BW Legal - LBC?

Umkomaas

You should never assert anything in a legal document that you haven’t already researched, checked out and understood, especially if you’re signing a Statement of Truth.

We are putting things right as they crop up (as I’ve tried to do here), but trying to go back and address every thread ever created (we deal with around 100 different cases every day) which contains an error is impossible for the handful of regulars who advise here.

But newbies are so expecting the process to be easy, they will jump on anything that ‘looks good/legal’, regardless of understanding or further investigation.

We see it every day.

rsturbomad

Understood. Hope I haven’t hit a nerve. You peeps do a fab job. :T

Bobble85

Any update on this at all? I just received letter from BW also

Coupon-mad

Bobble85 wrote: »

Any update on this at all? I just received letter from BW also

You need to read the NEWBIES thread and start your own new thread telling us you've done your SAR and we'll help from there.

rsturbomad

Winner winner chicken dinner!

Coupon-mad

Oooh, so I can say another one bites the dust!

Go on then, tell us more. And well done! :T

Did the hearing take place?

Which court and Judge?

Please type out a 'report' of how you felt on arrival and if the rep turned up and tried to talk to you in the waiting room, then what happened once in court?

Did you get your costs for attending, did you ask before skipping out the door?

rsturbomad

Apologies for the late response I've been away.

The hearing did indeed take place.

Doncaster County Court - District Judge Rogers

I arrived rather early and the hearing was overdue for a good hour which was a saving grace for the rep as they didn't turn up till a good 40 mins after the hearing was due. I felt completely fine and oddly enough I was actually looking forward to the experience..

BW Legal's representative didn't make the hearing but a NCP did. The rep from NCP was completely unprepared no paper work and was reading everything from their laptop (hold that thought it gets better :P ). Before we entered the court room, they introduced themselves and it was clear from the get go that they had no idea about the case as they asked me what happened. At this point I was feeling very very confident. I was polite and gave a very quick to point explanation of what happened, which she seemed very surprised about.

We eventually was called and to my surprise we was in a court room (I expected a meeting room, round table discussion.) There were several court rooms and it wasn't too busy so I assume this is why they used a proper court room for the discussion. The Judge was very down to earth, not stern and happy for me to intervene at any point where I felt necessary. They first asked the rep from NCP to explain their claim which was very short and to the point, as they weren't prepared and had clearly not read the statement that BW Legal had written on their behalf.

It was then over to me. The Judge immediately commented on my Witness Statement specifically with the amount of information I had provided with regards to the law and similar cases. The Judge commented on where I had gotten the information from to which I merely repeated what I stated in my WS. The Judge politely said something along the lines of “information on the internet inst always accurate.” At this point I felt the Judge had briefly squinted over my WS and parking law wasn't really their area of expertise so I kind of felt like I was fighting a losing battle. The Judge was persistent at getting to the point of the case – the fact that I didn't park.

We spent most of the time debating the signage and the position of my car with regards to the boundary of the land. The Judge mentioned that usually these places have payment reminders to which the claimant jumped straight onto the case and pointed to an animated illustration of this sign not an actual photo. Having studied BWL's WS I pointed this out many issues and drew the Judges attention to the site acceptance pack the claimant had provided which is basically a birds eye view of the car park with a key of coloured circles, highlighting where specific signs are located. I highlighted that the payment reminder (purple circle) in the key exists only in the key and is not highlighted on the map in the acceptance pack. I pointed out that the Claimant hadn't provided actual photos of this sign. The claimant was speechless and to top things of their laptop battery ran out so they couldn't refer to the WS. From that point on I lost count of how many times they apologized to the Judge for the fact that their laptop battery had run out and couldn't defend any of the points and issues I raised with their evidence.

NCP then had the cheek to ask the Judge if they could see my copy of their witness statement!!! The Judge said you will need to sit closer to the Defendant at which point I made it clear with my facial expressions and grasping of my WS that I wasn't happy with the situation. The Judge then realized that I was not happy and asked if I was OK with it which I replied. “No, I am not comfortable with this, I have come prepared, the solicitors who wrote the witness statement on behalf of the claimant have not attended today. It is very clear that the Claimant has no idea about the case or the witness statement written by their Solicitors. They even approached me before we was called into this court and asked what had actually happened.” The Judge was completely fine with this and said to the claimant you can look at my copy if you wish but the claimant couldn't find what they were looking for and apologized again.

It is worth pointing out at this point that my partner was sat at the back of the court and she mentioned that the Judge had shook her head at the claimant so many times!

I carried on and stated the fact that the photos I provided were more accurate I.E. They were taken at night time and that the only house sign (the huge ones) in the car park were facing a road to which I did not enter from and could not see from my direction of entry and also from within the car park. I said you can clearly see this from the passengers point of view video that I have provided. The Judge then mentioned that they hadn't seen the video and was happy for me to show them on my tablet. I took this opportunity to pause the video at the entrance / exit of the car park and explain to the Judge which was which! As the claimant dint know! Furthermore I pointed out on video where my car was in relation to the car park and the judge agreed it was outside of the car park although in essence blocking the exit.

The Judge then made their decision and said it is down to the fine detail of signage. The claimant cannot prove there are any payment reminders situated in the car park and specifically any adequate signage in the exit of the car park and cannot prove that the Defendant actually parked their car. Claim dismissed.

Thinking back on it now it was clear that it was going in my favor but the judge did pass comment on the fact that if I wanted to go to the market I wouldn't leave my car outside the exit of the car park and did shoot a few of my points down regarding the grace period, land registry and more which I cannot remember. So when the Judge said the claim is dismissed I was kind of in shock and asking for the costs didn't even cross my mind.

I much favor the experience and knowledge gained. Thank you all so much for the help, you have all been fantastic and I couldn't have done this without your expertise.

Cheers!
Turbo

Umkomaas

Thanks for your detailed court report. Well done in getting the NCP monkey off your back. Yet a further BWL failure. But NCP will still have to pay their bill. Love it.