Notice of County Court Claim from BW Legal out of nowhere!

Spanner68

A few months back I received a phone call from someone calling themselves BW Legal, who asked me to confirm some "security" details by confirming my address. I declined to give my address and asked them who they were and what they were calling me for. The person on the phone said something along the lines of "haven't you had a letter from us?" to which I said no, so he said they would sent another letter. Between then and now I received no letters at all from BW Legal, though I received endless messages on the phone which I ignored whilst awaiting the promised letter. During this time BW Legal called my wife on her mobile and when she asked what they wanted they said it was in connection with a private parking fine in 2013, about which I have no recollection. At this point I must point out that it is entirely possible that i received a penalty notice back then, but at that time I was suffering from a long period of mental illness from which I have now recovered, but I don't remember much about anything which happened during that time.

Anyway, I have finally received a letter from BW Legal, which says they represent Premier Park Limited is a notice that they've issued a county court claim. The letter says they have issued this claim "following expiry of a pre action protocol letter". I don't know what letter they are referring to but this is the first letter I have ever received from BW Legal. In addition the letter refers to a claim reference number "which you will have received directly from the County Court Business Centre". Again I have not received anything from the CCBC!

So, in summary, I have never received any letter from BW Legal before so, apart from the phone call to my wife, they haven't given me any details of any claim they have against me so I still don't really know what this is all about. The question is therefore what should I do next? Call BW Legal? Wait for a letter from the County Court? HELP!

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can give.

Umkomaas

Have you changed address at around the time of the parking event, or since?

Spanner68

No I haven't.

luxardo

So how have they managed to send you this letter if they had no address for you for the others ? How did they get your phone number ?
Sounds like they are on a fishing trip to me, I'd ignore it completely and certainly don't contact them, that will just confirm their bait has hooked something.

beamerguy

they said it was in connection with a private parking fine in 2013

It's now the 19th of September 2019
What was the date of this ticket in 2013 ??

Spanner68

I'm not sure exactly. As I said I have not been sent any details about the original 'offence'. Any letters I may have received at the time, back in 2013, are long gone. My wife says she remembers me mentioning something about a penalty notice back then, but can't recall when it was exactly and for me a number of years around that time are pretty much blank due to my illness at the time.

My initial reaction was that I should firstly wait to see if I receive anything from the court, as I surely will if its real won't I?

Coupon-mad

luxardo wrote: »

So how have they managed to send you this letter if they had no address for you for the others ? How did they get your phone number ?
Sounds like they are on a fishing trip to me, I'd ignore it completely and certainly don't contact them, that will just confirm their bait has hooked something.

Bad advice from a new poster who appears to be from a PPC.

You DO NOT sit and ignore, if BW Legal say they've filed a claim.

My initial reaction was that I should firstly wait to see if I receive anything from the court, as I surely will if its real won't I?

No. If BW Legal are right, then there is a claim with your name on it somewhere, and you will get a default CCJ if you don't find it and defend.

Unusually, I would phone BW Legal and ask what address they sent the supposed pre-action letter to, and more importantly, what address for service did they use to the CCBC when filing this claim? Tell them you require a SAR from their client but also need the PCN number please, and alleged date of contravention, in order to do so. And you need that info from BW Legal, as PP won't deal with you for the SAR until you have it!

No answering questions (except to identify yourself as the recipient of this letter and keeper of the car) and no saying who was driving.

Spanner68

Thanks for that. Ive looked at the Newbies section, so I think I understand what you are saying. One further question though, if a court claim has been filed do I need to contact the CCBC? Also, how long typically before a hearing would take place? I have just read that it can take a couple of months to get the results from the SAR.

KeithP

Spanner68 wrote: »

I have just read that it can take a couple of months to get the results from the SAR.

Where did you read that?

The Data Protection Act 2018 allows one calendar month for a reply to a Subject Access Request.

Le_Kirk

You should contact BW Legal first as you need to know what C-m has suggested, then you can phone CCBC when you have some details that they can search for. If you submit a SAR, the PPC must respond within 30 days.

Spanner68

OK, so the SAR will take up to 30 days. Am I correct in thinking the point of requesting that is that it helps in the formulation of a defence? If so this takes me back to my previous question of how long does one normally get to respond with a defence? The letter says that the County Court claim was made on 6th September.