Letter of claim from BW legal

mercedesman

Good evening,

I have read many posts including the Newbies posts and think I am on the right line

Back in 2017 I received two parking fines in the same place without P&D or Permit, one was mitigating circumstances and the other me simply not knowing I wasn't allowed to park there. I ignored all the letters as instructed, and I assumed it had gone away. I have now received two letters of claims for the individual contraventions. They are now requesting the original £70 fine plus £60 in legal costs. I understand the next course of action is to issue a SAR to the PPC but is it worth it as there is two contraventions? or should I swallow the £260. The letter instructs that payment or response must be received before 17th January 2018.

I really appreciate any advice given and I hope this new thread is OK.

Thanks in advance!

KeithP

mercedesman wrote: »

I ignored all the letters as instructed...

Can I ask... who gave you those instructions?

mercedesman

I think it was the general consensus from the forums when I recieved the letters, until a Letter of Claim comes, ignore. This could have been a wrong approach but either way this is where I am at now.

Redx

this forum has not advised anyone to ignore a parking charge since about february 2013 , due to POFA2012 (the law) , more so since november 2016 due to the BEAVIS case, which predates your 2 pcn,s (he lost , 3 times , in 3 different courts)

the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread explains where you are up to now

we never give financial advice out, and we rarely if ever advise people to pay

that is your choice to make, it certainly isnt ours to tell you which way to fgo, just advise you of the facts so you make your own mind up

mercedesman

I understand the NEWBIES FAQ page, I just wanted to make sure I was on the right track. I also understand you do not give financial advice out

Redx

a SAR to the PPC DPO by email and rebuttals of the LOC to B W LEGAL are your next 2 actions IMHO (assuming you have an LOC with 30 days notice and also has the financial forms enclosed or attached ?)

mercedesman

Thank you. The LOC with 30 days notice came through on the 13th December, the 30 days would take me to the 17th of January. Annex 1 Information sheet and reply form is enclosed within the letters. I haven't read anything about a rebuttal of LOC, is that simply notifying them that I have sent an SAR to the PPC DPO? Thank you

Redx

yes, and refuting their LBC (LoC) AS WELL

this is covered in the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread post #2 , plus the hundreds of other B W LEGAL threads on here over the last 8 months or so

there are usually several threads on the go on page 1 , page 2 and page 3, so check those too

you are on page one of this forum at the moment (there are thousands of pages)

dont get tunnel vision, read all the other similar threads to your own, because you are not the first and wont be the last, as B W LEGAL have literally millions of these to process

mercedesman

Thank you very much for your advice. Am I right in saying that if I have received my LOC, it’s pretty certain I will get taken to court if I don’t dont pay?

Umkomaas

mercedesman wrote: »

Thank you very much for your advice. Am I right in saying that if I have received my LOC, it’s pretty certain I will get taken to court if I don’t dont pay?

Not necessarily, but multiple tickets increases the possibility. The fact that you've had two separate claims suggests that BWL don't even recognise that fact at the moment - such is the industrial scale of their operation.

Put up a good defence and (nearer the time) a good Witness Statement and we see many a discontinuation. But much depends on which parking company you're dealing with. Which one please?

The_Deep

Meanwhile, complain to your MP, obviously their signs were not up to snuff.

It is the will of Parliament that these scammers be put out of business.

Hopefully that will take place in the near future. The Bill has passed through the HOC without hitch, and goes to the Lords soon. In the meantime involve your MP, the poor dears are buckling under the weight of complaints about these scammers. Read this one which I wrote earlier

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. Is has been suggested by an MP that some of these companies may have connections to organised crime.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, (especially 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.

Sir Greg Knight's Private Members Bill to curb the excesses, and perhaps close down, some of these companies passed its Third Reading in late November, and, with a fair wind, will become Law next year.

All three readings are available to watch on the internet, (some 6-7 hours), and published in Hansard. MPs have an extremely low opinion of the industry. Many are complaining that they are becoming overwhelmed by complaints from members of the pub.