Bw legal/ncp ccc

1TonDon

Hi all,

I received a PCN from NCP via ANPR about 6 months ago which I decided to ignore (my own fault for taking bad advice). I have now received a County Court Claim from BW Legal, I apologise in advance if something has already been mentioned that I ask and also for my lack of understanding with regards to law but I have spent the last 2 days between MSE and Pepipoo reading many threads about how to proceed from the CCC stage including the newbies thread and while I have learnt so much, I am still none the wiser with the particulars to my case and would just like to know if i have any grounds to defend my case before proceeding.

The car park operates via barrier with a ticket being provided upon entry and then pay upon exit. On this occasion, the driver parked for several hours until the early hours of the morning. When the driver approached the exit to the car park he noticed the barrier was open (must've been broken). Normally the driver would get out and pay but there were groups of "suspicious" people lingering around the car park so he drove through. It is worth pointing out that this car park is prone to anti social behaviour from rough sleepers, drug dealers and muggings. It has gotten so bad that recently the city council intervened and hired a security team to patrol the car park.

The car park has recently revamped and removed the barrier system relying solely on the ANPR, they have also changed the signage from what I would have easily argued was insufficient, however without evidence since they have revamped I am not sure what to argue from here.

A lot of defence arguments that i have read revolve around the appeals process and correspondence. Since I did not respond or acknowledge any of these, I know nothing of the contravention itself. Even the CCC doesn't provide any specifics only stating that it is for a parking contravention and the location and vehicle model/registration.

Do I have any grounds for a defence against this and if so could somebody point me to some relevant case studies as I am struggling to find any that relate.

TIA

Umkomaas

NCP / BWL CASES

As you will see from the first few pages of the forum, there is an onslaught by BWL on behalf of NCP (and a few other hitherto court-shy PPCs) which is being conducted on an industrial scale - roboclaims.

You are caught in a one-way traffic flow where you must fight or pay - there is no longer a safe 'do nothing' option.

1. Pay now, it costs you exactly what they are currently demanding.
2. Ignore it, a 'judgment in default' will inevitably follow for at least what they want - maybe with even more costs added; continue to ignore that, you're getting a CCJ with credit trashing consequences for 6 years.
3. Defend, yet lose in court, the cost award is likely to be noticeably less than their current demand ~£175.
4. Defend, and win in court, you owe them nothing and you could claim up to £95 for half a day's pay/loss of annual leave, plus travel costs @45p per mile, plus your parking cost for the day.

Your least costly option has to be 3, with hopefully a win as per 4.

But BWL/NCP cannot physically take everyone to court, and there is evidence to show that with a well constructed defence, BWL can come along with a reduced 'offer to settle', which if refused, becomes a discontinuation. We can't give you guarantees on that, but as you have little choice other than to defend (if you don't want to pay), you need to give this your very best shot.

Whether you have a good defendable case to argue, you will need to read other similar cases at the defence (or beyond) stage and learn from those.

Do I have any grounds for a defence against this and if so could somebody point me to some relevant case studies as I am struggling to find any that relate.

As above, it's flight (pay up, and through the nose), or fight (research and defend). No completed court cases have yet emerged at the end of this particular sausage machine, but some are in the process of defence drafting.

Do a forum search on keywords NCP BWL Defence and read those developing defences. We don't have any silver bullets for you unfortunately.

HOW TO USE THE FORUM SEARCH FUNCTION:

Hit your 'Back' button to get back to the forum thread list. On the bar just above the threads you'll see the 'Search' function. Click on the 'Advanced Search' button and on the following page place your keyword(s) in the 'Search By Keyword(s)' and make sure the 'Show Results As' button (at the foot of the window) is changed from 'Threads' to 'Posts'.

Redx

post the DATE OF ISSUE on that N1 form below

then read a dozen or twenty other ongoing court case threads and base your draft defence on those, especially start with the concise DEFENCE by member BARGEPOLE

do the AOS online and confirm that you have done so in your reply

then post your draft defence on here for critique, same as everyone else

The_Deep

IMO, if this went to court, from what you have told us, they would struggle. If you had put money into the meter, and it was broken, they would probably have been taken to court anyway. IMO you acted reasonably in the circumstances.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonability

Get you MP on board, most are familiar with this scam.

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 become so widespread that MPs agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Hopefully, this will become law by Easter .

1TonDon

Hi all, firstly thanks for the prompt responses. It is much appreciated and having read further I have decided to defend all of my claim and have completed the AOS online.

Date of issue - 22/02/19
AOS - 01/03/19

After reading countless threads, am I right in saying I should email NCP with a SAR and inform BW Legal of this and request them to put the case on hold?

I am finding it difficult to find relevant points for my defence firstly because it was a while ago so I no longer remember the particulars of the charge and as things such as insufficient signage or broken barrier can no longer be proved with evidence if it does go to a hearing.

I will still attempt to produce a draft defence with what I think is relevant and hopefully somebody can advise me further.

Coupon-mad

A lot of defence arguments that i have read revolve around the appeals process and correspondence.

Errrm...none of them do. Have you seen the example defences in the NEWBIES thread? None of them specifically revolve around appeals/correspondence.

am I right in saying I should email NCP with a SAR and inform BW Legal of this and request them to put the case on hold?

Yes to the SAR.

BUT NO TO ASKING FOR IT TO BE PUT ON HOLD, THIS IS ALREADY AT COURT CLAIM STAGE!

I am finding it difficult to find relevant points for my defence firstly because it was a while ago so I no longer remember the particulars of the charge

So what's wrong with bargepole's concise cover all defence in the NEWBIES thread?

1TonDon

Apologies, I am far from knowledgeable when it comes to the law so whilst I have read through the whole of #1 and #2 of the newbies thread. I do not fully understand the arguments being used due to the terminology (even after reading the acronym thread). Surely this is understandable considering not everybody is an expert in law and I am rather illiterate to begin with😅. This is also why I was not sure whether to defend to begin with.

Errrm...none of them do. Have you seen the example defences in the NEWBIES thread? None of them specifically revolve around appeals/correspondence.

I have read so many threads that I could be confused however I have been reading BW Legal/NCP defences and arguments within them are points such as “Before submitting a claim the Claimant failed to supply a letter before action that complied with the Practice direction on pre-action conduct.“
I am not sure on things like this since I ignored all letters until the CCC and no longer have access to them. Apologies if this is a stupid response. I really do feel out of my depth with regards to fighting this and really do appreciate all the help.

I will send a SAR to NCP and post back when I receive a response from them. Do I need to send anything to BW Legal?

So what's wrong with bargepole's concise cover all defence in the NEWBIES thread?

I have read these if you are referring to the defence regarding unclear signage and unclear markings. Again my issue would be that I am unable to provide evidence of these points since they have refurbed the whole car park since the contravention took place including signage. I still intend to use arguments from Bargepoles thread but making it unique to my case is where I am struggling.

KeithP

1TonDon wrote: »

Date of issue - 22/02/19
AOS - 01/03/19.

With a Claim Issue Date of 22nd February, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 27th March 2019 to file your Defence.

That's nearly four weeks 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.