BWlegal/Britannia want £250 - advice please

bwlowlifes

I just want to start by apologising to anyone that thinks I'm looking for an easy way to fight this. I'm really sorry I've spent the most part of last week or so just researching but I'm still struggling with a lot. It's second nature to a lot of people on here so hopefully I can get somewhere if someone could give 5 minutes of their valuable time.

I'm a graduate facing a parking case with bwlegal on behalf of britannia. I'm going to be completely honest it's a private car park (an NHS health centre) with ANPR and I didn't buy a ticket. I never saw a ticket machine, was in a rush, it was dark and after hours (signs are not lit and there's lots of trees around) so I just didn't think much of it. But now they're being extortionate. There's just one small sign that says "camera controlled max stay 90mins" with no wardens or barriers.

I ignored all their letters for months but then I received a letter of claim and I just got a letter dated 23rd november that says "notice of county court claim issued" with the claim form attached. They are now claiming £235 in charges (£160 charge, £25 court fee, £50 legal rep costs) which I really can't afford and its affecting me greatly as I'm under a lot of stress at work and facing possible redundancy. 

As far as I'm aware from reading on here - I now need to file an AOS and MCOL (which I will be doing tomorrow), then send my defence using the template coupon-mad has provided in one of the threads? Would this suffice?

What is the likelihood of my defence even being successful? I am considering setting up a payment plan as I don't have excuses like everyone else (bought a ticket/faulty machine etc) and it's getting quite stressful. Any help would be so massively appreciated.

KeithP

Hello and Welcome.

What is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

Coupon-mad

Have you actually received the claim form N1 (look at Google images for one).

Umkomaas

With any Britannia case you need to carefully check how many variants of 'Britannia' are showing on your paperwork and, crucially, what is displayed on the sign in the car park. Go take some photos. 

Were you using the health centre or just fly-parking?

beamerguy

PAY BWLEGAL ?????   NEVER HEARD OF ?
Because BWL add fake amounts, even if you lost in court, a judge would normally deduct the fake £60.   The ticket is £100  ... NOT £160, you are being scammed.

Umkomaas has said about Britannia and you must check

1: Who is shown on the ticket
2: Who is shown on the sign
3: Who signed the contract with the landowner 

You need pictures of an unlit sign and it's location

Everything above is explained here in a real case of Britannia and BWLgal
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6008854/britania-parking-pcn-bournemouth/p1

Similar to your case .... the Judge kicked BWLegal out and awarded £95 costs to the defendant

D_P_Dance

This is a scam, complain to our MP..

bwlowlifes

Thank you all so much for such a quick response. It seems like I need to go to the location and get images which I will do.
@KeithP The issue date is 23rd Nov 2020
@Coupon-mad It doesn't look like the N1 on google images, and it says N1SDT at the bottom of the letter I got 
@Umkomaas I was just fly-parking, I have attached an image in the next post, as you can see it just says "camera controlled max stay 90mins"
@beamerguy the ticket just says "Britannia Parking", will get images of signs this week, and I'm not sure about the contract with the landowner is there an easy way to check?
@D_P_Dance Thank you for the advice I have now emailed my MP to complain

Thank you again all, I logged in today on my lunch break to see 5 replies and it uplifted me so much.

bwlowlifes

Here is a screenshot of the front of the car park. I parked literally where the black car on the left is.

Umkomaas

@Umkomaas I was just fly-parking, I have attached an image in the next post, as you can see it just says "camera controlled max stay 90mins"

Just avoid any such sites. In fact avoid any private parking firm controlled sites wherever possible, or, if not possible, comply absolutely with the signage. Almost every private parking car park is now a bear trap, waiting to ensnare you, me, and every other motorist - and slap out a £100 penalty every time. 

Please note - we are not a parking anarchy forum. Comply with the signage and PPCs go bust.  A very simple proposition that millions of UK motorists a year seem not to have the wherewithal to understand or action!  Beyond my comprehension. 

KeithP

bwlowlifes said:

KeithP  The issue date is 23rd Nov 2020
Coupon-mad It doesn't look like the N1 on google images, and it says N1SDT at the bottom of the letter I got 

Yes, that's a County Court Claim Form.

With a Claim Issue Date of 23rd November, you have until Monday 14th December 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 Tuesday 29th December 2020 to file your Defence.

That's over three 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.

Redx

You definitely will not win on fly parking , the circumstances

Any win is on a legal technical loophole , including the laws POFA and the CRA , the BPA CoP rules , signage , no landowner authority , poor lighting , the actual full details of Britannia and registration number , checking full details on the signs , the PCN , the claim form , the landowner contract etc , to see if they differ in actual name and registration number , some do , some don't , you are looking for discrepancies

They have added a false £60 , so that is objected to , so that any loss is less than £200

Never take the risk if you cannot accept the consequences