BW Legal Letter of Claim Excel Parking

jeremiahjingle

Hello
I have received a Letter of Claim from BW Legal who are acting on behalf of Excel. The claim is for a number of outstanding parking charges dating back almost six years ago.
The letter is headed by Excel saying that my 'account' has now been passed to BW Legal which from reading various threads seems to be a common theme.
Their 'Estimated Claim' is for almost £1000.

I am looking to draft a response to this asap and have been reading through the newbies sticky, but I am struggling a bit in terms of establishing if their letter complies with the Pre-action protocol (BW Legal state that it does...I know it's likely that it doesn't, but i'm unsure exactly how to check).

They have sent me a two page letter which includes a rough outline of the particulars of debt, but it doesn't go into specifics, a reply form which is several pages long which has various boxes to tick, an 'income & expenditure form' and finally a 'Schedule' which has a breakdown of the tickets they are claiming are outstanding, which includes dates, amount, location and contravention description etc.
There is no photographic evidence supplied.
I have ignored all correspondence from debt collectors etc since the alleged date these parking charges were issued.

This Letter Of Claim was sent to my old address, and my parents passed it onto me. I understand that in my reply that i send to BW Legal it must include my new address, which i will do.

I've seen the letter templates to adapt for replying to this and addressing in the first instance the Pre-action protocol, but this is where I'm getting confused.
I have been reading about it on this link here: *edit - can''t post a link as im a new member. The webpage is titled: PRACTICE DIRECTION – PRE-ACTION CONDUCT AND PROTOCOLS which was last updated February 2017, but I'm not sure if that's the right one? Most of the threads I'm looking through (Lazydaisys one from 2013) refers to annexes in the protocol, which i can't find listed on that page.

Sorry if this is a bit of a rant. I suffer with my mental health and this is really worrying me so much. Can anyone help?

Redx

forget the lazydaisy ones, too old , out of date and no longer valid, like you found out

read and use recent rebuttal examples (not templates) in other B W LEGAL threads and adapt one and reply, denying the debt and putting them to proof of evidence etc. the oct 2017 protocols are the valid ones

also email the PPC (EXCEL) a SAR to their DPO and get all the evidence they have, docs, pictures, NTK , signage details , landowner contracts etc too


see the GDPR 2018 FIGHTBACK thread for advice on this

Coupon-mad

I have received a Letter of Claim from BW Legal who are acting on behalf of Excel. The claim is for a number of outstanding parking charges dating back almost six years ago.

Read the NEWBIES thread again, I have just edited the section about replying to a LBC, entirely removing any template responses.

You need a SAR to get this past six years... so read what the NEWBIES thread now says.

jeremiahjingle

Thanks for the responses guys. It's a lot to get my head around, but in a nutshell, i need to:

* come up with a rebuttal letter for BW legal and send that off to them asap
* send a SAR to Excel and BW Legal for good measure

I'm really worried that if this goes to court that i may be in a weaker position as it's multiple claims...can that be the case?

I am following Terry78's thread with great interest as his case seems almost identical to mine. There's no way i can remember exactly who was driving almost six years ago...i can't even remember what happened 6 weeks ago!

jeremiahjingle

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Read the NEWBIES thread again, I have just edited the section about replying to a LBC, entirely removing any template responses.

You need a SAR to get this past six years... so read what the NEWBIES thread now says.

I've read the newbies thread again. I'll try to craft a rebuttal letter and then post it on here for people to see.

With regards to the SAR, some of the tickets are early 2013 and some of them are towards the end...I'm wondering how long it would tie the process up for by requesting a SAR? If it were to extend the process beyond the date the first ticket was issued, would Excel/BW Legal need to amend their letter of claim as appropriate?

Coupon-mad

Yes, it would mean some of them would be statute barred, but don't point that out yet!

I'm really worried that if this goes to court that i may be in a weaker position as it's multiple claims...can that be the case?

No because it could have been different drivers and in 2013 signage was often even worse than we see in car parks now, and pretty much no parking firms had POFA compliant wording to hold you liable as keeper - at all - not for ANY of the PCNs.

jeremiahjingle

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Yes, it would mean some of them would be statute barred, but don't point that out yet!

No because it could have been different drivers and in 2013 signage was often even worse than we see in car parks now, and pretty much no parking firms had POFA compliant wording to hold you liable as keeper - at all - not for ANY of the PCNs.

Thank you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your advice here. I will get cracking on my drafts and post them here.

onlyfoolsandparking

You say its almost identical to Terry78,s thread, is it the infamous Peel Centre?, the one which I had the pleasure of mistakenly going in (never again will I go there)

jeremiahjingle

onlyfoolsandparking wrote: »

You say its almost identical to Terry78,s thread, is it the infamous Peel Centre?, the one which I had the pleasure of mistakenly going in (never again will I go there)

Yup, that's the place!!

jeremiahjingle

Hello Everyone

This is my draft SAR that i am sending to Excel via email. Can someone take a look and tell meif it looks okay prior to sending off?

Dear Data Protection Officer

Subject Access Request (Data Protection Act 2018 / General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR))

[B]CURRENT SERVICE ADDRESS: [/B]
PREVIOUS ADDRESS:

Please supply me the data about me that I am entitled to for free under data protection law relating to myself.

Please can you provide the following:

• all data held
• all evidence you Excel Parking Services intend to use against me (to include- a copy of the contract with the landowner under which you assert authority to bring a claim against me, a copy of the alleged contract with the driver, a plan showing where the signs were displayed, details of the signs displayed).
• all letters/emails sent and received (including your correspondence with the DVLA to obtain my personal details and any appeal correspondence).
• a full copy all parking charge notices
• all photos taken (including by ANPR)
• a list of all PCNs you consider are outstanding
• a close up of the signage at The Peel Centre, Stockport, SK1 2HD on all days in question from XXXX/2013 to XXXX//2013.
• evidence you have paid a debt collector
• a PDT machine record from all of the 2013 listed pcn dates which must show all payments
made, and partially redacted VRNs, with sufficient information to protect full disclosure of other VRNs but enough letters or numbers to establish and identify if a payment was made.

Please note my current service address at the top of this email.

I have included a copy of my V5 registration document so that you can see that I am the registered keeper of vehicle XXXXXX. It may be helpful for you to know that data protection law requires you to respond to a request for data within one calendar month.

If you do not normally deal with these requests, please pass this email to your Data Protection Officer, or relevant staff member. If you need advice on dealing with this request, the Information Commissioner’s Office can assist you. Its website is ico.org.uk or it can be contacted on 0303 123 1113.

Yours faithfully

I'm also going to make reference to the SAR request in my rebuttal letter to BW Legal and ask them to place and further proceedings on hold (is there a 'best practice' wording for this? I have seen in some threads people request a hold on 'data processing').

I will also send a SAR to BW Legal just to give them some extra work to do.

many thanks

jeremiahjingle

This is my draft rebuttal letter so far. It's from some of the more commonly used threads from 2018. My edits are in red. I'm not too sure if my wording is strong enough in the opening paragraph...and I'm wondering whether or not to say anything else about this being almost six years old (or whether that would even make any difference to BW legal anyway!). The SAR to Excel will go via email...is it okay for the SAR to BW Legal to go in with the rebutall letter or should that be emailed separately?

Also, I noticed that one forum member (yorkshell) informed BW Legal of their chronic health condition and referenced the equality act 2010. I suffer with a recognised mental health condition that I am currently being treated for....I am wondering whether it is relevant to make reference to this at this stage of intital rebutal to the LOC, or would it better to wait and respond to the inevitable template reply that I'll get from BW Legal in response to my rebuttal? Yorkshell drew reference to their own health circumstances at this slightly later stage...

If someone could take a look for me, that'd be really helpful. I've been reading the forum to death...but would still appreciate your help & advice.

Dear BW Legal,

Thank you for your letter of claim dated XXXXXX

Please note my current service address of XXXXXX and update your records accordingly. I have not lived at the address you have corresponded with for years.

I contest that I was not the driver of the vehicle in question. Furthermore, I do not know who the driver was in relation to the alleged ‘contraventions’ that happened almost six years ago as per the dates stated in your letter of claim.

Your letter contains insufficient detail of the claim and fails to provide any photographic evidence. It does not even say what the cause of action is. Nor does it contain any mention of what evidence your client intends to rely on, or enclose copies of such evidence.

This action on the part of your client is a clear breach of its pre-action obligations set out in the Practice Direction - Pre-Action Conduct, with which as solicitors you must surely be familiar (and with which your client, a serial litigator of small claims, must also be familiar). As you (and your client) must know, the Practice Direction binds all potential litigants, whatever the size or type of the claim. Its express purpose is to assist parties in understanding the claim and their respective positions in relation to it, to enable parties to take stock of their positions and to negotiate a settlement, or at least narrow the issues, without incurring the costs of court proceedings or using up valuable court time.

Nobody, including your client, is immune from the requirements and obligations of the Practice Direction.

I require your client to comply with its obligations by sending me the following information/documents:

1. An explanation of the cause of action
2. Whether they are pursuing me as driver or keeper
3. Whether they are relying on the provisions of Schedule 4 of POFA 2012
4. What the details of the claim are (where it is claimed the car was parked, for how long, how the monies being claimed arose and have been calculated, what contractual breach (if any) is being claimed)
5. A copy of the contract with the landowner under which they assert authority to bring the claim
6. A copy of any alleged contract with the driver
7. A plan showing where any signs were displayed
8. Details of the signs displayed (size of sign, size of font, height at which displayed) on the dates in question as detailed in your letter of claim
9. If they have added anything on to the original charge, what that represents and how it has been calculated.

I am clearly entitled to this information under paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c) of the Practice Direction. I also need it in order to comply with my own obligations under paragraph 6(b).

If your client does not provide me with this information then I put you on notice that I will be relying on the cases of Webb Resolutions Ltd v Waller Needham & Green [2012] EWHC 3529 (Ch), Daejan Investments Limited v The Park West Club Limited (Part 20) !!!8211; Buxton Associates [2003] EWHC 2872, Charles Church Developments Ltd v Stent Foundations Limited & Peter Dann Limited [2007] EWHC 855 in asking the court to impose sanctions on your client and to order a stay of the proceedings, pursuant to paragraphs 13 ,15(b) and (c) and 16.

Until your client has complied with its obligations and provided this information, I am unable to respond properly to the alleged claim and to consider my position in relation to it, and it is entirely premature (and a waste of costs and court time) for your client to issue proceedings. Should your client do so, then I will seek an immediate stay pursuant to paragraph 15(b) of the Practice Direction and an order that this information is provided.

I have also enclosed a Subject Access Request (SAR) which I require BW Legal to action. A separate SAR has also been sent to your client, Excel Parking Services Ltd. I am requesting that you restrict data processing for a period of 30 days, in light of the SAR being processed as I have a clear need to have a reasonable period of time to be able to consider the data, documents and photos that will subsequently be provided.

Yours faithfully,