Parking "fine" - court letter

Coupon-mad

BW Legal will write offering a settlement, encouraging you to be daft and ring them, and saying your defence is a template, as they always seem to do now! Ignore that.

DoaM

Coupon-mad wrote: »

BW Legal will write offering a settlement, encouraging you to be daft and ring them, and saying your defence is a template, as they always seem to do now! Ignore that.

Gotta love the irony! Their whole claims process is a template!

sellwin90

Letter received yesterday from BW Legal, stating that they will be continuing with the claim and that the court has been informed. They also enclosed a copy of the directions questionnaire.

I'll have a read through the rest of the section in the newbies thread about the questionnaire bit, and I'm sure I'll return with questions, queries and worries :eek:

sellwin90

Ok, so I've read through a few posts. Firstly was loadsofchildren123 post about the way things will go. Is this case now definitely going to go to court and will have to appear there? I ask as i'm very anxious about things like this, hate confrontation, very timid etc. Can I get my partner to "defend" me?

Secondly, I have not received a directions questionnaire but I have received a copy of theirs. How long will it take for the court to send out the directions questionnaire to myself?

Lastly (for the minute), is this point from bargepole:
7. The usual procedure is that the Claimant gives a summary of their case, then the Defendant gives a summary of theirs. The Judge may interrupt at any point, and ask questions of either side. Having heard from both sides, the Judge will then sum up and give Judgment (a bit like Lord Sugar on The Apprentice, so keep quiet during this). if he finds for the Claimant, you will have to pay the amount on the Claim Form, plus a hearing fee (£25 if the claim is under £300). If he finds for the Defendant, the claim is dismissed, and you have nothing to pay. You can also ask the Judge to award your costs, which are max £95 for lost earnings, return mileage to court at 45p per mile, and parking. Payment is normally due within 14 days, so if you have to pay, make sure you do that and nothing will appear on your credit file.

In terms of the amount on the claim form, we have already established earlier on, that they are asking for more than they should be, so will it still be this price? And if found in my favour, is it worth asking for payment for things or not?

I'm probably going to get the response of you don't need to worry, but I am, I'm an anxious person anyway. Thank you

KeithP

sellwin90 wrote: »

Secondly, I have not received a directions questionnaire but I have received a copy of theirs. How long will it take for the court to send out the directions questionnaire to myself?

Here's a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago:

KeithP wrote: »

Well for a start, the Claimant has 28 days after receiving the Defence from the CCBC to consider their options.

No-one knows when the CCBC sent your Defence to the Claimant.

No-one knows when the Claimant is going to respond to the CCBC.

No-one knows what sort of backlog there might be in the CCBC which delays them processing the Claimant's response.

From that you will be able to work out that your question is impossible to answer.

There are no new questions here.

Redx

sellwin90 wrote: »

Ok, so I've read through a few posts.

1) Firstly was loadsofchildren123 post about the way things will go. Is this case now definitely going to go to court and will have to appear there?

2) I ask as i'm very anxious about things like this, hate confrontation, very timid etc. Can I get my partner to "defend" me?

3) Secondly, I have not received a directions questionnaire but I have received a copy of theirs. How long will it take for the court to send out the directions questionnaire to myself?

Lastly (for the minute), is this point from bargepole:
7. The usual procedure is that the Claimant gives a summary of their case, then the Defendant gives a summary of theirs. The Judge may interrupt at any point, and ask questions of either side. Having heard from both sides, the Judge will then sum up and give Judgment (a bit like Lord Sugar on The Apprentice, so keep quiet during this). if he finds for the Claimant, you will have to pay the amount on the Claim Form, plus a hearing fee (£25 if the claim is under £300). If he finds for the Defendant, the claim is dismissed, and you have nothing to pay. You can also ask the Judge to award your costs, which are max £95 for lost earnings, return mileage to court at 45p per mile, and parking. Payment is normally due within 14 days, so if you have to pay, make sure you do that and nothing will appear on your credit file.

4) In terms of the amount on the claim form, we have already established earlier on, that they are asking for more than they should be, so will it still be this price? And if found in my favour, is it worth asking for payment for things or not?

1) not unless the claimant pays the £25 court fee to progress it, the courts wont work for nothing

2) not exactly, but read this explanation of what is allowed posted by Umkomaas in post #69 (no new questions here , everything has already been answered)

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75505618#Comment_75505618

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=75505618&postcount=69

3) UNKNOWN, but that NEWBIES thread does tell you that you can download your own and fill it in and email the court and send a copy to the claimant if you wish, your choice, do it or wait for the CCBC to post it out and then deal with it

4) It will be what the judge determines is correct , usually less because you would have objected to their addons that they are not entitled to , a typical loss is around £180 for a single claim for one pcn

you should have your own costs order ready and already filed with the court for the usual £95 plus any extras like mileage and parking etc, as detailed in that NEWBIES thread etc ,

all this will be in a few months time , perhaps 5 months from now , so you need to refresh your mind about this nearer the time

if you decide you are not attending , let the court and the claimant know about 2 weeks prior to the hearing, so its at that point you do a papers only request to the court and claimant (no blabbing beforehand)


even if your partner is helping you in court, YOU must attend if its not a papers only hearing, because YOU are the defendant , even if your partner goes with you and supports you

sellwin90

Just filling out the questionnaire form - in regard to D3, if I would like my partner to talk on my behalf, does he count as an extra witness and therefore I put 2 in answer to this question?

EDIT: Also, it says please serve copies on all other parties, I guess I have to send a copy to the claimant rather than the court will send a copy on my behalf?

KeithP

No, he is not an extra witness.

When completed, send your DQ to the CCBC in the same manner and to the same email address that you sent your Defence. Refresh your memory by re-reading post #6 above.

Send a copy to the Claimant - address on your Claim Form.

sellwin90

Questionnaire completed and served.

Received a letter from BW Legal at the end of last week saying that they offer me a discounted price to settle right now, and that my defence is "no good" Here's what they said...

- They sent a fine through and received no confirmation as to who was driving and as there was no response within 28 days, as the registered keeper, I am liable.
- They have photos of my car entering and leaving the car park (photos are so poor you can't actually tell it's my car)
- That the signs are compliant with the BPA CoP and their client confirms there were no reports of faulty lighting at the car park on the date.
- As a ticket was purchased (and over stayed the time) it indicates and awareness of the T&Cs provided.

Redx

they are trying to scare you and its a common letter to all defendants because they have an automated process and little human input , post #82 above told you this

ignore it