VCS & BWLegal

Bunnyhop

Hi,

I’ve read lots of threads and the sticky’s but can’t find what I’m after so apologies if I’ve missed it somewhere. I have done everything possible wrong up until now so fully appreciate you may not want to help at this stage!

I received a “PCN” from VCS for an overstay in April 2016, I paid their reduced fee of £60 at 18 days which was a few days after their 14 day deadline (should have been £100) To be honest I thought they’d just let it go at that as they’d got something from me but a while later I got a letter asking for the missing £40. I was annoyed by it and ignored it and ignored everything thereafter and heard nothing so assumed they had given up.

Long story short it’s now with BWlegal who have added their cost of £60 and they now want £100. I The landowner says there’s nothing they can do about it.

As I’ve already part paid I guess I really have no defence now that I could use if they issued court papers? If they do issue them would it be for anything additional than the £100 they already want (do they normally add even more additional fees at that point?)

Sorry, I really should have read everything sooner

Umkomaas

If they do issue them would it be for anything additional than the £100 they already want (do they normally add even more additional fees at that point?)

£40 (balance) + £25 court filing fee + £50 capped max legal fees (not the £60 demanded by BWL) + £25 court hearing fee + a few pounds (£5-£6?) interest. £150 max?

Not much else - unless you are demonstrably unreasonable (but you don’t seem to be anywhere near that) when costs can then really mount up.

beamerguy

Bunnyhop

VCS were lucky that you even paid £60

The charge you received was just an invoice and
speculation at that.

The 14 day discount period is not a legal one and
surely a few days will not make any difference

VCS are completely stupid to pass this to BWLegal
as by the time BWL add on their fees to VCS, it will
cost more than the £40

BWLegal must be very hard up for business to take
on a £40 claim

If this was me, I would tell BWLegal that as far as
you are concerned. you have paid in full and invite
them to proceed with court.

A judge will not take very kindly to such timewasting
especially as you have already paid £60
The courts are well aware of BWLegal and their
low quality claims, that is why they often lose

Once you win, you can then claim your costs from
BWLegal/VCS which means you could well get your £60 back.

Talk about dredging the sewers for money ????

Bunnyhop

Thanks both.

Will have to think about the best thing to do, not sure “I just don’t want to pay any more than I have” would go down very well at court either!

Tempted to chance that they won’t bother actually going any further with it but I assume they’ve already paid a fee to BWLegal so would proceed. I did tell BWLegal I wasn’t going to pay it and wanted copies of the original documents relating to the event before I’d talk to them again thinking they’d go away but they’ve sent copies of everything today so I guess they’re not giving up easily 😂

Coupon-mad

I paid their reduced fee of £60 at 18 days

Ouch! You PAID a private parking firm!

Don't make it worse, compound your error, by paying them any more money. You should have Googled it first.

If you get a claim we do see people here win 99% of cases where the posters are fully coached right to a hearing. People win v BW Legal, they are wasting their time because these are ALL VERY DEFENDABLE. Just not by defending like this:

not sure “I just don’t want to pay any more than I have” would go down very well at court either!

You really should NOT have paid a penny, they now have you on a mugs' list (sorry, but they see you as an easy touch). That's why they keep replying, they think you will cave in. YOU WILL NOT, NOW YOU ARE HERE.

The_Deep

“I just don’t want to pay any more than I have” would go down very well at court either!


Why not, it sounds very reasonable to me. How much would the council have wanted for a similar contravention?

beamerguy

Bunnyhop wrote: »

Thanks both.

Will have to think about the best thing to do, not sure “I just don’t want to pay any more than I have” would go down very well at court either!

Tempted to chance that they won’t bother actually going any further with it but I assume they’ve already paid a fee to BWLegal so would proceed. I did tell BWLegal I wasn’t going to pay it and wanted copies of the original documents relating to the event before I’d talk to them again thinking they’d go away but they’ve sent copies of everything today so I guess they’re not giving up easily 😂

Haha .... the dreadful BWLegal would probably eat their
grandmother for a couple of bob ???

As coupon-mad says, you are now being seen as a money
mug ..... BUT YOU ARE NOT.

No point in talking to the brain dead, these are bully boys
who are all very brave behind the written word but put
them in court face to face with a judge and they fall apart,
we see this time and time again.

So, ignore them, see what these bullies do next, the rubbish
of this one means the experienced on here, including two
solicitors will have a lot of fun helping you

Umkomaas

I assume they’ve already paid a fee to BWLegal so would proceed

There’s no evidence in anything we’ve seen over the past couple of years that BWL are paid a penny until such time as they’ve gouged any money from the motorist.

we can agree a no-win no-fee pricing structure.

http://www.bwlegal.com/wordpress/faq/buisness-to-buisness/

Bunnyhop

So I asked for them to clarify why they are still pursuing me for a matter I considered to be settled and have received photos of my car entering and exiting and the dates and times involved.

The £60 I shouldn't have obviously paid anyway was "due" 14 days after and I paid it on day 20.

In their response they state they confirm they received a payment on X date "however, by this point the PCN had increased to £100 and therefore the PCN was only partially paid".

I tried contacting the people who manage the car park and stated the reason we were late back to the car was I was breastfeeding my 9 month old in one of the cafes but they said unless I can prove I paid the £60 within 14 days then they're not interested.

So BW Legal in the mean time have sent all manner of generic letters and then seemed to reset their chain of letters back to the beginning and we're now back at Letter of claim, now with the new annex information sheet and reply form.

I wondered if it was worth including that I was breastfeeding the baby as one of the points in a reply back to them? I've seen people mentioning using the equality act in recent posts and wondered if it would extend to this, obviously I wasn't for the full 2 and a half hours in the car park but it is ultimately what led to us overstaying and thought it might not hurt to include it?

Quentin

Won't hurt.

Follow the advice in the Newbies FAQ thread on responding to your lbcca

The_Deep

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

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

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

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.