BW Legal notice of county claim issued for a PCN from 2015!

Orangecordial

Hi all, I'm in need of some advice on how to fight this, and after reading the newbies thread I'm sure I'm in the right place. I will be sending a SAR request to the parking company and contacting BW Legal later on today, but first wanted to ask some questions to make sure I am doing it right.
So the story is that I parked at the car park of a friend's apartment building on the 16th July 2015, I came back to find a ticket on the windscreen for parking without a permit. My friend had never had a permit or knew anything about needing one. Thinking that it was just a misunderstanding I naïvely appealed to the parking company directly, I can't remember what I actually wrote as it was so long ago but i think it was something along the lines of saying I had permission to park there? But they obviously ignored or rejected the appeal as I continued to get a few letters from them.
Anyway, a few months later I was in an accident and the car in question got written off. The letters stopped, and I forgot all about it. I moved house, then went travelling for a few years, and came back the beginning of 2019 into a new place.
So imagine my surprise when I opened the first letter from BW Legal in 2020, about August time, in the middle of lockdown, about how I owe them £273.54! I couldn't even recognise the car registration it had been so long, I thought it was a scam. I thought surely the time limit on this stupid thing had lapsed, but there was still another year to go. I thought I could wait it out again but apparently not this time.
So, now BW Legal have sent me a letter saying they have issued legal proceedings in the form of a county court claim on the 26th October, along with forms from the county court business centre. Does this mean that my hope of it all being forgotten about are out the window now, as they have started the proceedings within the 6 year window? Or is it 6 years until the actual court date? Is there a possible way to postpone things for another 9 months?
I'm completely stumped as to how I am supposed to prepare a defence for something that I can't even remember happening. My friend moved out of the building over 3 years ago, so I can't find any details of any site manager or anything to complain to about it. 

Any advice that anyone has regarding this I would greatly appreciate, 2020 has been a stressful enough year as it is!

D_P_Dance

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP, sometimes it can lead to cancellation.,

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers. On 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, and hopefully this will become law shortly

KeithP

26th October? Is that the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form? I'll assume it is. Please confirm.

With a Claim Issue Date of 26th October, you have until Monday 16th November to file an Acknowledgment of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an AoS, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Having filed an AoS, you have until 4pm on Monday 30th November 2020 to file your Defence.

That's almost four weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the Acknowledgment of Service instructions.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an Acknowledgment of Service, nor that for filing a Defence.

Orangecordial

KeithP said:

26th October? Is that the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form? I'll assume it is. Please confirm.

Yes, that's the date on the form.
Thanks for the links, I will take another look at them

Ralph-y

 link to court section in newbies thread
.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/64350585/#Comment_64350585

Ralph

KeithP

Yes, that link is in my post Ralph. 

Ralph-y

Opps

Getting as bad as .........

Ralph

Orangecordial

Hi all, 

I'm struggling with wording my defence. Many of the defences linked from the Newbies thread talk about leases and what the lessee can and cannot do when it comes to parking, their rights, etc. But i don't have access to any lease, as the friend who I was visiting has not lived in the building for a number of years. So should I still include stuff about the lease if I can't prove it? I don't know for certain if there was a parking clause in the lease and there is no way to check.

nosferatu1001

Was your friend on an AST or did they own the place?

Orangecordial

nosferatu1001 said:

Was your friend on an AST or did they own the place?

He was on an AST.

1505grandad

Who is the parking company?

Assuming it is not ParkingEye have you seen the "Suggested template defence" sticky?