BW Legal and Excel; £54 'legal charge' justifiable ?

JJ7516

Hi

I have looked at many, many threads relating to private parking charges and, in particular, those relating to BW Legal and Excel. I would value some advice on a discreet point which I have been unable to find.

I received a parking charge notice in October 2010. I overstayed for a short while (I can't now recall for how long and I was delayed for unforeseen reasons, but I understood that provided no defence).

I responded, admitting that I was the driver, but, relying on advice which was current then, arguing that the charge of £100 or £60 if paid within either 7 or 14 days was unreasonable. I offered and sent a cheque for a 'reasonable' sum, based on the highest of the council parking charges at that time.

It was rejected and there followed, sporadically, many months of letters from various debt collection companies.

There has been silence for many months, if not years, and I am aware that that the time limit for issuing proceedings in the county court expires on 25th October this year.

I have started receiving letters from bw legal seeking the usual £154 and they have managed to obtain my mobile telephone number and keep calling. I have not yet replied in any way, aware that I should do, but I want to ensure I approach this in the right way.

Having researched the point, I am aware of the Supreme Court ruling in Beavis and realise that, regrettably, my argument is likely to fail.

That said, can bw legal justify the £54 in these circumstances? I have seen it suggested that I can argue that they cannot justify it. I am now inclined to contact them and offer to pay £100. Their latest letter offers a discounted sum of £114 (a 40% 'discount'). I know I'm quibbling about £14, but it's the principle that irks me, as does paying what I consider to be a disproportionate charge, especially almost 6 years later.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Many thanks.

System

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Any advice given should wait until November - over 6 years since the incident.

beamerguy

BWLegal are the latest pests, they are acting for vermin who purchased lots of old charges and are now trying to make a fast buck

We are waiting to see what will happen in courts around the country
as to BWLegal.

The Beavis case concluded in 2015 and it would be very difficult to make that stick on a ticket issued in 2010

You currently have about 9 weeks before the 6 year rule times out..This is pre POFA 2012 SO THEY WILL STRUGGLE.

In the meantime search on here for GAN, a master at letter writing or go to http://www.pepipoo.com/forums/ to do the same search.
Gan has done a letter for BWLEGAL so to kill time, it's now a matter of ping-pong letters

If you find the contents of the BWLegal letter anyway harassing
or making wild threats which are offensive, join all the others who have complained to the SRA about BWLegal

Solicitors Regulation Authority

Mr Paul Philip Chief Executive

Email paul.philip@sra.org.uk

The_Deep

Any advice given should wait until November - over 6 years since the incident.


No no no no no. Engage with them now, write them letters, lots of letters, it costs them money. Start with this one, (hat tip to Gan),


It should also not be necessary that I, as a consumer, must remind you that your £54 legal charges cannot be recovered in the Small Claims Court. They are not my concern and I refer you to CPR 27.14.

In the event of legal action, I will invite the court to consider whether your client's delay amounts to unreasonable behaviour

My position is final. Don't contact me again unless to confirm that your client has issued proceedings. I will not reply.


then ask them for photographs cost them money. Keep it up until they realise it has timed out

parkingwoes_2

beamerguy wrote: »

BWLegal are the latest pests, they purchased lots of old charges and are now trying to make a fast buck

Interesting point BG - what is your evidence that they 'purchased lots of old charges' as this appears confused.

The Claimant in each case is the PPC whether Excel or VCS.

@ The OP which letter stage are you at in the process ?

First letter
Second
Final Demand or
Letter before Action?

The £54 has been confirmed via independent sources that this is not debt recovery but the legal charges added by BW Legal as they claim :

'reasonable charges for a professional firm' * and therefore falls foul of their SRA COP

* yes that is their wording not mine

Redx

its MIL collections that have purchased lots of old alleged debts and are issuing court claims , not BW LEGAL

BW LEGAL are acting for their clients , namely VCS and EXCEL who are sister companies under RENSHAW-SMITH

but I agree with most of what was said earlier

yotmon

Are you mad - or you stark raving mad ! You have led them a merry dance for the past six years and now with the finishing tape well within sight, you decide to stop and give in.
BWLegal are handling thousands of cases for the likes of Excel and VCS. By the time they get round to even thinking of taking your case to court, the statute of limitations will have run out. I bet hundreds on here would swap shoes with you at the drop of a hat !

The_Deep

I bet hundreds on here would swap shoes with you at the drop of a hat !


I certainly would, you are in a position to give then a very bloody nose, carpe diem

LoveNorfolk

You've only got til November, lucky soul! Get sending them some lovely letters, wind them up, show them they've not a chance getting any money from you and drag it out til then!

Redx

it is worth noting by the OP that even if it gets to november the alleged debt still stands and they may send "begging letters" chasing it up

its the 6 years court statute that runs out meaning they cannot issue court proceedings for the alleged debt

do not assume the begging letters will stop after october 2016 , they may not , but they have no legal recourse to fall back on come november 2016 and beyond

Coupon-mad

JJ7516 wrote: »

Hi

I have looked at many, many threads relating to private parking charges and, in particular, those relating to BW Legal and Excel. I would value some advice on a discreet point which I have been unable to find.

I received a parking charge notice in October 2010. I overstayed for a short while (I can't now recall for how long and I was delayed for unforeseen reasons, but I understood that provided no defence).

I responded, admitting that I was the driver, but, relying on advice which was current then, arguing that the charge of £100 or £60 if paid within either 7 or 14 days was unreasonable. I offered and sent a cheque for a 'reasonable' sum, based on the highest of the council parking charges at that time.

It was rejected and there followed, sporadically, many months of letters from various debt collection companies.

There has been silence for many months, if not years, and I am aware that that the time limit for issuing proceedings in the county court expires on 25th October this year.

I have started receiving letters from bw legal seeking the usual £154 and they have managed to obtain my mobile telephone number and keep calling. I have not yet replied in any way, aware that I should do, but I want to ensure I approach this in the right way.

Having researched the point, I am aware of the Supreme Court ruling in Beavis and realise that, regrettably, my argument is likely to fail.

That said, can bw legal justify the £54 in these circumstances? I have seen it suggested that I can argue that they cannot justify it. I am now inclined to contact them and offer to pay £100. Their latest letter offers a discounted sum of £114 (a 40% 'discount'). I know I'm quibbling about £14, but it's the principle that irks me, as does paying what I consider to be a disproportionate charge, especially almost 6 years later.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Many thanks.

As others have said, get this past the six years. The way to do that is to reply robustly to each BW Legal letter and also once you have a couple that have misleading wording in them (like everyone else) complain to the CSA and SRA.

See LoveNorfolk's thread for a good example of a CSA complaint early on, followed later by a post by pappa golf, showing how to word a strong SRA complaint. Both can be submitted online, it's easy enough and much of it can be copied from LoveNorfolk's thread. That ties them up in dealing with formal investigations and would be highly likely to get you past the 6 year post.

If not - if you do get a court claim by next month - among other defence points littering this forum and pepipoo forum right now (again, you can copy from other threads) you can also question why a parking firm has waited for six years before resurrecting a 'charge' with no rationale or justification and no cause of action. Apart from anything else it disadvantages any consumer, who would by now, be likely to have thrown the paperwork out, perfectly reasonably believing the matter closed.

Anyway, get responding and do the CSA and SRA complaints, to buy time.