Premier Parking Solutions and BW Legal - Letter Before Court

rock2011

Hi everyone!

I'm hoping you can help. Sorry for War and Peace!

A few months back we were on holiday and pulled into a car park while our youngest slept in the car. We stayed about 30 mins and then left. We didn't pay as we didn't leave the car at any point.

A few weeks later we received a parking fine through the post from Premier Parking Solutions as the car park had number plate recognition cameras.

The fine seemed expensive at £60 so having undertaken initial research we decided to ignore the letter.

We have since received a chase letter from Premier Parking Solutions, then a letter from BW Legal and now a pre-court letter from BW Legal.

Having ended up on this forum when researching again I realise now that it probably wasn't the best thing to ignore the initial notice, more that we should have appealed.

Following the information on this forum we sent a SAR request to Premier Parking Solutions and contacted BW Legal to ask them to put a hold on things in the meantime. As expected BW Legal responded to our email and sent a letter to decline.

Premier Parking Solutions have now responded to the request and provided all information they have on us. All they seem to have photograph wise is a photo of our car arriving and a photo of our car leaving. Our main arguement for not paying the parking fine initially was that neither me or my wife believe it was clearly signposted at the entrance to the car park that number plate recognition was used at that car park. The fact they don't have any photos of the signage hopefully supports our case.

Looking back, I'm wishing we'd paid the £60 as we're currently looking at £160 however I'm encouraged by reading here that even if things go to court it seems that most people don't have to pay.

I'm just looking for feedback on our journey so far and some kind of advice if possible on how to proceed from here please!

Thanks

The_Deep

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]It is not a fine, it is an invoice from an ex- clamper for damages for the harm they allege they suffered when you did what you did. We call it a scam. Pay them not one penny unless a judge so orders it.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Nine times out of ten of these tickets are scams so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra work.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, 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.

[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]

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

Le_Kirk

I am afraid if you pull into a car park and stop in a bay, you have parked. Just because you didn't leave the car doesn't make it "not parking." You chose not to pay and then ignore letters. Whilst sympathetic, I cannot think of what you might put in your defence (if it comes to that) except the usual, signage, landowner authority etc. It is of course your choice to pay or defend and you will get help on the forum with defence and witness statement.

Does the pre-court letter give you 30 days to pay or respond and contain financial forms or links to them (which you don't fill in) and contain full particulars of claim with the proof they are going to rely on. If so it is a proper LOC/LBC/LBA/LBCCC and should not be ignored. Wait for the formal claim form from Northampton CCBC and in the meantime read NEWBIE sticky post # 2, paying particular attention to how to complete the AoS on-line and looking at the 17 pre-written defences to see if you can find one that is a close match to your circumstances.

beamerguy

Looking back, I'm wishing we'd paid the £60 as we're currently looking at £160 however I'm encouraged by reading here that even if things go to court it seems that most people don't have to pay.

So the parking ticket is £60 and BWLegal have added £100 ?

Normally it's the other way around.

The letter of claim you received, does it give a breakdown of the extra charge ???? The letter should give you 30 days to respond and proof of their claim plus charges ? The financial forms in the letter before claim can be ignored.

BWLegal are scamming you with a fake amount that the courts call ABUSE OF PROCESS. What is their explanation for the £100

READ THIS CAREFULLY
Abuse of Process ... District Judge tells BWLegal
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal

Umkomaas

neither me or my wife believe it was clearly signposted at the entrance to the car park that number plate recognition was used at that car park.

It will be a Judge to make the final decision. It won’t matter much what you or your wife think. If you’re going to argue the point, do you have your own photos of the signage to back up any submission on it?

The fact they don't have any photos of the signage hopefully supports our case.

Rest assured, they will have them, but you weren’t entitled to them as part of a SAR which provides only personal information about you and the VRM of your vehicle. You will get the photos within their Witness Statement and bundle, a couple of weeks before any court hearing.

contacted BW Legal to ask them to put a hold on things in the meantime. As expected BW Legal responded to our email and sent a letter to decline.

Unless you stated that you were seeking ‘debt advice’, there is no requirement for BWL to provide a delay.

I’m sorry the above doesn’t take you much further forward, but hopefully puts a few myths to bed before any wandering off down blind alleys.

Coupon-mad

May as well defend. Why on EARTH would you not pay, when you parked? Wow.

The_Deep

Looking back, I'm wishing we'd paid the £60 as we're currently looking at £160


But their greed could result in them having to pay you, that extra £100 is ultra vires, read this


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal

rock2011

Hi everyone. Thanks for all your replies, which I've only just seen as for some reason I didn't get any email notifications past the first response.

I believe the parking fine was for £100 so they must have added £60 so far. If we had paid in a certain amount of days it would have been £50 or £60 so that's why I said it's gone from that to £160.

We've now received a Letter of Claim, which states if payment or a response is not received before 10/12 BW are instructed to issue a Claim against us in the county Court without further notice.

There is a reply form which I can complete and send back to BW which has sections on 'Do you owe the debt' 'How will you pay' etc. Should I complete this form and return it or just ignore it?

Looking at the responses to date, i think this advice should be followed?

Wait for the formal claim form from Northampton CCBC and in the meantime read NEWBIE sticky post # 2, paying particular attention to how to complete the AoS on-line and looking at the 17 pre-written defences to see if you can find one that is a close match to your circumstances.

rock2011

Coupon-mad wrote: »

May as well defend. Why on EARTH would you not pay, when you parked? Wow.

If the fine had been £25-30 like ones we've had from council car parks we probably would have paid it. We felt that £50 or £60 (Can't remember what it was originally) was a bit steep and having researched online the advice seemed to be to ignore it, which was against our better judgement.

Frustratingly, when we got the first Letter Before Court we researched again and the advice is not to ignore it, even if you disagree and won't pay it I believe you should still dispute - I'm annoyed we didn't come across this advice initially but that's obviously our own fault for not researching sufficiently!!

Drawing a line under this we now have a choice of paying £160 or defending. Your suggestion is that we might as well defend - would I be right in saying the only downside to this is we could end up paying more? I think I read up to 4/500? If we were issued with a CCJ we could just pay at that stage and it wouldn't affect our credit or anything would it?

Thanks again everyone!

Le_Kirk

Yes, follow the advice in the NEWBIE sticky post # 2.

No, don't fill in their forms.

If you don't know the full details (POC) submit SAR to the PPC. If you want to gain a bit more time, you could say, whilst you deny any debt exists, you are seeking debt advice and you require the claim to be put on hold for 30 days in line with the pre-action protocol for debt claims.

Reply to the LOC with a brief letter saying you deny the claim and will defend in full, then sit back and wait for formal court papers from Northampton CCBC.

The_Deep

I think I read up to 4/500?


The most it usually costs when a motorist loses in court is unlikely to exceed £200.