PPS Fine - BW Legal and County Court

Cawills2018

Hi,

I've had a look through the information on here and I'm now a bit overwhelmed!

Essentially, this issue started in 2015. I had a hire car because I was in a car accident and my car was written off. I had a permit but it had been pealed off the window of my car to be used in the hire car. Because of this, it slipped down the window and wasn't visible. I was parked in a numbered space which corresponded with my flat number and could only be used by me.

I did not respond to PPS and about 6 months ago, I received a letter from BW legal which I also chose to not respond to. I had another letter recently with their intention to go to the county court (sent on the 14th and arrived on the 19th) so I emailed and explained the situation and asked for a complete LBA and copies of all of the paperwork that they intend on relying on in court. I also requested to see their contract with PPS, their contract with my previous landlord, the original PCN, a breakdown of the PCN and the charges, and any photographic evidence. I requested that this be sent to me within 14 days (originally emailed on the 19th and I have had no response). I have now received a claim form from the county court which I need to respond to. The issue date says the 14th and it says that I have 14 days to respond so I now feel conflicted about what to do.

I am concerned about the possibility of a CCJ as well as additional charges being added because this debt seems to be racking up heavily now. Should I just pay the debt or do I send the acknowledgement and start preparing a defence? Do I actually have a defence which is suitable? In their original photographs, the permit is not visible but I firmly believe that it is because of the angle that those photographs were taken.

These letters are causing me extreme anxiety now because of my own issues (Asperger's syndrome) and I don't really know what the best option is from here. I do not feel like I have done anything wrong by parking in a numbered space and I feel like they have taken complete advantage of a situation which already had a massively negative impact on my life.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

KeithP

Send the acknowledgement and start preparing a defence

With a Claim Form Issue Date of 14th September, you have until Wednesday 3rd October 2018 to complete the Acknowledgement of Service.

It's only a few minutes work - should be easy to fit that in.

How to do the AoS is described in the greatest detail in a Dropbox file linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.

Do not miss that AoS deadline.

onlyfoolsandparking

Hi and welcome, its entirely up to you whether you pay or fight, it definitely is unfair what is happening to you but that's how the parking scammers operate, they do not care about feelings, they have no morals, they are just bullies who rely on their scare tactics working on people and making them pay.


There is some work involved in preparing a defence starting with acknowledging the claim but there a literally many threads on here which will help guide you through the process. There is ALWAYS a defence to these scamming invoices and your circumstances although unique to you have been seen many times on here.


Do not be concerned about the 'possibility' of a CCJ, there is only one way a CCJ can be registered against a person and it involves a real lack of attention to paperwork, basically burying your head in the sand, there is absolutely no reason to do that, and incidentally ONLY a court can order a CCJ and it ONLY GETS REGISTERED!!!!! if you do not pay the order within 30 days so even if you go to court, lose and pay what is ordered , NO CHANCE OF CCJ.


The debt is not racking up, these are fake added on charges and are not allowed in court, do not fall for the scammers empty threats, the most you would have to pay is between £175-£200, don't fall for the scam.


Please read up in the newbies section to learn more about the game your in and don't worry you will get some great help/advice on here.

Redx

to avoid the CCJ damaging any credit rating, pay it off within one month , IN FULL

that is assuming that a judge finds against you

that way , you do not have to worry about a CCJ on file, it wont be if it is paid off promptly, so if we assume that you would pay it should a judge order it, why be scared of it

it is those who ignore the court order that suffer, until a judge says you owe the money and he/she sets an amount, until then , you dont owe a penny

Coupon-mad

Cawills2018 wrote: »

Hi,

I've had a look through the information on here and I'm now a bit overwhelmed!

Essentially, this issue started in 2015. I had a hire car because I was in a car accident and my car was written off. I had a permit but it had been pealed off the window of my car to be used in the hire car. Because of this, it slipped down the window and wasn't visible. I was parked in a numbered space which corresponded with my flat number and could only be used by me.

I did not respond to PPS and about 6 months ago, I received a letter from BW legal which I also chose to not respond to. I had another letter recently with their intention to go to the county court (sent on the 14th and arrived on the 19th) so I emailed and explained the situation and asked for a complete LBA and copies of all of the paperwork that they intend on relying on in court.

I also requested to see their contract with PPS, their contract with my previous landlord, the original PCN, a breakdown of the PCN and the charges, and any photographic evidence.

I requested that this be sent to me within 14 days (originally emailed on the 19th and I have had no response). I have now received a claim form from the county court which I need to respond to. The issue date says the 14th and it says that I have 14 days to respond so I now feel conflicted about what to do.

I am concerned about the possibility of a CCJ as well as additional charges being added because this debt seems to be racking up heavily now. Should I just pay the debt or do I send the acknowledgement and start preparing a defence? Do I actually have a defence which is suitable? In their original photographs, the permit is not visible but I firmly believe that it is because of the angle that those photographs were taken.

These letters are causing me extreme anxiety now because of my own issues (Asperger's syndrome) and I don't really know what the best option is from here. I do not feel like I have done anything wrong by parking in a numbered space and I feel like they have taken complete advantage of a situation which already had a massively negative impact on my life.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

No, you have no risk of a CCJ as long as you follow our advice, and maybe (I don't want to seem presumptive, because everyone is different and the spectrum is wide) your AS will help you deal with the rules & structure of the process needed to file an AOS, which double the time to defend, then DQ form, then Witness Statement & evidence.

Even if you lost a defended case, you'd pay UNDER £200. Very few people here lose.

As per the 'what happens when' post by bargepole, in the NEWBIES thread.

Luckily there are now 10 other new cases on the forum, about PPS BW Legal claims from PCNs issued when PPS were in the BPA, in 2014/2015.

Usernames are:

Prinndogs

SingStar101

Justice13075

NikiFm

Palec

Matilda13

phoenixfreespirit

bows

earth_moon626

elithia


Now your task is to use the forum to go and find and read their threads and bookmark them, and I'd suggest sending them a pm so you can all hold each other hands through this to come out winning on the other side.

I won't provide links to threads; I never do.

I am a firm believer in people getting up to speed on how to search or skim read the forum for relevant stuff, as soon as possible, so they are well practised as they move through the process of defence, DQ, witness statement & evidence, then hearing.

Search the forum over the weekend as well, for bargepole defence menu of choices and find one that is concise.

Base your first draft on that style, maybe amalgamating in some parts from one of the many examples in the NEWBIES thread post #2, where a Defendant has written that the Particulars of Claim are sparse and embarrassing and the parking event far too long ago to expect a registered keeper to recall the day or who was driving.

Add a point about the angle of the photos and the fact a permit was displayed but the Claimant has tried to mislead, and gain money by deception, in the opinion of the Defendant.

And add the fact that the Claimant filed a claim prematurely, while the pre-action communication was in play, including requests for information and data that should have been treated as a subject access request under the GDPR, but was ignored.

And show us your draft!

Cawills2018

Coupon-mad wrote: »

No, you have no risk of a CCJ as long as you follow our advice, and maybe (I don't want to seem presumptive, because everyone is different and the spectrum is wide) your AS will help you deal with the rules & structure of the process needed to file an AOS, which double the time to defend, then DQ form, then Witness Statement & evidence.

Even if you lost a defended case, you'd pay UNDER £200. Very few people here lose.

As per the 'what happens when' post by bargepole, in the NEWBIES thread.

Luckily there are now 10 other new cases on the forum, about PPS BW Legal claims from PCNs issued when PPS were in the BPA, in 2014/2015.

Usernames are:

Prinndogs

SingStar101

Justice13075

NikiFm

Palec

Matilda13

phoenixfreespirit

bows

earth_moon626

elithia


Now your task is to use the forum to go and find and read their threads and bookmark them, and I'd suggest sending them a pm so you can all hold each other hands through this to come out winning on the other side.

I won't provide links to threads; I never do.

I am a firm believer in people getting up to speed on how to search or skim read the forum for relevant stuff, as soon as possible, so they are well practised as they move through the process of defence, DQ, witness statement & evidence, then hearing.

Search the forum over the weekend as well, for bargepole defence menu of choices and find one that is concise.

Base your first draft on that style, maybe amalgamating in some parts from one of the many examples in the NEWBIES thread post #2, where a Defendant has written that the Particulars of Claim are sparse and embarrassing and the parking event far too long ago to expect a registered keeper to recall the day or who was driving.

Add a point about the angle of the photos and the fact a permit was displayed but the Claimant has tried to mislead, and gain money by deception, in the opinion of the Defendant.

And add the fact that the Claimant filed a claim prematurely, while the pre-action communication was in play, including requests for information and data that should have been treated as a subject access request under the GDPR, but was ignored.

And show us your draft!

Thank you for the replies!


When the hire car was first dropped off, I didn't have a permit at all because it was still in the other car and because of hospital appointments, I hadn't been able to get to it to remove my things. I phoned the landowner at this point and they told me that the car would be put on to a list of cars which would be able to park without a permit for a few days. I also expressed concern about the permit because I knew one of my neighbours had moved their permit between cars and once it had been peeled off the window, a lot of the ink came off and she ended up with a PCN because the permit wasn't clear. I was told at that point not to worry about it by the landowner.

I'm not sure of the exact number of days after that I got the PCN. Considering that this was so long ago, is it possible/likely that the landlord (or even PPS) would have a record of the car being allowed there along with notes on why? Is it worth mentioning it in the case?

My issue is that I don't have a lot of evidence because it was so long ago and I've moved twice since and I had clear outs each time.

Coupon-mad

I'm not sure of the exact number of days after that I got the PCN. Considering that this was so long ago, is it possible/likely that the landlord (or even PPS) would have a record of the car being allowed there along with notes on why? Is it worth mentioning it in the case?

Send a SAR to both, requiring all data including from that week, about the permit situation or otherwise, and a more detailed SAR to the PPC also asking for all data, letters, status updates on the PPC system since about the case.

My issue is that I don't have a lot of evidence because it was so long ago and I've moved twice since and I had clear outs each time.

That's why a SAR needs to go off to the Data Protection Officer so you get all this before Witness Statement stage (later on, as you will know from bargepole's summary of what happens when).

The issue date says the 14th and it says that I have 14 days to respond so I now feel conflicted about what to do.

So do the AOS this weekend, plus the SAR (and the more limited SAR to the landlord), get them both done FIRST and you then have an extra 14 days to work on your defence.

Cawills2018

I am in the process of sorting through everything now. However, yesterday evening I had an email back from BW legal after I requested copies of all of the paperwork that they intend on relying on in court - their contract with PPS, their contract with my previous landlord, the original PCN, a breakdown of the PCN and the charges, and any photographic evidence. I requested that this be sent to me within 14 days. I emailed this on the 19th - I had a response on the 28th saying that they needed to confirm my old address for data protection (which I assumed was just them buying time) and I have now had another email saying that they want a copy of my old lease and telling me that PPS have sent them a copy of my permit, photographs of my car in the space and the signage from the area. Obviously, this is not all that I have asked for but they aren't sending it to me. They seem to expect me to be happy with them just saying that they have it.

Thanks

The_Deep

These letters are causing me extreme anxiety

If you have any complaint against this down market law firm to scammers, complain here.

http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page

but read this first

https://www.bing.com/search?q=sra+code+of+conduct&form=EDGTCT&qs=HS&cvid=688b6c60a90b437ab8e0929768b4f764&refig=abbcb5d026e6420bde01b6959b605143&cc=GB&setlang=en-GB&PC=ACTS

Also complain if they are double charging, possibly fraud?

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 House of Commons recently

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

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

Coupon-mad

I have now had another email saying that they want a copy of my old lease and telling me that PPS have sent them a copy of my permit, photographs of my car in the space and the signage from the area.

Tell them you have not got your old lease to hand, yet, but that their client must have seen the Head Lease before starting enforcement at the location, given the high chance of abrogating the rights of residents by imposing third party charges.

Say that you consider that their stalling and asking for 'a copy of the old lease' is excessive data harvesting, given that they KNOW the VRN is your personal data, and whether or not you were a resident is completely irrelevant to the requirement their client has, to produce all data under a request that was clearly to be taken as a SAR, issued by a person who clearly proved that the VRN was/is your personal data.

Justice13075

Does your Parking Charge Notice relate to a parking ticket or a Permit?