West Club Limited (Part 20) – Buxton Associates [2003] EWHC 2872, Charles Church Developments Ltd v Stent Foundations Limited & Peter Dann Limited [2007] EWHC 855 in asking the court to impose sanctions on your client and to order a stay of the proceedings, pursuant to paragraphs 13 ,15(b) and (c) and 16 of the Practice Direction, as referred to in paragraph 7.2 of the Protocol. I will draw to the court the fact that I have expressly requested this information since as early as [date or month/year of first request] yet your client has refused to provide it, saying that it will not do so until this matter reaches the court. [has it? this is taken from a precedent, check that all of it applies to you]
Until your client has complied with its obligations and provided this information, I am unable to respond properly to the alleged claim and to consider my position in relation to it, and it is entirely premature (and a waste of costs and court time) for your client to issue proceedings. Should your client do so, then I will seek an immediate stay pursuant to paragraph 15(b) of the Practice Direction and an order that this information is provided.
Yours faithfully
xxxxxxxxxx
Thank you for your correspondence.
To narrow down the issues raised in your letter we feel it may be beneficial to discuss the matter via telephone, please provide the appropriate number.
Kind Regards
To narrow down the issues raised in your letter we feel it may be beneficial to discuss the matter via telephone, please provide the appropriate number.
Kind Regards
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