BW Legal and Total Parking Solutions

ChrisGG_2

A PCN from 18 months ago has recently been increasingly escalated, and I'm now heading off to court next Friday. Any advice in anticipation would be VERY gratefully received.

SUMMARY:
I'm a doctor, and as part of working a night on call, drove urgently into the hospital in the middle of the night, and I parked in an on-site car park, which is usually Pay & Display. I did not buy a ticket. Work remained manic for the rest of the night, I didn't get a chance to move my car, and when I finally left the hospital I had a ticket.

I appealed this to TPS, on grounds that a). I was allowed to park there, b). it was insufficiently signed, and c). charge was excessive. They refused it. I appealed to POPLA, on the same grounds, with an emphasis on the signage. I lost the appeal. At this time, I managed to get hold of a copy of the Hospital Parking Policy, which stated that basically I was allowed to park there. I quoted this to TPS, and said I'd start charging for my time. They rejected my charges for my time, but I did not hear from them again. That was Feb 2018.

On 10th April 2019 I received letters from TPS and BW Legal stating the outstanding balance, and with increasingly threatening correspondence from BW Legal. They continue to ignore my quotes of the Parking Policy stating my right to park, and continue to insist I owe them money. I told them I would charge them for wasting my time, as they were frankly threatening and harassing, and I submitted a County Court Claim for a couple of hundred pounds. BW Legal have applied to have the claim struck out, and want to claim the costs of the County Court action.

Any advice gratefully received please!

I'm unsure if I can charge for my time? Although they seem quite willing to add "legal costs" and "solicitors costs" onto the PCN, I'm unclear how I can legally charge them for my time?

There is obviously quite a bit of paperwork, so I haven't scanned and uploaded it all - but if any parts would be helpful, do let me know and I'll include it.

Many thanks in advance,
Chris

KeithP

Have you discussed this with the NHS Trust hierarchy?

In particular, you might like to point out to them the NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles.

Remind them that:

Contracted-out car parking

NHS organisations are responsible for the actions of private contractors who run car parks on their behalf.

and also:

Concessions, including free or reduced charges or caps, should be available for:

• staff working shifts that mean public transport cannot be used

ChrisGG_2

Thanks Keith.

I haven't actually involved the NHS Hospital I was working for at the time - as I moved on in November.

The Parking Policy states:
"Any member of staff who is on-call will be able to park free in any on-site car park at evenings or weekends, and overnight from 18.00 to 09.30."

The ticket was issued at 09:23.

So I think I'm on very strong ground if they do take me to court.

However, given the treatening/ harassing letters they keep sending, I took them to County Court myself, to try and put an end to it. How do I ensure I'm in the strongest possible position next Friday?

KeithP

Not often that we see a PPC being taken to court by a motorist.

What are you claiming?

Without having seen your Particulars of Claim or their Defence, it is difficult to predict the outcome.

Have you filed a Witness Statement and evidence with the court and sent copies to the Defendant?

ChrisGG_2

I hope I'm not being stupid by doing so.... Taking on a company of solicitors might not be one of my smartest moves!

I have not filed a witness statement - they have included correspondence in their witness statement.
I submitted the claim. They proposed mediation - which I agreed to, but then they applied to have it struck out and ask for costs. Without reaching mediation.

My claim:

Reason for claim:

I received a parking charge notice on 1st December 2017, for parking at the hospital while attending an emergency, as part of my on-call responsibility. I appealed this charge on a number of grounds, and at the start of Feb 2018 provided the parking company (total parking solutions) with a copy of the hospital parking policy which stated "Any member of staff who is on-call will be able to park free in any on-site car park at evenings or weekends, and overnight from 18.00 to 09.30 ". The ticket was issued at 09:23. Out of the blue, 14 months later (April 2019), I had correspondence from the legal company representing the parking company telling me the charge had now increased, and threatening court proceedings. They have also conduced a search against my credit file. I have advised them of the above information, and my appropriate use of the parking facilities, but they have continued to harass me for payment. I told them I would charge them for my time for further correspondence, but they continue to insist the balance is due in full.

Timeline

Date What happened
01 December 2017 Was called back into the hospital in the early morning, parked on-site. When I returned to the car, had received a parking charge notice.
02 December 2017 Advised total parking solutions (TPS) the charge was issued unlawfully, on a number of grounds.
13 December 2017 TPS rejected my appeal.
10 Jan 2018 Appeal sent to POPLA on grounds of insufficient signage, and parking there are part of my on call responsibilities. Only the signage aspect was considered by POPLA.
18 Jan 2018 POPLA appeal rejected.
29 Jan 2018 Letter from TPS advising me, on the grounds of sufficient signage, that £60 is now due immediately.
11 Feb 2018 I wrote to TPS, having finally managed to access the hospital parking policy, and advising them that it stated "Any member of staff who is on-call will be able to park free in any on-site car park at evenings or weekends, and overnight from 18.00 to 09.30." The ticket issue time was 09:23. I was therefore clearly in compliance with the parking policy.
13 Feb 2018 Letter sent from TPS re-iterating the signage as sufficient, and no reference to the parking policy. They stated they did not accept my charges for my time and "no further correspondence will be entered into regarding this matter". I concluded the matter as resolved.
10 April 2019 14 months later I received a letter from bwlegal charging me £114 for the PCN and legal fees, and threatening legal action. Since then, they have ignored correspondence advising them of my right to park at the time of the incident, and they have continued to harass me for payment. I am left with no choice but to pursue costs for my time, which they seem very happy to waste.


Their application order, quoted direct:
"The defendant seeks and Order for-
1. The claim to be struck out pursuant to CPR 3.4(2)(a) as the Claim disclosed no reasonable grounds for bringing the Claim and (i) as the Claimant has no real prospects of successfully bringing the Claim and (b) there is no other compelling reason why the Claim should continue to Trial;
2. The Claimant shall pay the Defendant's costs, to be summarily assessed if not agreed, including the costs of and occasioned by this application; and
3. If the Claimant wishes to rely on written evidence at the hearing they must (a) file the written evidence and (b) serve copies on every other party to the Application at least 7 days before the hearing."

They've added a Witness Statement:
...
THE CLAIMANT'S CLAIM
4. The Claimant has issued a claim against the Defendant (a firm of solicitors) in respect of a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) issued by Total Parking Solutions Limited (TPS), as the Claimant believes the PCN should not have been issued.
5. The Claimant has issued a claim against the Defendant as he "told them [he] would charge them for [his] time for further correspondence".

THE DEFENDANT'S RESPONSE
6. The Defendant are minded that the Claimant's claim is fatally flawed at its first juncture. The Defendant did not issue the PCN - this was issued by TPS - and the Defendant are simply instructed on behalf of TPS.
7. The Defendant annex correspondence from the Claimant at pages 1 to 3, received via email. The Court will note that the defendant responded to the Claimant's demand for payment with the following
7.1. 'Firstly, we will not be responding to any invoices which you may or may not send regarding this matter and do not accept your "Terms and Conditions". We have a legitimate basis for which to contact you, and your "Terms" are completely unacceptable. We would strongly recommend that you seek independent legal advice on this matter. Parties are strongly encouraged to discuss matters on a preliminary basis in a bid to settle matters without the need for wasting court time and unnecessary costs. Should you continue to frustrate this overriding objective set by the Court Rules we shall seek our client's instructions in respect of issuing a claim against you and ensure that such correspondence are produced at a final hearing to demonstrate your unreasonable behaviour'.
8. It is the Defendent's position that the Claimant has failed to understand the basic principles of forming a contract - namely offer, acceptance and consideration. The Claimant's initial "offer" - i.e. an invoice for payment - was met with a rejection from the Defendant. Further there was no consideration from the Claimant.
9. The Court will also note that the Claimant has specifically stated 'You'll be aware from my letter of 11th Feb 2018 that further correspondence would result in a charge for my time'. The Defendant notes that they were only instructed by TPS on or around 4th April 2019, and the Claimant actually acknowledges this within his claim, stating that he received correspondence from the Defendant from April 2019.

CONCLUSION
10. The Defendant are minded that the Claimant has issued a claim against the incorrect party for the following reasons:
10.1. The Defendant did not issue the PCN.
10.2. The Defendant is not the party seeking to enforce the PCN; and
10.3. The Defendant were only instructed in April 2019.
11. The Claimant does not have any real prospect of successfully bringing the claim against the Defendant and there is no other compelling reason why the case should be disposed of at trial, and the Claimant believes the claim should be struck out and/or the Defendant be granted Summary Judgement.
12. The Defendant therefore requests that the Court strikes out the Claimant's Claim and order the Claimant to pay the Defendant's costs or and incidental to this application on a summary basis."


It's worth noting, given what they said above, that they took on all of the correspondence between TPS and myself when they took the case.

What are your thoughts on the above?

The_Deep

I hope I'm not being stupid by doing so.... Taking on a company of solicitors might not be one of my smartest moves!

You are not dealing with a magic circle firm, these peoples are what ethical behaviour and probity are to what flat packs are to fine bespoke furniture, read this

https://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2018/01/link-parking-youve-been-gladstoned.html

BW lose almost every case in which we assist. They issue shat are know as roboclaims, thousands of them, ill prepared, no due diligence, unlawful amounts claims, one wonders how they get away with it. What reputable law firm would accept clients from this scam industry?

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

Umkomaas

Taking on a company of solicitors might not be one of my smartest moves!

Hardly a company of solicitors. Primarily they're a debt collection outfit with a small number of sols tagged on.

You might find it useful to understand how BWL operate.

Other than auto acknowledgements and template letters, you will get nothing sensible from BWL - they are dealing with literally hundreds of thousands of unpaid parking charges and are spewing out various threatening letters, using a conveyor belt approach to go through a computer controlled process towards a LBC, and a MCOL Claim - and it is really only at the final stages, as a court hearing becomes a possibility, that there's any real human intervention.

You need to understand that you're not dealing with an old fashioned firm of solicitors, just progressing from a quill and ink operation, BWL are industrial harvesters of debt, using the equivalent of massive farming machinery to do their work. This is what their website tells you:

A multi-award winning law firm specialising in volume collections, across both regulated and unregulated sectors, who are dual regulated through the FCA and SRA.

We employ around 265 people at our Leeds based office which in turn makes us the largest privately owned debt collection law firm in the UK.

Of that number, BWL employ only 6 qualified solicitors.

http://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/organisation/people/532848/bw-legal-services-ltd?Solicitors=True

beamerguy

ChrisGG . I congratulate you taking on these monkeys

As said above, do not confuse real solicitors with this outfit ?

Of course they wanted mediation, they know that mediation is a flawed system. In the end they don't want to go to court because if you win, and you will, it's more egg on their pathetic faces

I assume that have applied the scam £60 as usual

Hope you have read this
Abuse of Process ... District Judge tells BWLegal
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal&highlight=abuse+of+process

nosferatu1001

Thats...not a great claim. Theyre right - you havent disclosed a cause of action, not really. I presume harassment?

ChrisGG_2

nosferatu1001 wrote: »

Thats...not a great claim. Theyre right - you havent disclosed a cause of action, not really. I presume harassment?

Yes, I'm working on harassment. The letters are certainly fairly threatening, as well as not being accurate. However, I think I will struggle to demonstrate that I have been financially disadvantaged from their harassment.

Any tips?

Redx

harassment tends to be more focussed on personal problems like stress anxiety and mental health issues etc, with doctors notes , plus its thought that using GDPR works better as its easier to try to prove, a lower bar than anxiety etc


I do not believe that you can use financial issues for harassment, purely based on monetary issues, without evidence to back up the losses