Brittania Parking/ B W Legal - Scottish parking penalty notice

ronthedon

I received a letter from Britannia Parking in July 2017 marked Final Reminder and advising that the discounted period had expired and that if the notice was ignored it would be passed to a Debt Recovery Agent. It stated that the overdue parking charge would increase to £160 if I did not pay. It did not state how much was due if I paid now or when I had to pay by. This was the first communication I had received from them, ie I did not receive an initial notice. It alleged that I had parked at an East Kilbride car park in June 2017. I wrote back stating that I did not recall being there on that date, and asked what evidence they had that I was the driver. They responded by sending photos of the front and rear registration plates, but did not show who was driving. I was one of three drivers insured on the car. I did not reply to that communication or any of the 7 letters from Debt Recovery Plus or the 4 from Zenith Collections received after that although some offered a £60 reduction.                                    I have now received a letter from B W Legal with a claim for £145. It gives an option to make monthly payments but now threaten to issue a Letter of Claim and thereafter to legal action. Thoughts?  My inclination is to ignore as they have no proof that I was the driver and as far as I aware this has not been tested in a Scottish Court.     

                       

Truth be told, I would probably have just paid the first notice had I received one and it had been for a reasonable sum, but the threatening tone of their “Final Reminder” and the fact they did not state how much was due if I paid now just got my back up!                                         

Fruitcake

It is not a penalty.

A vehicle keeper cannot be held liable in Scotland.

Debt collectors have no powers and can safely be ignored.

If court claim is made, it must come from a Scottish court. It is not impossible, but unlikely for a single ticket. The PPC would need to know the identity of the driver to do this. If they don't know who it is, they are stuffed.
The only way for them to know the identity of the driver  is if someone is foolish enough to tell them.

I suggest you continue to ignore it for another thirteen months until it becomes statute barred by Scottish law, and ceases to exist, unless you get a real court claim under the Act of Sederunt/Simple Procedure from a real Scottish court before then.

Redx

Read this recent thread on pepipoo , where various Scotland matters are explained as best we can

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=140018&st=0&start=0

Ps , Britannia parking do not issue penalties , not allowed in the UK. !!

Umkomaas

Do any of the letters, from any of the agencies, suggest they are pursuing you under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Schedule 4)?  Read them very carefully, not just scan them. 

fisherjim

Debt Recovery Plus and Zenith are the same useless company, when they start reducing their scam charges they are giving up.

Follow the advice on here and don't let the scammers know who was driving they will threaten and stamp their feet but not much else.

D_P_Dance

 I have now received a letter from B W Legal with a claim for £145.

Anything over £100 is likely to be unlawful, read this and complain to your MP.

Excel v Wilkinson

At the Bradford County Court, District Judge Claire Jackson (now HHJ Jackson, a Specialist Civil Circuit Judge) decided to hear a 'test case' a few months ago, where £60 had been added to a parking charge despite Judges up and down the country repeatedly disallowing that sum and warning parking firms not to waste court time with such spurious claims.   That case was Excel v Wilkinson: G4QZ465V, heard in July 2020 and leave to appeal was refused and that route was not pursued.  The Judge concluded that such claims are proceedings with 'an improper collateral purpose'.   This Judge - and others who have since copied her words and struck dozens of cases out in late 2020 and into 2021 - went into significant detail and concluded that parking operators (such as this Claimant) are seeking to circumvent CPR 27.14 as well as breaching the Consumer Rights Act 2015.   DJ Hickinbottom has recently struck more cases out in that court area, stating: ''I find that striking out this claim is the only appropriate manner in which the disapproval of the court can be shown''.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/16qovzulab1szem/G4QZ465V Excel v Wilkinson.pdf?dl=0

beamerguy

I have now received a letter from B W Legal with a claim for £145.?

BWLegal Have Lied to you .... shameful

My inclination is to ignore as they have no proof that I was the driver and as far as I aware this has not been tested in a Scottish Court.

What is a driver ???  Registered keeper .. YES

We know the BWL rubbish and their nonsensical letters ?   It is not financially viable in Scotland unless it is over £300 ?.  With all their fakery, they will not reach that figure    

ronthedon

Umkomaas said:

Do any of the letters, from any of the agencies, suggest they are pursuing you under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Schedule 4)?  Read them very carefully, not just scan them. 

Thanks. I've gone through each of the 15(!) letters received and none quote this Act.

Umkomaas

ronthedon said:

Umkomaas said:

Do any of the letters, from any of the agencies, suggest they are pursuing you under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Schedule 4)?  Read them very carefully, not just scan them. 

Thanks. I've gone through each of the 15(!) letters received and none quote this Act.

In which case they absolutely know they have no prospect whatsoever of holding the registered keeper liable for the charge. 

My inclination is to ignore as they have no proof that I was the driver and as far as I aware this has not been tested in a Scottish Court.

Bang on the money. Ignore the drivel. Just come back in the vanishingly unlikely event of anything resembling a court claim coming your way. So unlikely, don't lose any sleep over this rubbish! 

Coupon-mad

Now, please do us and yourself (and the driving public) a favour and stick around on this forum every week - at least for the Summer - to ensure you see when the Government publish and open the final Technical Consultation.

We will be talking about it and the public will have about 4 weeks we think, to tell the MHCLG what you think about the level of parking charges, that the MHCLG has admirably decided already will start at £50 (50% discount) and not £100:

Outcome of 2020 Consultation - this applies in Scotland as well as England and Wales:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/parking-code-enforcement-framework/outcome/parking-code-enforcement-framework-consultation-response

Planned Summer 2021 additional Public Consultation:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-open-technical-consultation-on-fairer-parking-charges

It's not open yet but please keep check here to see when it is. 

We need real people like you to counter the spamming that happened last time from the industry.

Snowy28

I have had one of these come on Friday also Scotland. Can anyone please tell me if the law has changed yet around registered keeper responsibility? Can I ignore?