BW Legal County Court Claim Defence

Le_Kirk

swan_ said:

Thanks a lot, guys! I found it. 
I have another question, though. In the article I read, it is said that if I lose, which is very likely, I "have to pay the amount on the Claim Form, plus a hearing fee (£25 if the claim is under £300)". As I don't have any claim form I'm not sure which amount is that. Is it the actual parking charge or is it the total amount together with BW Legal's fees which totals to £263?

If you don't have a claim form, how did you submit a defence?  In fact why did you submit a defence?  Have you in fact had a claim form and lost it or disposed of it?  BW Legal always add a spurious £60 for debt admin or some other fantastical, made up misnomer, which they cannot claim.  The original charge was likely £100 plus £25 filing fee plus £25 hearing fee and (up to) £50 legal costs therefore £200 NOT £263.  You can normally contact CCBC and ask them to e-mail you a copy of your claim form.  You just need your claim reference number (which you should find on the e-mail (subject field) which you used to submit your defence.  Of course they won't be open until 28th December.

swan_

Le_Kirk said:

swan_ said:

Thanks a lot, guys! I found it. 
I have another question, though. In the article I read, it is said that if I lose, which is very likely, I "have to pay the amount on the Claim Form, plus a hearing fee (£25 if the claim is under £300)". As I don't have any claim form I'm not sure which amount is that. Is it the actual parking charge or is it the total amount together with BW Legal's fees which totals to £263?

If you don't have a claim form, how did you submit a defence?  In fact why did you submit a defence?  Have you in fact had a claim form and lost it or disposed of it?  BW Legal always add a spurious £60 for debt admin or some other fantastical, made up misnomer, which they cannot claim.  The original charge was likely £100 plus £25 filing fee plus £25 hearing fee and (up to) £50 legal costs therefore £200 NOT £263.  You can normally contact CCBC and ask them to e-mail you a copy of your claim form.  You just need your claim reference number (which you should find on the e-mail (subject field) which you used to submit your defence.  Of course they won't be open until 28th December.

I have only a Notice of Intention to Proceed bt BW Legal. After I received this, I gave them a call and I called CCBC. I asked them to send it to me but they didn't. The sum is made of - £100 + £60 (Receipt of Instruction Fee) + £25 (CPC Claim Issue Fee) + £50 (Fixed Cost on Claim) + £28.63 (Interest). 
What I'm asking is if the Claim is for the full amount and if I lose, should I pay it or just the £100 + the hearing fee.

Redx

If you lost in court and successfully object to the spurious charges plus interest , the judge may award the claimant the £100 for the PCN , plus 2 lots of £25 for filing costs and court costs , plus maybe £50 in legal fees , totalling about £200 , not £260 plus that they claimed

So a typical loss in court is £175 to £200

Umkomaas

The cost of losing a single ticket court hearing would typically be broken down as:

£100 - original parking charge
£25 - court filing fee
£50 - solicitor costs for preparing case papers (maximum, capped)
£25 - hearing fee, if it gets that far
Maybe some interest, depends how long it's been since the original charge.

So not much more than £200 - IF YOU LOSE!

Anything else they try to add will be spurious and must be challenged with the Judge.  Judges are generally disallowing anything over and above the breakdown I've listed. 

swan_

Thank you very much!

swan_

I've exchanged some emails with the Parking Company asking for information about the place and now I recall I may park there one late evening for an hour or so. Anyway, I told them that I'm happy to pay the initial ticket and they told me that I need to speak with BW Legal. So I forwarded the email to BW Legaland they got back to me offering me to pay £180 instead of £263 and I'm considering it instead of going to court and losing my time with higher probability to pay £200. It's not I'm willing to pay it but as they have the evidence and I have no solid defence, this is probably the better option. What do you guys think? 

Coupon-mad

If you parked late one evening and saw no signs then that would be a very solid defence.  Unlit signs in the dark means no contract was formed or agreed.

Can you show us a URL 'share' link to the exact place on Google Street View and tell us which month and year the alleged event took place?

Umkomaas

Whether this gets to an actual court hearing will depend more on what the parking firm decide rather than what BWL decide. But you have never told us who the parking firm is.  When you do, we will perhaps be able to advise on their propensity to go the full distance. Without you knowing that, I don't think you should be making any precipitate decision to pay anyone anything. 

Which parking firm?

Snakes_Belly

£180.00, I would take my chance in the DJ lottery even if it was one of the most litigious PPC's.

swan_

Coupon-mad said:

If you parked late one evening and saw no signs then that would be a very solid defence.  Unlit signs in the dark means no contract was formed or agreed.

Can you show us a URL 'share' link to the exact place on Google Street View and tell us which month and year the alleged event took place?

December 2016. There's no Google street available. This is the exact place:
52.62985798135176, 1.3003670898962272

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Norwich/@52.6298751,1.3003962,21z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x47d0aad55133f513:0x684ca5e00e12452f!8m2!3d52.6308859!4d1.297355