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Excel /BW Legal
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Pinkychick14
Posts: 32 Forumite
Hi, in 2011 I received a parking fine, from Excel. I ignored as per all the advice. I thought it had disappeared, but recently they wrote to me asking for £174 (£54 legal fees) so I wrote them a letter back as advised on here stating them were harassing, not entitled to my details etc. Now I have received this reply and wondered if you guys have any advice for me as its stating to make me ill.
'We note from your correspondence that you were not the driver at the time of the PCN. As details of the driver have not been forthcoming to suggest otherwise, our client, in the absence of the drivers details, reasonably assumes you were the driver and we refer you to the case of Elliott v Loake (1982). We also refer to schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms act which states the same.
Please note harassment has been referred to and therefore we feel obliged to point out that under S1(3)(c) of the The Protection from Harassment Act 1997, a course of conduct that someone alleges to be harassment will not be deemed so if the person who pursued it shows that in the particular circumstances the pursuit of the course of conduct was reasonable. Under the circumstances our course of action has been entirely reasonable and in no way reaches the high threshold of harassment.
We also wish to draw your attention that you were previously allowed 28 days from the date you received the PCN to dispute the PCN and/or appeal the PCN through an independent appeal service. Both of these options have now expired and your recourse for dispute is through the county court process, which could increase your liability further.
Furthermore, our legal fees of £54 are reasonable for a professional law firm dealing with this type of legal work and payment of such fees was detailed in the terms and conditions located within the car park.
Notwithstanding the above, our client wishes to resolving the matter within 7 days without the need to incur any further cost, failure to which we will seek our clients instruction on issuing County Court proceedings'.
'We note from your correspondence that you were not the driver at the time of the PCN. As details of the driver have not been forthcoming to suggest otherwise, our client, in the absence of the drivers details, reasonably assumes you were the driver and we refer you to the case of Elliott v Loake (1982). We also refer to schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms act which states the same.
Please note harassment has been referred to and therefore we feel obliged to point out that under S1(3)(c) of the The Protection from Harassment Act 1997, a course of conduct that someone alleges to be harassment will not be deemed so if the person who pursued it shows that in the particular circumstances the pursuit of the course of conduct was reasonable. Under the circumstances our course of action has been entirely reasonable and in no way reaches the high threshold of harassment.
We also wish to draw your attention that you were previously allowed 28 days from the date you received the PCN to dispute the PCN and/or appeal the PCN through an independent appeal service. Both of these options have now expired and your recourse for dispute is through the county court process, which could increase your liability further.
Furthermore, our legal fees of £54 are reasonable for a professional law firm dealing with this type of legal work and payment of such fees was detailed in the terms and conditions located within the car park.
Notwithstanding the above, our client wishes to resolving the matter within 7 days without the need to incur any further cost, failure to which we will seek our clients instruction on issuing County Court proceedings'.
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Comments
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Elliot vs Loake is irrelevant and nowt to do with your case. It was a completely different set of circumstances.
POFA 2012 did not exist in 2011, and cannot be applied retrospectively. It does not mention anything about the above court case, or that it is reasonable to assume a keeper was the driver on the day of the alleged incident.
Therefore it is unreasonable for them to pursue this through the courts and therefore it is harassment.They are telling lies.
You could write back telling them that you know they are lying and look forward to proving this to a judge.I married my cousin. I had to...I don't have a sister.
All my screwdrivers are cordless."You're Safety Is My Primary Concern Dear" - Laks0 -
Have a look at this thread, especially the rebuttal letter in post 9.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5498531I married my cousin. I had to...I don't have a sister.All my screwdrivers are cordless."You're Safety Is My Primary Concern Dear" - Laks0 -
Thank you! Due to what you have just said it sounds easier to just ignore the latest letter?0
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Whilst your initial issue was a parking charge notice, this has now moved towards a small claims court case.
The main expertise on this forum is fighting private parking charges at the initial stages of the process. We do not purport, as a very small group of forum regulars, to have legal experience or qualifications. In many respects once legal action commences many of us are outside our pay grade and so the advice may not necessarily be as comprehensive or firmly based as that given at the early stages of a PCN.
In fact you may feel that you are not receiving many responses at all, but no one will give advice unless they are confident that it is correct and in your best interest, and now you are involved in the legal process, there will be even greater hesitation.
That is not to say that regulars won't comment on your thread, some may even be able to advise quite confidently, but as you are now at the more serious end of the process, my advice is that you cast your net much wider and seek parallel advice from forums where there is probably a greater number of advisers with court/legal knowledge, qualification and experience.
So I recommend you, at least, read through the following forums to look at the advice being given in similar cases, and if you feel it necessary, you register with one/some/all forums and post there for complementary help and assistance.
LEGAL BEAGLES
http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?384-Parking-Live-Court-Claims
CONSUMER ACTION GROUP
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?88-Private-Land-Parking-Enforcement
PEPIPOO
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=SF&s=&f=60
HTHPlease note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .
I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street0 -
Ah yes Fruitcake that's the forum I have been on and thread 9 is the letter I initially sent.0
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PoFA has absolutely no bearing on anything prior to October 2012. If you are to complain to the SRA, this misleading statement must be highlighted.We also refer to schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms act which states the same.
No independent appeals service existed in 2011. Another misleading statement.We also wish to draw your attention that you were previously allowed 28 days from the date you received the PCN to dispute the PCN and/or appeal the PCN through an independent appeal service.
You will be asking to see time-stamped photographs of signage displayed at the time - you can bet your bottom dollar that even if they can resurrect such signage, it won't contain those terms! More misleading.payment of such fees was detailed in the terms and conditions located within the car park.
This is a boilerplate letter being banged out to countless hundreds at the moment. We have seen nothing as yet proceed to the small claims court to provide an accurate forecast of how it will all play out. You are at a quite early stage, so do your research, wise up on things.
I would certainly be slamming in a vigorous complaint to the SRA covering, at least, some of the points I've highlighted. Reading through the other forums recommended in my prior post may contain examples of complaints to the SRA.Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .
I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street0 -
Thank you, I really appreciate all the help.0
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Pinky chick. I know you have been following my post. I too have now recieved the same reply now. Please keep me posted on how you get on x0
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Hi luksakura. I have today sent a letter to the SRA and I am currently awaiting advice from another site regarding a reply to BW Legal. It's a complete nightmare isn't it!0
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Yes. Mine have crossed over in the post. I have 7 days to reply to this one. But already lost 2 days. I sent copies of my parking tickets as i was advised to make a paper trail of evidence. Im stuck as what to to reply to this one aswell. I also sent copies of everything to the sra. My second letter to them was pretty much reapeating what i said in the first one.0
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