Britannia Parking - BW Legal and letters sent to wrong address

Cemesis

Evening all

I have done some research on this but I wanted to start my own post to be certain on my next move.

Unrelated but a few years ago I went to Northern Europe and about 3 months later was sent a charge notice from some UK company asking for £12, then £20, then £50 and so on because I didn't buy some tourist tax permit that I had no idea about. I researched at the time and the consensus was to ignore it which I did and they went away.

Last year I parked in a car park in Plymouth, returned after 2 hours and put more money in, then returned an hour or so later (within my time) and left. About 2 months later I get a notice charge from Britannia parking and I just ignored it. I certainly don't have the original tickets but presume as I was provided a photo of the car that their automated system did not flag me as leaving after the first ticket which they consider an offense.

Now, nearly a year after the date of the 'contravention', I get a letter from BW legal saying they will be issuing a claim against me in the county court if I don't pay £145. The letter has my name and the road and town but the post code is 100% wrong, not one matching character. The helpful post office have written the post code on the envelope.

I now presume ignoring this further is unwise as although I can claim that I never got this letter, this won't stop them approaching a count to issue proceedings and the pretence will end up with me not turning up which can't be good.

I'm concerned about various aspects of this, including but not limited to

• Having to attend a court 200 miles from where I live
• The time it will take to prepare evidence, write letters and explain the whole thing
• The chance that I might not actually win because sign XYZ a year ago said something about not buying two tickets (how do I know now?)

Advise please? I know people win by following the advice on here but it seems its common practice for this to end up in court and essentially, a day of my time travelling to Plymouth and back is worth a lot more than £145. But I don't like parasitic companies that send threatening letters and can't even get the address right.

KeithP

You won't have to attend a court 200 miles from where you live.
Unless you are a company, any case will be heard at your local county court.

Check the address on your vehicle's Registration Document. Is the postcode correct there?

As you have ignored everything else, it is probably best that you continue to ignore things until you get either a Letter of Claim or official court correspondence. Post again on this thread if that happens.

Not too sure why that paragraph about your travels in Northern Europe is there.

Coupon-mad

I'm concerned about various aspects of this,

Your concerns will be allayed when you read the NEWBIES thread post #2, and have guided advice from start to finish from us, and when you take on board that we see wins in court reported 99% of the time and have done for two years on this forum.

For a start, you are misunderstanding things that are not a worry at all. Travelling to Plymouth, indeed! No.

I get a letter from BW legal saying they will be issuing a claim against me in the county court if I don't pay £145. The letter has my name and the road and town but the post code is 100% wrong, not one matching character. The helpful post office have written the post code on the envelope.

So you need to reply to the LBC like everyone else does, loads of examples on any BW Legal thread (search the forum for BW Legal LBC)

You will need to add a requirement that they and their client correct the data error immediately, and ensure that your 'address for service' is shown with postcode xxxx xxx, and must NOT issue a claim to what they now know is a wrong address.

Redx

Cemesis wrote: »

• 1) Having to attend a court 200 miles from where I live
• 2)The time it will take to prepare evidence, write letters and explain the whole thing
• 3)The chance that I might not actually win because sign XYZ a year ago said something about not buying two tickets (how do I know now?)

Advise please? I know people win by following the advice on here but it seems its common practice for this to end up in court and essentially, a day of my time travelling to Plymouth and back is worth a lot more than £145. But I don't like parasitic companies that send threatening letters and can't even get the address right.

1) why ?

you willl be telling Northampton CCBC that you want this at your local court at the DQ stage

2) you are correct in this statement, its a lot of work

3) you put them to strict proof of their claim, including landowner contract , signage at the time etc

I would be sending B W LEGAL 2 letters

letter 1) an SAR under the new GDPR 2018 , getting all their evidence including contracts , signage , paperwork etc

letter 2) informing them of the correct address for service of documents and to delete their previous incorrect info, plus telling them to inform their client too

I have absolutely no idea why you think you would be travelling 200 miles to plymouth ?

Cemesis

UPDATE

I received a letter about a week later to the correct address stating the same fine and terms. I responded asking them to provide evidence of the contravention, specifically

• Photos
• A copy of the signage terms on the date of the contravention
• Details of payment made for the vehicle in question

They responded about 4 months later (February) with photos of the car and plate, photos of signs and so forth, I responded to state what I had requested and to say the blue sign next to payment maching is illegible in the image (poor resolution) and they have provided no details of the payment made for the vehicle in question.

Another letter was sent from them in March which did provide more photographs and show more details and are legible (bar one paragraph which is tiny writing on the sign).

I have now received court papers dated 5th July and I need to submit a response. I have read some of the other threads so will prepare by defence and place it here before submitting it. I understand I can do that online withing 14 days (ie by 19th July).

Although BWLegal have failed to provide details of payment made, I do believe I know why this has come about. I bought a ticket (which I don't have anymore as it was 2 years ago) for something like 2 hours and then went back and bought another without leaving the car park. I cannot see anything on any of the signs they have sent me that state that this practice is not allowed but I suspect their ANPR has ignored the second ticket and believe I left X hours after the first.

I'll add my defence to this thread later today (I'm at work at the moment) but thought I'd post the update now in case anyone has pearls of wisdom for me. Costs are so far £233.04 including £50 for legal representatives costs, £25 court fee and £158.04 as the claim.

Thanks

The_Deep

It is not a fine, it is an invoice for the damage they claim they suffered when you allegedly breached a contract that they allege you entered into. You do not have to pay them a penny unless a judge orders you to do so. Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams so complain to your MP.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

beamerguy

Cemesis wrote: »

UPDATE

I'll add my defence to this thread later today (I'm at work at the moment) but thought I'd post the update now in case anyone has pearls of wisdom for me. Costs are so far £233.04 including £50 for legal representatives costs, £25 court fee and £158.04 as the claim.

Thanks

How much was the ticket for.

The claim should look like this
£ XXXX for the ticket <<<<< nothing above the ticket charge
£25 court fee
£50 legal costs

Cemesis

Parking charge amount - £85 (discounted to £50 if paid within the first 14 days)
Then they state it will increase to £160 in the first instance of further action

beamerguy

Cemesis wrote: »

Parking charge amount - £85 (discounted to £50 if paid within the first 14 days)
Then they state it will increase to £160 in the first instance of further action

The discount price has well gone now

BWLegal up to ABUSE OF PROCESS again.

Do read this
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal

Two judges recently kicked out BWLegal for Abuse of Process and that is what a fake add-on means

CLAIM SHOULD READ
£85 for the ticket
£25 court fee
£50 legal costs

See post #14 from coupon-mad as to what you can add in your defence

And remember, BWLegal signed a statement of truth.
A statement of truth on FAKE amounts ?????

If you told lies to a judge you would be in trouble

"Perjury is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding"

Cemesis

That is helpful, thanks.

I have requested twice the details of payments made against the vehicle (i.e. the ticket) and BW have ignored me both times. Should I add that into my defence? They are saying I failed to make a valid payment but have not provided me with payment details. This is critical in my view as it would show that payment was made twice. Currently they are not stating if I didn't pay at all, missed the cut-off by 1 minute or something else.

beamerguy

Cemesis wrote: »

That is helpful, thanks.

I have requested twice the details of payments made against the vehicle (i.e. the ticket) and BW have ignored me both times. Should I add that into my defence? They are saying I failed to make a valid payment but have not provided me with payment details. This is critical in my view as it would show that payment was made twice. Currently they are not stating if I didn't pay at all, missed the cut-off by 1 minute or something else.

Then this is something the judge should be asking BWL, why have they ignored you.

BWLegal has one major problem, they are a serial Robo claims company and the impression is that in most cases, they don't have a clue what the claim is all about.

Your job is to impress the judge and get this fake claim kicked out for Abuse of Process and then claim your costs against them