BW Legal - County Court DEFENCE needed in 2 WEEKS

TheSquirrel

Situation - My car was Parked in Car Park, bought ticket for 1 hour, partner bought another ticket before the hour was up to extend for another hour one ticket on window, one on dash. Fast forward a week or 2 and I have a letter from Napier parking with a photo of my car strategically taken only showing the one expired ticket.

Weeks have passed, all evidence has been cleaned from the car as no notice was given on the car itself so I was none the wiser.

Stupidly I take advice to ignore the letter, then quickly receive one from BW Legal accompanied by many more, they somehow get my mobile number and call me RELENTLESSLY, I never answer any correspondence or calls, block the number but still see how many times they try. The letters keep coming as do the calls.

2 weeks ago another letter arrives - Northampton County Court - BW Legal want over £260 through fine, interest and solicitors fees. The letter looked fake, I thought it was scaremongering so I ignored it for a week until a friend told me it was official and I needed to respond asap.

With only one day to spare I login online and follow the steps to acknowledge of service and check the defend all option. I realise it's too late but try to request SAR from Napier, they're playing the game and reply asking for ID and also have 28 days to respond knowing full well I don't have that much time.

PLEASE HELP!

The car park in question had at the time recently just swapped hands, at the time signage was minimal but it was there, I dont even know if it was the previous occupants signage over the new operators, it's WAS a run down piece of land, lose stoned with no lighting (although incident was 4pm in summer) they have in the last few weeks tarmac'd and updated the entire car park, line marking the works.

What should I base my defence on the two tickets? The two potential drivers? The poor signage, the lighting? - the immoral practices of these companies and the harassment!?

Thanks in advance

BrownTrout

You need to change your title, you are NOT in court in two weeks time....

beamerguy

2 weeks ago another letter arrives - Northampton County Court - BW Legal want over £260 through fine, interest and solicitors fees. The letter looked fake, I thought it was scaremongering so I ignored it for a week until a friend told me it was official and I needed to respond asap.

The letter was not fake but the claim by BWLegal is fake.

BWLEGAL ADD ON A FAKE £60 ?
In addition to the 'parking charge', the Claimant's legal representatives, BWLegal, have artificially inflated the value of the Claim by adding costs of £60 which has not actually been incurred by the Claimant, and which are artificially invented figures in an attempt to circumvent the Small Claims costs rules using double recovery. >>>> thanks to bargepole

The courts will not allow the fake add-on and you must bring this to the attention of the judge that BWLegal are attempting double recovery
Make certain that the court understands how the car park looked and was at the time

READ ABOUT BWLEGAL HERE
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/72775365#Comment_72775365

nosferatu1001

You DO have that much time, because you will have READ and UNDERSTOOD the newbies thread, post 2, and the DOZENS of SAR threads where you realise you need the SAR info for your WITNESS STATEMERNT, NOT for your defence

So calm down!

You need to compile a defence. Follow the example set in the newbies thread as to how to structure, how concise it must be, and that it is a document where you make arguments - nothing more.

SHow us your draft.

WHat is the DATE OF ISSUE of your claim form. In your panic youve not even told us any useful facts...

The_Deep

£260 is far more than the Law allows for this sort of claim. The down market solicitors whom the PPCs engage know this, but, because they are solicitors, know that a lot of people will pay up.

It is in fact double charging and non claimable debt collectors' add ons. Imo, this is fraud, or, at the very least, improper conduct.

Were this to get to court and they won, the judge would be unlikely to award the claimant more than £175 - £200.

I urge you to report this grubby law firm to their regulatory body, the SRA.

https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/code/content.page

as I am sure they do not condone this conduct.

The whole industry is a scam, relying on threats of court, and the public's ignorance of the Law, A bill is currently before parliament which will regulate the scammers, many of whom are ex-clampers.

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 Second Reading in the Lords this month, and, with a fair wind, will l become Law later this 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.

TheSquirrel

So sorry for the delay in replying I am so grateful for the responses, I've been working away which has stressed me out in regards to this further.

The information:
I have received a County Court Claim Form in respect of the previously mentioned on the 7-9th Jan, I completed the online acknowledgement of this on around the 21/22nd Jan

The amount being claimed on the grounds of (info removed for privacy and efficiency)
"monies due from the defendant to the claimant in respect of a FCN for a parking contravention which occurred July 2018 at xxx in relation to vehicle xxx. The defendant was allowed 28 days from FCN but failed. The claim also includes statutory interest pursuant to section 69 at 8% per an etc etc .. the claimant also claims £55ish contractual costs as set out in the FCN terms and cond."

(Below values are vague as recommended in other posts - so they wont total correctly)
£150 - Claimed
£25 Court Fees -
£55ish Representation
Total £240 .

It is stated in other threads that these forums are monitored, can I post my draft defence here without jeopardising it?

Regards

beamerguy

By now you should have read that BWLegal are adding a fake £60 to their claim

BWLEGAL ADD ON A FAKE £60 ?
In addition to the 'parking charge', the Claimant's legal representatives, BWLegal, have artificially inflated the value of the Claim by adding costs of £60 which has not actually been incurred by the Claimant, and which are artificially invented figures in an attempt to circumvent the Small Claims costs rules using double recovery. >>>> thanks to bargepole

Do the signs really say a "contractual charge", you need to take pictures of them

You must point out to the court that BWLegal are attempting double recovery which the court will not allow.

No problem you posting everything here

The_Deep

I should be very surprised if this actually gets in from of a judge, the PPC appear to have little chance of a win, and their completely OTT claim for £260 could get them a wigging for abuse of process.

I hope that you are going to complain about this to the SRA, imo these low rent solicitors are bringing their profession into disrepute and deceiving the public.

nosferatu1001

Yes of course. They will see your defence anyway
You just need to be aware that this thread IS public, and ensure you only discuss what you want anyold tom, !!!! or parking parasite to hear

Umkomaas

Is that a 'defence'?

Have you read the example defence prepared by legal expert bargepole (as in the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #2), which is recommended for use in most cases?

I'm no expert on defence writing, but yours seems to be quite a bit off that mark.

nosferatu1001

Indeed, thats a rant, not a defence

A defence is a set of legal arguments
You do not rant
You do not narrate
You must at the very minimum accept or deny every point in their PoC.

NEwbies thread, post 2. Read it. Rerad it again. UNDERSTAND how a defence is constructed, then try again.