Britannia/BW Legal Is it too late? PCN Portswood

FineForWhat

I've read the newbie thread and multiple similar posts but I'm genuinely so confused at this point and to put it bluntly, I'm tempted to just hand over the £160 to avoid a CCJ and/or court action, so any advice would be appreciated.

Back in April 2018 I visited 'Portswood Centre Car Park' in Southampton (Which is free for 2 hours) It was at night with the car park poorly lit with woefully inadequate signage. Driver has not been disclosed during the appeal stage whatsoever. The initial BPA appeal was rejected as expected and so was the POPLA appeal which was surprising. I then went on to receive letters from the usual DRP & also Zenith which I completely ignored as the Newbie thread suggests.

However I am now receiving letters from 'BW Legal' their most recent letter is a letter of claim which is genuinely worrying. The letter states "We have been instructed by Britannia Parking Group Limited t/a Britannia Parking to commence legal action in the form of issuing a Claim against you in the County Court in respect of the above debt. If payment or a response is not received before 1 February 2019, we are instructed to issue a Claim against you in the County Court without further notice. If you dispute this debt, please tell us why so that we can help resolve this matter." Estimated costs if there is a claim is £240.55. (Pretty steep for a free car park)

What do I do at this point do I contact them and dispute it? It may be worth mentioning that I recently read somewhere Britannia Parking Group LTD are no longer active on Companies House, I don't know if that helps at all. I have not yet complained to the Landowner I don't know if it's too late at this point to do so.

MistyZ

Check out this post:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5773806/britannia-parking-pcn-portswood-centre-souhtampton&highlight=britannia+parking+portswood&page=2#topofpage

The most relevant responses for you are on the second page. In April 2018 Portswood Centre and the car park were managed by a company called CBRE, who cancelled my PCN.

It is now managed by a different company, KMP Solutions. It would seem that CBRE are now claiming that they do not have the wherewithal to cancel charges dating from their time. So do KMP. It looks like Britannia no longer have a valid contract to manage the car park, which could be interesting.

I would contact both land management companies, strongly insisting that they cancel the charge. It seems very likely that one or other, possibly both, do in fact have authority to do so but would need encouragement.

It's never to late to get a PCN cancelled by landowners.

Coupon-mad

Estimated costs if there is a claim is £240.55.

That's not allowable. If you were one of the 1% here who lose, you'd pay under £200 altogether, including the PCN charge.

No risk, no CCJ, no huge 'costs' and unlikely that any parking cases here are lost, as the lack of evidence and fairness from this industry causes their cases to fall over when faced with a decent defence and evidence at a hearing.

FineForWhat

Thanks for the replies, will contact both CBRE and KMP and complain and hopefully that will be the end of it. Interesting that the land has now changed owners but I'm assuming that won't impact the situation because I received the fine beforehand? In the meantime do I need to reply to BW legal? they've given me until the 1st of Feb..

MistyZ

FineForWhat wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, will contact both CBRE and KMP and complain and hopefully that will be the end of it. Interesting that the land has now changed owners but I'm assuming that won't impact the situation because I received the fine beforehand?

Check out latest posts on the thread I linked to previously. A member has just had a PCN from CBRE's time cancelled by KMP. Really go for it with the complaint.

FineForWhat

Ok so not the best news after complaining to both KMP and CBRE.

Sent the email to CBRE on 18/01 still no reply. Emailed KMP today and they came back instantly with this:

"Many thanks for your email.

The situation is indeed unfortunate and we are doing all we can from our end to ensure that the parking arrangement is better managed going forward.

As Britannia was instructed by the previous agents and we have refused to renew contract with them (due to the high amount of complaints received), we have no leverage for correspondence with them and won’t be able to help with your particular case. I can only advise that you ask the previous agents (CBRE) to reach out to Britannia on your behalf considering their previous relationship and instruction."

Not really sure where I go from here, is my PCN still valid since they no longer have a valid contract?

Coupon-mad

This is good, and shows they have no legitimate interest in pursuing this charge:

we have refused to renew contract with them (due to the high amount of complaints received)

FineForWhat

So can I just assume they won't bother pursuing it any further? I'm sure BW Legal are still phoning me on a daily basis

Coupon-mad

No - a court claim for you to defend.

You need to read some threads. You are missing the entire iceberg of info by not looking what this forum has here already.

MistyZ

On the landowner complaint front, you could email CBRE as KMP suggest, including the relevant sections of KMP's response.
I would be somewhat encouraged by KMP's reply, at least they do suggest a way forward. Now that Britannia are so obviously out of favour that the new landowner readily admits that to a member of the public, I suspect that CBRE might well agree to cancel the charge.

FineForWhat

Thanks for the suggestions, I emailed CBRE around 2 weeks ago but still had no response. How long should I leave it before I try again? or should I try emailing again maybe to a different member of staff?