letter before claim from Gladstone Solicitors

[charitynjw]

Thank you very much for your replies.
I am currently drafting a defence, a copy of which I will provide it here for your approval. In the meantime, do I need to make a subject access request in writing. If so, do I address it to CPM?

Kindly advise.

Regards

You can send a SAR.....& yes, to CPM.
I would also advise sending a CPR 31.14 request to the solicitors.
A SAR will only get you data which ID's you.
A CPR 31 request can ask for disclosure of other generic but potentially important documents.

With all communications, keep a copy & get proof of posting. (The PO will give you a free cert of posting on request.)

[Twinnies]

You can send a SAR.....& yes, to CPM.
I would also advise sending a CPR 31.14 request to the solicitors.
A SAR will only get you data which ID's you.
A CPR 31 request can ask for disclosure of other generic but potentially important documents.

With all communications, keep a copy & get proof of posting. (The PO will give you a free cert of posting on request.)

Thanks for your reply.

For CPR 31.14 shall I ask for

1. Contract
2. Default Notice
3. Assignment
4. Formal Demand

Many thanks

[Twinnies]

Hi

Also,on the template request for CPR 31.14, the following paragraph is confusing.

For your information and records I enclose a copy of the formal request for a copy of the credit agreement relating to this claim, pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which has been posted to your client with the statutory fee of £1 today, xx/xx/xxxx.

Should I add it on the request?
Kindly also confirm the fee for request and how it is paid.

Your replies are highly appreciated.

Regards

[Twinnies]

Please also confirm whether the 33 days to submit the defence to the court are counted as working days or weekends included?

Many thanks

[ostell]

33 calendar days

[charitynjw]

Thanks for your reply.

For CPR 31.14 shall I ask for

1. Contract
2. Default Notice
3. Assignment
4. Formal Demand

Many thanks

No.....those are only relevant to Consumer Credit cases.

[charitynjw]

Hi

Also,on the template request for CPR 31.14, the following paragraph is confusing.

For your information and records I enclose a copy of the formal request for a copy of the credit agreement relating to this claim, pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which has been posted to your client with the statutory fee of £1 today, xx/xx/xxxx.

Should I add it on the request?
Kindly also confirm the fee for request and how it is paid.

Your replies are highly appreciated.

Regards

Again, only relevant to CC cases.

[charitynjw]

See post #28
https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...aim-form/page2

[Twinnies]

Thank you very much for your replies.

The following is the draft to the Solicitors. Kindly confirm, Thanks

Dear Sirs

On 12^th June 2019 I received a County Court claim from yourselves of which I have acknowledged receipt indicating my intention to defend in full.
To enable me to file my defence and/or counterclaim, I require inspection of documents you mention in your statement of case ahead of filing my defence.

1. A copy of the NtK
2. A copy of the landowner/parking company contract enabling them to operate on the relevant site, plus any other relevant intermediate contracts.
3. A copy of the parking company/DVLA KADOE contract

In accordance with CPR 31.15(c) I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.
You should note that this claim has not yet been allocated to a specific track and the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect. Had your claim not been issued through CCBC the Claimant would have been obliged to attach copies of the documentation upon which it relies to the Particulars of Claim.
I, as Defendant, am entitled to see the documents on which the Claimant relies and which you must produce at trial. Disclosure at this stage will enable me to fully plead my case and further the Overriding Objective.
You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the document(s) I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter.
If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing and confirm your agreement to an extension of the time allowed for me to file my defence as allowed under CPR 15.5 so I may notify the court.
I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

[charitynjw]

Thank you very much for your replies.

The following is the draft to the Solicitors. Kindly confirm, Thanks

Dear Sirs

On 12^th June 2019 I received a County Court claim from yourselves of which I have acknowledged receipt indicating my intention to defend in full.
To enable me to file my defence and/or counterclaim, I require inspection of documents you mention in your statement of case ahead of filing my defence, including but not limited to

1. A copy of the NtK
2. A copy of the landowner/parking company contract enabling them to operate on the relevant site, plus any other relevant intermediate contracts.
3. A copy of the parking company/DVLA KADOE contract
   4. Copies of the relevant site signage plus a detailed map showing positions of same

In accordance with CPR 31.15(c) I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.
You should note that this claim has not yet been allocated to a specific track and the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect. Had your claim not been issued through CCBC the Claimant would have been obliged to attach copies of the documentation upon which it relies to the Particulars of Claim.
I, as Defendant, am entitled to see the documents on which the Claimant relies and which you must produce at trial. Disclosure at this stage will enable me to fully plead my case and further the Overriding Objective.
You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the document(s) I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter.
If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing and confirm your agreement to an extension of the time allowed for me to file my defence as allowed under CPR 15.5 so I may notify the court.
I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

####

[Twinnies]

####

Bless!

[Twinnies]

Dear All

I have sent CPR 31.14 on 2nd July 2019, to which I have not received any reply.

Yesterday, I had attended the place where my car was parked to take some photographs and realised that the road name is different from what the CPM and Gladstone Solicitors are alleging. I have taken photographs of the full site, clearly showing the road name and the place where my car was parked!

I had drafted my defence last week (got some information on defence from this and other sites). I have today made some amendments (which are in bold) due to the new evidence. Kindly read it for me and let me know if there are any changes to make. As I understand I may need to remove some paragraphs.

Your replies are highly appreciated. As soon as I receive them, I will make changes immediately and submit it before the deadline which is on Friday, the 12th July 2019.




IN THE COUNTY COURT BUSINESS CENTRE
CLAIM No. DXXXXXXX
BETWEEN
UK CAR PARK MANAGEMENT LTD (CLAIMANT)

-and-

TWINNIES (DEFENDANT)

________
DEFENCE
________

1. I am the Defendant, ……, DOB …….., and reside at ……… and it is admitted that I was the driver of the vehicle on the day of this event.

2. Save as specifically admitted in this defence the Defendant denies each and every allegation set out in the Particulars of Claim or implied in Pre-action correspondence.


Preliminary matters:


1. The alleged penalty charge produced by the Claimants is false. The road that the allege incident took place was on Harewood Terrace and not Blandford Road….. I will produce photographic evidence of the site that accurately shows the road and the area where the car was stopped.

2. The Claimant failed to include a copy of their written contract nor any detail or reason for - nor clear particulars pertaining to - this claim (Practice Directions 16 7.3(1) and 7C 1.4(3A) refer). The Claimant is trying to enforce an unfair contract as per ‘Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999’ & ‘Unfair Contract Terms.

3. The Particulars of Claim (PoC) do not meet the requirements of Practice Direction 16 7.5 as there is nothing which specifies how any terms were breached. Indeed, the PoC are not clear and concise as is required by CPR 16.4 1(a) and CPR 1.4. It just vaguely states “parking charges” which does not give any indication of on what basis the claim is brought, for example whether this charge is founded upon an allegation of trespass or 'breach of contract', so I have had to cover all eventualities, and this has denied me a fair chance to defend this in an informed way. I have asked questions in the form of a Part 18 request but have not received any response.

4. The Claimant’s solicitors are known to be a serial issuer of generic claims similar to this one, with no diligence, no scrutiny of details nor even checking for a true cause of action. HMCS have identified over 1000 similar sparse claims. I believe the term for such conduct is ‘roboclaims’ which is against the public interest, unfair on unrepresented consumers and parking companies using the small claims track as a form of aggressive, automated debt collection is not something the courts should be seen to support.
In further support of there being a want of cause of action:

5. The PCN was issued on a poorly signed private road where I had pulled over, not parked. I was completely unaware that the site was 'private land' or being enforced by any restrictive terms, due to insufficient signage. There were no entrance signs at all to show that drivers were entering an area of 'parking enforcement' or 'private land'. I refer to the IPC Code of Practice (CoP) Part E, highlighting that adequate and clear entrance signs are required.

6. The Supreme Court Judges in the Beavis case held that a CoP is effectively 'regulation' for the private parking industry, full compliance with which is both expected and binding upon any parking operator.

7. The site signs are not capable of forming a contract with the driver according to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 as the Notice to Keeper only states a discrete time, not a period of time. A parking charge for a period of parking cannot apply to the stopping a vehicle.

8. My intentions of stopping there were purely due to the breakdown of the car and not to park. I had not seen any signs at the entrance, so the elements of a contract and agreement on any (unknown) charge are absent. Where terms on a parking sign are not seen/known, then there can be no contract. I rely upon the case of Vine v London Borough of Waltham Forest; CA 5 APR 2000, a case won by the consumer on appeal where the Judges also found that clear entrance signs are expected.

9. Any ‘charge’ or terms on signage on the day was not seen but even if the court believes signs were displayed, the terms were in such small print as to be illegible, contrary to the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

10. I submit that the IAS decision should be disregarded; it is ostensibly described as an appeal service, yet the Assessors' names remain secret. No figures or reports are published by the IAS but the publication 'Parking Review' reported that only 20% of appeals were upheld (compared to POPLA where 50% have consistently been upheld since its inception in 2012). There is no scrutiny board, unlike POPLA. The IAS decisions in the public domain blatantly disregard recognised standards of law or justice.

11. The IAS is a trading name of the IPC, whose Directors are Will Hurley and John Davies. These Directors, having overseen my IAS appeal being unfairly refused, have now filed this claim because they are also the directors of Gladstones solicitors. It is submitted that this chain of events is founded upon a conflict of interest and operates in breach of the CPUTRs and is contrary to good faith.

12. Even if the court is minded to accept that a sign was visible, the wording on the sign was prohibitive. Unlike in the Beavis case, the Claimant offered no licence to park if ‘unauthorised’. A purported licence to stop without a permit, in exchange for payment of a ‘charge’ on the one hand, cannot be offered when that same conduct is, on the other hand, expressly prohibited in the signage wording. This does not create any possible contract.

13. It is submitted that (apart from properly incurred court fees) any added solicitors fees are simply numbers made up out of thin air and are an attempt at double recovery by the Claimant, which would not be recoverable in any event.

14. It is submitted that the Claimant is merely an agent acting ‘on behalf of’ the landowner who would be the only proper claimant. Strict proof is required of a chain of contracts leading from the landowner to this Claimant, to allow them the right to form contracts and to sue in their name.

15. Even if this is produced, it is submitted that there is no contract offered to drivers not displaying a permit, so alleged 'unauthorised' parking (denied) can only be an event falling under the tort of trespass.

16. As was confirmed in the Beavis case, ParkingEye could not have claimed any sum at all for trespass, whereby only a party in possession of title in the land could claim nominal damages suffered (and there were none in this material case).

17. I refer to case Vehicle Services Ltd vs Ibbotson (2012) in which it was agreed that a private parking firm was responsible for mitigating any loss. The parking operative had every opportunity to consider the facts of my circumstances of this specific alleged incident but failed to do so.
18. The Claimant considers there charges not extravagant or unconscionable by referring to the Supreme Court decision in the case of Parking Eye v Beavis. However, I fail to see any similarity between this and my case. There is no contract with the registered keeper as per ‘The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation & Additional Payments) Regulations 2013.
19. It is submitted that the conduct of the Claimant in pursuing this claim is wholly unreasonable, vexatious and is based on dishonesty. As such, I am keeping a note of my wasted time/costs in dealing with this matter.

20. On the basis of the above, I request the court strike out the claim, due to no cause of action nor prospects of success.

21. The facts and information in this defence are true and the Defendant is not liable for the sum claimed, nor any sum at all.

Signature

Date



Regards

[Twinnies]

Bless!

Hi

Kindly read the above.

Many thanks

[pt2537]

have you already told them you were the driver?

If not, id suggest you may want to avoid that, to be able to rely on the registered keeper they need to comply with the POFA 2012, their notice to keeper doesnt seem to do that so their claim could fail, unless you admit youre the driver then of course you end up opening the door to their claim in contract against you for breach of contract

[Twinnies]

Hi

When i initially appealed the penalty, I did tell them that I was the driver. My appeal letter is attached on here.

Shall I attach it again?

Many thanks