BW Legal on behalf of UKPPO Ltd. Newcastle Airport Byelaws Stopping in Prohibited area.

Pencil_Man

Good afternoon all.

I have received a so-called 'Letter of Claim' from BW Legal on behalf of UKPPO Ltd.

I have read a lot of details about similar cases on here but feel mine is different enough to provide the facts and ensure that I have the best chance of not having to cough up to these charlatans!

Very briefly...

Received a NTK by post in April 2016 from UKPPO Ltd stating the driver of my vehicle had stopped in a prohibited area. Under 3.3.1 of the bye-laws the keeper is immediately liable.

Did not respond, had various bailiff letters, then a Gladstones letter. Again never replied.

About 2 weeks ago I got a similar letter, this time BW Legal. Again ignored. This week they have written again but titled the letter 'LETTER OF CLAIM' and included a 'REPLY FORM' stating if I don't reply in 30 days it 'could go to court' blah blah blah.

(The original PCN and the latest BW correspondence is available here...)
hxxps://xxx.dropbox.com/sh/8dz3lkgl8jmrlju/AADteD4b5PffCXRvBSCyOuNba?dl=0

Do you agree that now is probably the time to reply?!

I was going to SAR both BW and UKPPO to see what evidence they actually have. The 2 photographs of the vehicle are both only about 9 seconds apart so feasibly may not have even stopped.

They mention they are claiming under Byelaws, but I've found Bylaws don't apply on publicly accessible roads in the Airports Act 1986?

Just because it says in the Byelaws they may offer a PCN via a 3rd party they can't do this as there's no legislation to do so. It would have to be the Airport owner that prosecuted in a magistrates court and the dealine to do so has passed, 6 months from March 2016?

I've also requested who and why my details were released by the DVLA, and interestingly they advised the company was UK Parking Patrol Office Limited, or Unit 4 Lodge Garage, Butman Street, Gorton, Manchester, M18 8TG and not the registered company address. This seems a bit naughty to me?

Also, the DVLA have advised me that the reason the request was made was 'Breach or Terms and conditions of a private car park, not Parking in Prohibited Area as per the PCN! Maybe they knew the DVLA wouldn't provide them if they gave the actual reason?!

The DVLA seemed really helpful and I have since Emailed them again as I understand that there may have been a data protection breach if they've passed my details on to Gladstones and BW Legal without getting permission from the DVLA.

I have also sent a request to Newcastle Airport to see their contract with UKPPO Ltd, but have yet to hear back on that one.

I just wanted to get some separate advice as I actually couldn't sleep last night.

Do you agree I should;

- Fire off some SARs and see what information they have.
- Tell them there's no claim to answer based on the points above
- Threaten them with a Data Protection counter claim if they continue to pursue the matter?

Ultimately I don't want to lose any money, but I'd happily risk a few hundred pounds if I stood to win a £750 data protection claim.

Sorry if this is in the wrong place of anything.

beamerguy

You must reply to this as it's an LBA

But, did BWLEGAL do it correctly, they fail most times.

They must prove to you their claim which of course means photos etc. They must prove the amounts they claiming.
BWLegal have been adding fake charges in an attempt to extort money from you ..... these extras come from fake charges debt collectors add on ....... the courts do not approve of this.

Don't be scared about this, you do not have to complete the forms especially anything requesting personal information

You have 30 days to reply, do it about 3 days before.
Call them out for proof of their claim and charges.

Then come back here. Read up on the failures of BWLegal
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5672664/bwlegal-the-list-of-failures-growing

"Ultimately I don't want to lose any money, but I'd happily risk a few hundred pounds if I stood to win a £750 data protection claim."

Forget that, it could cost you money and right now there is no data protection claim. You can get costs from the court when you win

KeithP

I really don't want to agree T&Cs and then download a zip file to my PC, then unzip it and find god knows what, just to read your letter.

Sorry Pencil Man, I would be wary of that even if I knew you.

Please can you host somewhere else - like Dropbox.

Pencil_Man

Thanks for the quick response!

No there was no evidence provided, (I believe they included the original PCN in their last letter when they introduce themselves.)

They do give a breakdown of their (ludicrous) cost/expenses.

Principle Debt and Initial Legal Costs £160
Estimated Interest £19.04
Estimated Court Fees £25
Estimated Solicitor's Costs £50

£254.04.

Do you think I should do some SARs before replying later in the month? They said 2.12.18 was the deadline.

The_Deep

£254 is well over the top. They are tring to claim more than the law allows, (fraud)? The mosy a judge would award them in the highly unlikely event that they won their claim is likely to be in the region of £175 - £200, the rest is pie in the sky money.

Complain to their regulatory body that they are trying to scam you.

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

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of alleged contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week, hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading and committee stage in the House of Commons recently. MPs have a very low opinion of this industry.

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

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-07-19/debates/2b90805c-bff8-4707-8bdc-b0bfae5a7ad5/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill(FirstSitting)

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

Pencil_Man

Here they are on Drop Box.

Thanks...

hxxps://xxx.dropbox.com/sh/8dz3lkgl8jmrlju/AADteD4b5PffCXRvBSCyOuNba?dl=0

Coupon-mad

Penalty Charge Notice or Parking Charge Notice?

Discussed here in a case like yours, same LBC:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74997081#Comment_74997081

In their case the PCN was a PARKING Charge Notice (i.e. nothing to do with bylaws enforcement and that causes them problems if they are pretending it was).

EDIT, I see it was a PARKING Charge Notice.

Same advice as on the linked thread, then, as regards asking UKPPO for a SAR and all evidence as to how they propose they can 'enforce bylaws' with a contractual licence to allow at a price, what the bylaws prohibit...

Quentin

Are your initials **?

KeithP

In that Dropbox file, the Parking Charge Notice clearly displays your surname and your PCN number.

beamerguy

Pencil_Man wrote: »

They do give a breakdown of their (ludicrous) cost/expenses.

Principle Debt and Initial Legal Costs £160
Estimated Interest £19.04
Estimated Court Fees £25
Estimated Solicitor's Costs £50

£254.04.

Do you think I should do some SARs before replying later in the month? They said 2.12.18 was the deadline.

Principle Debt and Initial Legal Costs £160
BWlegal come out with this rubbish on a daily basis now ???

One minute, it's admin charges, then contractual charges and now Initial legal costs ?????? SUCH FABRICATION BY BWLEGAL
They simply don't want to tell the truth ...... the £60 is a fake charge from a debt collector, probably through the Gladstones lot and DRP ?

BWLEGAL ARE TRYING TO EXTORT MONEY FROM YOU
Why would a judge allow interest, it's the PPC's error for leaving this far too long ?

This continual attempt by BWLegal to defraud people must be reported to the SRA
http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page

Pencil_Man

Thanks for that, ive scrubbed it off an reuploaded it and removed the other link to the file.

:beer: