Britannia Parking - Have ignored all previous communications. Have proof I paid.

jcnewcastle

Hi, this is my first post on the MSE forum so apologies if I miss something from my post or the format is slightly wrong.

I have read the newbies post and have to applaud the people who have created that, it has been very helpful and given me a lot of information. Unfortunately I feel I have a situation which is not covered.


I have an outstanding claim from Britannia Parking from 25/09/17, they claim I failed to validate my stay in a car park in Newcastle upon Tyne. I was confidnent I had in fact paid, as I used this car park every day for work and used the pay by phone app to validate my stay every morning when I was leaving the car park. I have ignored all of the letters from Britannia Parking as well as all of the usual suspects from both Debt Recovery & Zenith.

As a guess I would say I havent heard anything regarding this for at least 8 months so I assumed it had gone away. However I have now received a letter from BW Legal which says they have been passed the case from BP and I now have 16 days to pay the outstanding balance of £160 (£100 increased fine & £60 costs).


As per all advise I have not contacted BW but I am not sure what my best option is. I have checked my online banking and have an outgoing transaction to Britannia Parking on the day of the offence for the full daily amount (£4.80). Would this be enough proof to put this to bed? I dont wan't to contact them with this information for it not to be succesfull.

All advise will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Redx

this wont be "put to bed" unless one of 2 outcomes happen

outcome 1) - you pay the demand IN FULL

outcome 2) they take it to court using MCOL within 6 years (thats 72 months , so 8 months is neither here nor there)

if they take this to court, a judge will decide if your proof is sufficient , never mind any other legal arguments you put forward - only a JUDGE can tell you the answer to your question, nobody else can do so

jcnewcastle

Thanks for your reply Redx.

Am I in a good position for this to go to court as I haven't followed any of the steps set out on the Newbies thread as I didn't see it in time. I feel the only piece of evidence I have is the bank statement.

If it went to court I fear incurring legal costs and damaging my credit rating.

Redx

James_Colton wrote: »

Thanks for your reply Redx.

Am I in a good position for this to go to court as I haven't followed any of the steps set out on the Newbies thread as I didn't see it in time. I feel the only piece of evidence I have is the bank statement.

If it went to court I fear incurring legal costs and damaging my credit rating.

you require a legal expert to answer your first question and as such you need to employ and pay for a solicitor (costing hundreds of pounds) who can then legally give you legal advice

I will not be doing so as I have no legal training, and nobody else can do so unless you have paid for that legal advice

so no, I wont be assessing your case , its not for this forum to do so, nor the volunteers (its not even a legal aid forum, its a pcn forum)

if it goes to court and you lose in court, py the judgment (CCJ) , IN FULL, within one month , to get the CCJ struck off - that way it will not affect your credit rating

its not doing this act within one month that trashes your credit rating for 6 years

so if you lose, pay up, IN FULL , promptly (typically around £175)


read this https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5849106/the-ccj-myth-and-threats-and-lies-told-by-debt-collectors-and-ppcs-exposed

Fruitcake

James_Colton wrote: »

Thanks for your reply Redx.

Am I in a good position for this to go to court as I haven't followed any of the steps set out on the Newbies thread as I didn't see it in time. I feel the only piece of evidence I have is the bank statement.

If it went to court I fear incurring legal costs and damaging my credit rating.

If you lost, it would cost about £175. If you won, you could get about £95 quid.
Anything about damaging credit rating is rubbish unless you lose, and don't pay what the judge tells you to.

I suggest you contact Britannia and BW with a copy of your proof of payment, along with an instruction to cancel.
You should also read post 2 of the NEWBIES which has a detailed step by step guide to court written by bargepole.

The advice to ignore a PCN has not been given here since the law changed in 2012, so it looks like you were following old and out of date information.

jcnewcastle

Appreciate the advise. Yes I have since learnt that ignoring a PCN is not the correct procedure.

If I were to win my case how could I get £95? Also when you recommend contacting both BW & BP what do you mean by instruction to cancel.

Quentin

That's based on travel expenses to court and loss of earnings.

You go to court armed with proof of loss of earnings and your travel/parking costs

Then if you win you ask the judge to order the claimant to pay you

jcnewcastle

Quentin, do you have any advise on contacting both BW & Britannia with my bank statement and asking them to withdraw.

System

nd asking them to withdraw.

Why not invite them to take you to court instead? In the letter ask them to confirm by return they will pay your full costs of defending. Tell them you will assume the same by the action of them replying.

See if they pick up on a unilateral contract.

jcnewcastle

As per advise I have drafted an e-mail to both BW & Brit Parking:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I write to both BW Legal & Britannia Parking with reference to account number xxxxxx where I am alleged to have parked at the DEX MSCP car park in Newcastle upon Tyne and failed to validate my stay on the 25th of September 2017.

I believe this claim to be incorrect and do not appreciate the harassment by Britannia Parking, Debt Recovery Plus, Zenith and now BW Legal which has caused me a lot of unnecessary stress. The attached image clearly shows I have a payment on my debit card statement made to Britannia parking on the date of the alleged offence. This payment was made using the pay by phone mobile app which uses a location number given to each car park to make payments easy and accurate. I have attached a screen capture of this transaction, it clearly shows the amount of £4.80 was debited from my account on 26/09/17 for a payment made on 25/09/17.

I feel a judge would see this as sufficient evidence if this case were to go court as the bank statement clearly shows I have made the payment required. If the judge were to rule in my favour I would seek a payment to cover both my travel costs as well as expense and loss of earnings. These would dwarf the £160 in question. Taking everything into account I request that this case be dropped against me and I am no longer harassed by either BW Legal or Britannia Parking.

I request you decision whether or not to drop this case in writing.

Regards,

Does this look okay? Is there more detail to be added or have should I take certain parts out?

KeithP

James, if you have user your real name as your forum username, then best you get it changed to something more anonymous.

To do that, read this short extract from The MSE Forum Guide - Frequently Asked Questions & Rules:

Q. How can I change my username?

A. In most circumstances, this is not permitted.

The only reason we will change your username is if it puts your privacy at risk. This usually means you've inadvertently registered using your name, email address or something that gives away your identity within your username.

If you fall into this category, email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com and request that it is changed, giving three alternative usernames in order of preference.