I just beat BW Legal in court. Here's what I learned...

ishotthesheriff

Hi Guys,

I used guidance in this forum to successfully defend a claim from Britannia Parking / BW Legal in court 2 weeks ago.

Circumstances: Incorrect VRN entered into machine, lost ticket, POPLA appeal lost. I followed the advice on the newbies thread about when to act and when to ignore, worked a charm.

For what it's worth, here's what I learned:

1. BW Legal *genuinely* are a shambles, do not be intimidated by them in the slightest at any stage. Their claim / witness statement was a waste of paper and the 'advocate' they sent on the day was ill prepared and inexperienced. Can't emphasise this enough, they really are a crock of !!!!.

2. POPLA are a toothless formality. Submit your appeal to them as a matter of process, but their outcome stood for nothing in court so don't sweat it.

3. You can do absolutely everything by email, just make sure you get an auto response, this is your electronic 'proof of postage'.

4. The judge was !!!!ed about BW Legal sending an advocate and not turning up themselves, worth asking the judge to explain in layman's terms why the claimant isn't present if they send a paralegal / advocate.

5. The judge wasn't interested in 90% of my defence and made that clear - My advice would be keep your witness statement as short and sweet as possible.

6. Signage. This was of particular interest to the judge because it's a quick and easy decision if the signs aren't 100% watertight, which I doubt many are. My advice would be to do your homework and emphasise this area: Unclear, misleading, the T&C's are tiny & unreadable, they say 'please purchase ticket' rather than 'you must purchase ticket' etc.

7. Claimant / paralegal / advocate. We had a chat before we went in, nice guy just doing his job but don't give anything at all away. I casually (foolishly) mentioned that I had filed my witness statement 1 day late and he brought it up in court. Clutching at straws, but worth bearing in mind.

8. Court day. Genuinely nothing to worry about, I was nervous but needn't have been once I got in there. Court usher was really nice and helpful. Arrive 20 mins early, dress like it's an interview, wait to be invited to sit down by the judge, only speak when invited to do so, speak slowly and calmly, don't react to anything, poker face, address the judge as Sir / Maam.

9. Double recovery. I listed the recent (within 12 months) cases where BW Legal / Britannia parking claims have been thrown out due to double recovery. I exclaimed that all these cases were identical to this one in terms of 'abuse of process' and I then pointed the judge to the figure that represents double recovery on original paperwork in this case. Judge seemed to like that.

10. Follow the advice from this forum, it works. Don't miss your deadlines, keep your cool and trust in the process.

I've no doubt repeated a lot that has already been said on this awesome forum, but if any of the above is helpful then great.

Appreciate it guys, chalk up another win against BW Legal!

Ralph-y

well done ....


ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST.



Ralph:cool:

The_Deep

What costs did the judge award? Did you ask for unreasonable behaviour costs wrt abuse of process?

They have wasted your time, now waste their, send them an invoice for your time.

https://www.lovetts.co.uk/blog/your-12-point-guide-to-writing-a-debt-recovery-letter-before-action

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

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][/FONT]

Umkomaas

Super advice. Shows exactly how to do it all yourself without any handholding whatsoever from the forum regulars. In stark contrast to some threads that are 200+ posts long and hardly past first base.

I'm going to bookmark this excellent advisory and refer people to it as necessary.

Really well done. :T

Fruitcake

This is what we like, and I don't just mean the win, which is wonderful in itself.

We have a first time poster who has done everything themselves purely from the information here without even starting their own thread, and without ever asking a question on the forum.

This proves it can be done, and also proves that the information here is spot on, although there are a few tweaks being done at the moment to the NEWBIES to bring it up to date with any new developments.

Well done, and thanks for letting us know.

That's an interesting point you mention about the claimant not being present, since the opposite applies to the defendant who must be in court even if they are using a legally qualified or lay representative.

Chapeau tipped to you.

Have you complained to your MP and the landowner about this unregulated scam? With a court win under your belt you can certainly show them this PCN should never have been issued.

Castle

ishotthesheriff wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I used guidance in this forum to successfully defend a claim from Britannia Parking / BW Legal in court 2 weeks ago.

Circumstances: Incorrect VRN entered into machine, lost ticket, POPLA appeal lost. I followed the advice on the newbies thread about when to act and when to ignore, worked a charm.

I assume that you will now be writing to POPLA to inform them of the court decision; and that, if they had done their job right in the first place everybody would have saved a lot of time.

beamerguy

Castle wrote: »

I assume that you will now be writing to POPLA to inform them of the court decision; and that, if they had done their job right in the first place everybody would have saved a lot of time.

I doubt POPLA knows what day of the week it is let alone getting things right:rotfl:

beamerguy

ishotthesheriff wrote: »

1. BW Legal *genuinely* are a shambles, do not be intimidated by them in the slightest at any stage. Their claim / witness statement was a waste of paper and the 'advocate' they sent on the day was ill prepared and inexperienced. Can't emphasise this enough, they really are a crock of !!!!.

2. POPLA are a toothless formality. Submit your appeal to them as a matter of process, but their outcome stood for nothing in court so don't sweat it.

Having seen it first hand, BWLegal are a complete shambles

Well done, can you please advise us .....
1: Which Court
2: Case number
3: The name of the Judge

Snakes_Belly

Congratulations on your win.

The judge wasn't interested in 90% of my defence and made that clear - My advice would be keep your witness statement as short and sweet as possible.

I would totally agree with this comment. There is a tendency to want to throw everything into the mix just in case something sticks. Codes of Practice are not worth the paper they are written on. Drill down to the main issues of the contract and the signage.

didgeridoooo

Excellent, just excellent. Thank you for posting this.



I second the request for court and judge info, please

ishotthesheriff

My pleasure:
Worcester County Court
District Judge Gibson
F0DP2W79