Letter of claim from bwlegal

phoenixfreespirit

Thanks Coupon-mad
it is somehow reassuring that you find it so yawn worthy! Although for me personally who doesn't know how all this works it is extremely stressful and means hours of research etc. I have spent hours trawling the site but as there is so much info, I have not yet found the appropriate non x cert response, I have also joined Pepipoo and am looking there. This is a already a very distressing time for me, when my time would be better spent sorting all my parents paperwork and important pressing legal matters inc complicated probate following my mother's sudden recent passing (who this pertains to) and my father's dementia diagnosis. This is a bit like the straw that broke the camels back and is taking up a huge amount of time and energy that I don't have, to have to deal with lowlife scumbags Sorry for the rant and thanks for the suggestion

Coupon-mad

it is somehow reassuring that you find it so yawn worthy!

I am glad you get my humour, it wasn't meant to be a slight at you, it was a nod to the fact BW Legal keep churning out the same old stuff, so much so that they haven't even updated 'Independent' to 'International' (IPC name was changed 2 years ago!).

Do the search and you will see this is nothing to worry about. None of it is!

Given the sad circumstances, you need to write to BW Legal and tell them their client failed to make a reasonable adjustment for a disabled person (BB is irrelevant, your Mum met the definition of disability). I would explain like you did to us, in your first post.

Who has these threats, you or your poor Dad?

Has a complaint to the landowner been tried?

phoenixfreespirit

Thank you sooo much for your reply it is such a relief!
I seem to be going round in circles and wasting time trying to find the appropriate next step/reply to send following their response.
I have tried your suggestion but have not managed to find a relevant template reply.
They are sending the threats to me and pursuing me as the registered keeper, which I have previously been advised to take seriously.
I don't know how to post copies of the photos and documents they have now sent me to see if they have not followed protocol; but the photo of the tiny sign at the site which they sent includes the wording 'disabled badge holders only in disabled bays' albeit in tiny letters. I also thought from a comment by Nosferatu1001 that it was not an appeal but 'resisting a potential court claim', so not relevant at this stage.
I understand they churn these out and that there are templates on here somewhere for stock replies to each stage but can't find them and I don't understand enough legalese to follow the arguments or the abbreviations. I have cobbled together the following reply from the advice I have been given so far and have managed to follow :~
Dear Sirs
You are required to supply anything I have asked for OR an explanation of why you cannot.
To fail to do so means you have failed your obligations under the Pre Action Protocol.
I am clearly entitled to this information under paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c) of the Practice Direction. I also need it in order to comply with my own obligations under paragraph 6(b).

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. I will draw to the court the fact that I have expressly requested this information yet your client has refused to provide it, saying that it will not do so until this matter reaches the court.

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

I don't know if this is right or if there is a better or more robust response I can give to get these lowlife off my back and put an end to all this or if I need legal advice.
I haven't managed to do much on Pepipoo yet due to time constraints and being stretched to breaking point.
I really need the time all this is taking to focus on sorting things out to make sure my dad doesn't lose his home and also to help my daughter who has had her student loan stolen from her bank account!
All while holding onto my sanity by a small thread and keeping my head above water as a single, self employed mother! :mad: : :eek:

Thanks again for your reply ~ I really appreciate the help offered

Coupon-mad

I have tried your suggestion but have not managed to find a relevant template reply.

Good, did you miss the fact that I told you not to use a template? I said:

you need to write to BW Legal and tell them their client failed to make a reasonable adjustment for a disabled person (BB is irrelevant, your Mum met the definition of disability). I would explain like you did to us, in your first post.

They are sending the threats to me and pursuing me as the registered keeper, which I have previously been advised to take seriously.

OK I just wanted to check that.

Throw the template in the bin.

Send a reply like this:

date:


Dear BW Legal,

Re - your Letter before Claim re PCN xxxxxxxx

This is a formal response to your 'Letter before Claim' and your latest letter, which is a template which makes no attempt to narrow the issues, inform me of any facts, nor to resolve the dispute.

I remind you of the overriding objective at this stage, to stock-take and review our respective positions, following the Practice Direction by exchanging information to see if proceedings can be avoided and to - at least - narrow the issues.

Firstly, kindly explain how your clients can be 'established members of the Independent Parking Community' when:

(a) there is no such organisation, and

(b) at the material time, I have discovered that PPS were BPA members, so you have made no effort to point me towards the correct Code of Practice (with set grace periods, etc.) that applied on the date in question.

Secondly, the sum demanded is an abuse of process. At #9, you say:

''£130 remains unpaid for the PCN. Additionally you are also liable for our £60 instructions fee as your file has been passed to us.''

The PCN sum cannot have been £130, since the BPA had long since imposed a £100 maximum ceiling (which I now understand that PPS routinely and flagrantly breached in 2014/15). Also, under the POFA, the maximum sum an ATA member can seek from a registered keeper is the sum on the Notice to Keeper. Further, there is no cost for any 'debt collection letters' stage, which is offered by such firms completely free, since they advertise and operate for parking firms on a no-win-no-fee basis.

I require you to now show your evidence of such costs - i.e. written proof that your client has already actually paid £30 to a debt collection firm, and £60 to your firm as an 'instructions fee'. Further, proof is required that such additions were prominently displayed on the signs in large lettering, which certainly cannot be concluded from the vague photos provided.

There are significant issues involving statutory disability rights here, that the ticketing employee certainly knew about on the day. Therefore (to quote the Equality Act 2010, the ''EA'') your client 'knew or should have known' the following facts:

A passenger in the car (my late Mother) was visibly very disabled. Whoever issued the PCN must have watched her struggle to walk and carry two large bags of books, and that employee (or perhaps a self-ticketer in pursuit of a 'bounty' from PPS) must have then run straight out from hiding, to put a ticket on the car during the few minutes it took to return the books.

My late Mother had just been discharged from Hospital and she was unable to walk unaided following a fall. She was also deaf, so reading was her only entertainment as she couldn't manage television. The library where this incident is alleged to have happened, only had a paltry - and woefully inadequate - two disabled parking spaces, which I believe were full, so the car would have been parked as near as possible due to my Mother's poor mobility and the 24 large print books that needed returning.

Given the fact that she could not walk unaided, her mobility issue was unmistakable and obvious, especially given the mere minutes of so-called 'observation' shown on the PCN. My Mother's slow-moving struggle must have been seen, on the balance of probabilities.

My Father was shortly after this incident, diagnosed with dementia - and both parents were in and out of hospital - so whilst I was appalled to receive PPS' demand for an unfair 'parking charge' four years ago, I was too overwhelmed by having to take on responsibility for both my parents' care and living arrangements to respond to this distressing matter at the time.

Receiving this Letter of Claim now nearly four years later, could not have come at a worse time as my Mother has very recently passed away. It is extremely distressing and heartbreaking to have to deal with this now, as I am still mourning my Mother's death.

This incident has caused significant distress and anxiety to the whole family, and me in particular as the registered keeper of that car on the material date. I have suffered panic attacks and lost sleep over it, at a time when I wanted to be there for my family, and now I find it is not yet over.

As my Mother was only just out of hospital she had no Blue Badge at that time but that does not in any way detract from her rights under the EA.
Notwithstanding the disability discrimination aspects, your client was also duty bound to observe the BPA CoP 'grace period' rules at the time and it appears that they have also failed in that regard.

I expect to hear from you within 14 days to confirm that the charge is cancelled, or at the very least that your client is urgently reviewing the matter and their employee's failure to make a reasonable adjustment for a disabled patron of the library.

Finally, I will also submit that, even if your client protests that their employee/self ticketer had no idea about my mother's mobility problems, and did not watch her struggle before issuing a PCN, this is in fact irrelevant. The indisputable fact now is that, regardless of any previous excuse, your clients and you have hereby been informed by this letter, that

(a) a passenger in the vehicle that day was disabled, and that she had 'protected characteristics' as defined under the meaning set out in the EA, and

(b) their conduct has caused and continues to cause, four years later, significant distress, as a matter of fact, that I intend to demonstrate in person and with evidence in my witness statement and at any hearing.

Your client now has the opportunity to right the wrong, and cancel the charge.

yours faithfully,



your name (same person as the letter is addressed to)

your address

Take that to your local Post Office in an envelope with a first class stamp and ask the counter Clerk for a free 'certificate of posting' and KEEP IT SAFE with a copy of the letter.

phoenixfreespirit

Dear Coupon Mad
I can't thank you enough for your help and kindness!! I would never in a million years have managed to write any such letter and can't tell you how much you have helped and what it means to me and my family !! You are an angel and a Godsend ~ You have restored my faith in human nature and I am at a loss for words to express the relief I feel at now being able to focus on helping my dad :T :A :j Love bless and thank you with all my heart :heartsmil

Umkomaas

A corker C-m. Exploding on a BWL desk tomorrow morning.

phoenixfreespirit

Hi
So I had hoped the last letter might have been an end to this but I have had a reply from bwlowlife which don't know how to upload so as to show content. In brief
They 'of course' quote ~
1 Parking Eye v Beavis,
2 signage,
3 say their £60 charges are reasonable,
4 say the car was observed for 10mins 32 secs! (Presumably to get round 10 mins grace period ~ but which given my mother's mobility at the time; would have been the actual time it took for them to watch her get out of the car and into the Library so they could sneak out and put a ticket on the car :mad: )
Her original fall took place getting out of a car, she had also had a stroke a couple of years before hand. This was her first time going out after coming out of hospital 2 days prior, she was very anxious and unsteady on her feet. In fact despite months of physiotherapy which followed she never recovered her full mobility and confidence when walking outside.
5 They reference T & Cs. They have previously said they are pursuing me as the keeper and I have at no point said who was driving yet their letter says 'The Terms and Conditions (referred to above), which you accepted upon entering the car park. are clear and unambiguous'. Further on they also say 'by parking your vehicle in breach of the Terms and Conditions you put your vehicle at risk of being issued with a Parking Charge Notice.
Surely this is not applicable/relevant if they are pursuing me as the keeper?
6 Our Client will not accept a settlement for this Account, therefore the Outstanding Balance remains Due and Owing.
Is there a way to upload the letter other than me typing it so you can advise me how to respond to these sorry excuses for human beings?
I am going to write to the local council and Libraries Unlimited as they are in charge of the Library though I still don't know who owns the land and bwlowlife won't say. I am also thinking of writing to the local paper where all this took place to name and shame them ~ is that a good idea?
Many thanks for all the help so far!

Umkomaas

HOW TO UPLOAD LINKS TO PHOTOS/SCANS TO MSE

To upload a photo/scan link, you first need to host it on a free photo hosting site (like Dropbox, Imurg or Tinypic), copy the URL, paste it here, but change the http to hxxp and we'll do the conversion. Newbies can't directly upload links to photos/scans until they've a few posts under their belt.

phoenixfreespirit

Thank you!
I will try that though I'm not sure if I have enough posts under my belt to be able to it?

waamo

phoenixfreespirit wrote: »

Thank you!
I will try that though I'm not sure if I have enough posts under my belt to be able to it?

If you follow the instructions to the letter you can do it even if it's your first post.