Is this genuine??

FedupMrs

I received a FCN in 2014. The observation period of the claimed “did not display valid ticket” was a huge 9 second period!! Ive ignored the documents and the threats since then but today received a Clain form that’s an obvious photocopy, from County Court Business Centre Northampton on behalf of BW Legal (Napier is the Claimant). My questions are- (a) How do I know this is a genuine claim form as the Court stamp just says “the county court” and (b) what do I do next as I’ve never stated it was me driving or accepted liability. I have read the NEWBIE section but it’s so full of abbreviations I was a bit overwhelmed.

Umkomaas

It's definitely genuine.

The NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #2 will have to be your guide in dealing with this. All the acronyms you need to know about are listed in post #5 of the sticky - write them down on a piece of paper to have by your side for reference as you work through this - if you find one not listed, just ask.

You need to crack on with your acknowledgement of service of the claim (AOS) to 'buy' yourself an additional 14 days to develop and despatch your defence.

What is the Date of Issue shown on the Court Claim?

Please note we are not a legal advice forum.

beamerguy

FedupMrs wrote: »

I received a FCN in 2014. The observation period of the claimed “did not display valid ticket” was a huge 9 second period!! Ive ignored the documents and the threats since then but today received a Clain form that’s an obvious photocopy, from County Court Business Centre Northampton on behalf of BW Legal (Napier is the Claimant). My questions are- (a) How do I know this is a genuine claim form as the Court stamp just says “the county court” and (b) what do I do next as I’ve never stated it was me driving or accepted liability. I have read the NEWBIE section but it’s so full of abbreviations I was a bit overwhelmed.

A lot of the dodgy scammers are now scratching around with old tickets like yours ..... then along comes BWLegal who the scammers think will be their saviour ...

Did you not get a "letter before claim" from BWL. It should have provided proof of their claim and given you 30 days to respond ?

From some of the claims we have seen of late from BWLegal, they are full of old gas and air and they add on a fake charge of £60 ?

They have no doubt done the same to you, so how have they explained the fake on of £60 ?

READ ALL THIS ABOUT THIS NON PROFESSIONAL FIRM
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5672664/bwlegal-the-list-of-failures-growing

The_Deep

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.

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 public. Add to their burden, complain in the most robust terms about the scammers.

wangbadan

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

This sounds shocking! Do you know who the MP was / where I can find more info about it?

Umkomaas

wangbadan wrote: »

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

This sounds shocking! Do you know who the MP was / where I can find more info about it?

We've treated it as a throwaway remark made under Parliamentary privilege by some MP or another during one of the debates on the Sir Greg Knight Bill. Google 'Sir Greg Knight Parking bill' to take you to the appropriate section of Parliament's website, then go to the Hansard record (I think it was the Nov 2018 debate) and do a Ctrl+F on 'organised crime'.

Nothing to get excited about - it's all organised crime!

wangbadan

Ah I see. Thanks. Still, it could be useful leverage for my purposes. I'm considering going to the local press if the landowner (my university) fails to step in on my behalf against a rabid PPC.

Umkomaas

wangbadan wrote: »

Ah I see. Thanks. Still, it could be useful leverage for my purposes. I'm considering going to the local press if the landowner (my university) fails to step in on my behalf against a rabid PPC.

Oh, I think the whole of the Sir Greg Knight Bill is leverage. The whole industry has made such a shambolic mess of all this where self regulation has failed to stem any of their greedy, vengeful excesses, that Parliament is having to step in with legislation.

It has PPI potentially written all over this!

FedupMrs

It was 4th Jan 19

KeithP

FedupMrs wrote: »

It was 4th Jan 19

Am I to assume that that's the answer to Umkomaas's question?:

Umkomaas wrote: »

What is the Date of Issue shown on the Court Claim?

Please correct me if I am wrong.


With a Claim Issue Date of 4th January, you have until Wednesday 23rd January to do the Acknowledgement of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. To do the AoS, follow the guidance offered in a Dropbox link from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.

Having done the AoS, you then have until 4pm on Wednesday 6th February 2019 to file your Defence.

That's over a month away. Loads of time to produce a perfect Defence, but don't leave it to the very last minute.


When you are happy with the content, your Defence should be filed via email as suggested here:

Print your Defence.
1. Sign it and date it.
   
2. Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
   
3. Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
   
4. Just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.
   
5. Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
   
6. Do not be surprised to receive a copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, they are just trying to put you under pressure.
   
7. Wait for your DQ from the CCBC, or download one from the internet, and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread to find out exactly what to do with it.

KeithP

How's it going FedupMrs?

Done the AoS yet?

Working hard on your Defence?

Please don't come back two days before your Defence is due asking for urgent support.