Link Parking/BW Legal beaten in court.

keypulse

beamerguy said:

I have to agree with Umkomaas, Gardner should kick BWLegal into the long grass as a failure

This case whilst not abuse of process as such is abuse against against the motorist and is now list in the hall of shame ....Abuse of Process thread --- PART 2
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/post/editdiscussion/6103933

Your link is broken, should it be this? https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6103933

The more I dwell on this now the madder I feel. I feel I only won so hard today because although I'm no genius...

• I found some places on the 'net where I could benefit from the knowledge of strangers
• I know my way round a word processor and macOS Preview
• I have some prior knowledge of PPCs and the laws around issues arising from falling foul of them
• I had a judge who was clued up and an adversary whose heart just didn't seem to be in it
  
• I'm stubborn

Something else that wasn't brought up in court today was the fact that BW Legal bombarded me with letters threatening my credit rating (around 20-30 times) and my employability (once). It's really no wonder people fold before court or even earlier (yes, I've had people ask me "Why didn't you just pay the £60?" when I explained how much time I was putting into this).

I want to make some complaints about BW (probably also Link, but he's small potatoes for now) citing my case. As much as today's win was epic, I would far preferred to have spent all the time I spent on it with my ever-patient partner, or my kids, or watching films or just gouging my eyes out with spoons really. It's been educational, but draining. So I was looking at the SRA but could only find stuff on their site regarding complaining about your own solicitor.

Searching here served me this thread; it's 3 years old but gives me the impression the SRA are at best toothless or worse, complicit. Has anything changed since then; should I complain to them; how should I do so? Feedback appreciated.

I'm going to admit something too now; despite my sabre-rattling on my appeal about complaining to my MP I never actually got round to doing this. I don't even know who my MP is, but if bringing this up to him/her is in any way useful, I will do this. Again, advice on how to do so would be appreciated.

Coupon-mad

Searching here served me this thread; it's 3 years old but gives me the impression the SRA are at best toothless or worse, complicit. Has anything changed since then; should I complain to them; how should I do so? Feedback appreciated.

The SRA are investigating Gladstones solicitors but we are not holding our breath, despite the bombardment of evidence sent to the SRA about them allegedly writing WS and allegedly abusing the use of facsimile signatures of people who could not have signed.

Maybe wait and see what gets reported back this month by bargepole and others who complained re Gladstones, because the next one in line for SRA complaints, will be BW Legal, without a doubt.

keypulse

Today I received in the post a letter from the court confirming the outcome, the amount owed to me and the deadline for payment (17 March). I have heard nothing from Link.
Does anyone know the protocol if they haven't sent me payment in time, eg. am I obliged to write them some kind of formal demand or can I just go back to the court and instruct their bailiffs to chase this on my behalf (I understand I would have to pay a fee up-front and this would in turn be recovered by the bailiff for me)?

Coupon-mad

Yes, either of those is fine.

keypulse

Coupon-mad said:

Yes, either of those is fine.

Thank you. It'll be the latter then, I'll not be wasting any paper, toner, stamps on courtesy on them. Will update.

nosferatu1001

Writ of Control is what youre after

Did you ever get any BANK details from the claimant, on any bit of paper work? As you can ask the court to *freeze* those accounts until youre paid. 

D_P_Dance

Finally a judge has recognised how long it tales for non legally trained people to deal with these cases.  My own claim for unreasonable behaviour was dismissed in seconds although in my far from humble opinion, it had considerable merit.

FrankCannon

It might be because you are a known serial defendant of PCNs issued at Asda.

keypulse

nosferatu1001 said:

Writ of Control is what youre after

As it's for under £600 it's just a Warrant of Execution.

nosferatu1001 said:

Did you ever get any BANK details from the claimant, on any bit of paper work? As you can ask the court to *freeze* those accounts until youre paid. 

Unfortunately not.

keypulse

I finished work early today and had some time to kill, so I decided to make some calls.

First up was Link Parking, where option 5 got me through to Martin. He informed me that he doesn't handle payments and I need to speak to his solicitors. He sounded tired and lonely. I thanked him and said I would call BW Legal right away.

The conversation with the first BW bod illustrates what a shower they are, so I'll post it for your amusement.

BW - “Hello, BW Legal. Can I take your reference please?"

ME - “I don’t have one. I have a claim number if that helps?”
BW - “Can I take your postcode then please?”
ME - “Yes, it’s xxxx xxx”
BW - “...and can I take your name?”
ME - “Sure, it’s xxxxx xxxx”
BW - “For security can I take the first line of your address?”
ME - “Of course, it’s x xxxxxxx xxxx”
BW - “…and the postcode?”
ME - “I literally just gave you my postcode!”
BW - “I need it again for security purposes”
ME - (stifling laughter) “ok, it’s xxxx xxx”
BW - “Let me get your details… OK can I take your phone number please?”
ME - (nothing to lose) “Oh ok, it’s xxxxx xxx xxx”
BW - (sounding confident) “Thank you. I see we issued a claim against you on the 9th of October for our client, Link Parking and there is a balance outstanding of £265.20”
ME - “u wot m8?”
BW - “Would you like to make a payment?”
ME - “The case was heard on the 3rd of March. You lost.”
BW - “…pardon?”
ME - “The case was heard on the 3rd of March. You lost. My costs were awarded to me. I just phoned your client chasing payment of £414.50 and he said I should call you guys”
BW - “…we lost?”
ME - “Would you like to make a payment?”

He then asks if he can put me through to their “Legal Department” (lol) and puts me on hold for 5 minutes. I'm about to hang up and go back to Martin but I'm finally put through to someone who tells me a cheque was issued on the 10th of March. I assure her I have received no cheque and she says she will look into it immediately and if I haven’t received it tomorrow then to call back. I could almost hear the sound of someone frantically scribbling a cheque in the background, but I can’t say for sure.

Assuming the cheque arrives and clears, I'll give it a few weeks and then look into getting a transcript of the hearing (this allows time in case BW decide to order one in the meantime, which I don't think they will but worth a shot).