BW Legal now chasing charge I never recieved

adp1

Hi.

So, we recently had a letter from BW Legal stating we have to now pay a fine of £160.00 from an original £60 charge from a NCP car park. They allege that we never paid for parking. They have attached copies of the original two letters that were sent by NCP showing my car entering and leaving the car park. This happened in June 2019. There was a problem getting the ticket so we rang NCP who told us the payment had gone through. Now, we moved into our new address in August 2018 by apparently the charge notices were sent to my previous address. I was sure I had changed my details with the DVLA long before the contravention so never recieved any of the charge notices. The first I knew about it was when I recieved this letter from BW Legal recently.

I have tried to contact NCP but with no luck - their online chat doesn't reply and the phone number is all pre-recorded - so any advice what to do next? We tried to get records from O2 to prove we rang NCP but was told they no longer keep them after two years so just missed out!

Any advice on what to do? I fear I can't prove we contacted NCP, but I begrudge paying these legal cretins any money!

Thanks

Redx

Follow the advice in the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum regarding an LBC and do 2 tasks

1) an email to the DPO at NCP to obtain all your data , attaching copies of 2 recent redacted utility bills as proof of I D under the GDPR law

2) email dcb legal to place the matter on hold for 30 days whilst you seek debt management advice

Then await the replies and a court claim pack from the CCBC in Northampton within a couple of months

Coupon-mad

Why are you trying to ring people?  Parking firms are not some sort of benevolent Customer Service provider.  Stop trying to reach out to a PPC or a notorious robo-claim solicitor thinking they will sort out the matter as if it's a misunderstanding. 

Nope, they are shaping up to sue and you will defend and win, properly.  No phone calls!

Make sure your V5C has the right address.  Changing your driving licence address doesn't change the logbook.

Read the NEWBIES thread about how to win in court.  What you describe is perfectly winnable as per the zillions upon zillions of BW Legal cases we see here, plenty of which result in a court claim,.  No CCJ risk, no huge costs, in fact the £60 or £70 they've added is false.

The NEWBIES thread 2nd post tells everyone what to do at LBC stage and then how to win in court.   

You will need to confirm which address is correct and tell NCP's DPO (all acronyms are listed in the Announcement thread at post #5...) to erase the old address - that is an absolute must, or the claim might be deliberately filed to the old address.  Never let a parking firm have two addresses in their database.

adp1

Thanks for the comments guys. I don't understand the acronyms, so will check the Newbies thread again. I did read the thread but there was so much info in there that I'm a bit confused as to what to do next! I thought I'd check with NCP as the original PCN was over two years ago.

I no longer own the car in question as I sold it last year, so don't have the logbook anymore. Will that affect anything?

All advice appreciated and welcome.

Thanks

Redx

The acronyms are in the fifth post of the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum in announcements

Not owning the vehicle or V5C any more is irrelevant , it was Registered to you at the time , so liability as keeper at that time stays with you , for 6 years , until it is statute barred under the limitations act 1980 ( for England and Wales , not Scotland , different laws up there )

A SAR to the DPO at NCP will obtain all your data

Le_Kirk

adp1 said:

I no longer own the car in question as I sold it last year, so don't have the logbook anymore. Will that affect anything?

All advice appreciated and welcome.

Thanks

The only hassle might be being able to prove your ID when submitting a SAR.  You can, however, use two redacted utility bills or, in my opinion, the best proof ever, a copy of any letter the PPC has sent to you. NO passport or DL.

adp1

Thanks. I'm just using one of the SAR templates to send to NCP now. I don't have the original two letters than the PPC sent me but I have photocopies of them that BW Legal sent me with their letter. Shall I send a photo of those to the PPC with the SAR template?

The Newbies thread also suggests emailing BW Legal and informing them of my SAR request from NCP and that I want the debt put on hold for 30 days. Just checking I'm doing everything right...

Redx

I would supply what Le Kirk says , copies of 2 recent redacted utility bills

Yes email b w legal with the 30 days hold requirement

D_P_Dance

we have to now pay a fine of £160.00

It is not a fine, please read the newbies.  Also, because it contains amounts whichh are also almost certainly unlawful, please 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

adp1

Thanks for that. I'll certainly send my MP an email. SAR sent to NCP and email sent to BW Legal. Guess I'll sit back and see what happens!

adp1

Also, just had this auto reply from BW Legal. Do you think it's ok to reply with what's being asked

BW Legal re: Parking	1:50 PM (2 minutes ago)
to me

Thank you for contacting BW Legal.

 

Your email has been received and will be dealt with as soon as possible.

 

Before we are able to reply we need you to confirm a few Data Protection Questions which we have specified below.

 

If your email does not contain the below information, we kindly request you resend your email with the required information to enable us to deal with your query effectively. Please note that you are required to provide the details marked in bold together with one of the other areas as a minimum. This helps us ensure we are communicating with the correct person. Please note we may be unable to respond if you do not provide the required information.

 

BW Legal Reference:

Full Name:

First Line of Address:

Postcode:

Telephone Contact Number: 

Vehicle Registration:

Vehicle Make or Model:

Parking Charge Number:

Street Name or Car Park:

Authorised Email address:

Confirmation you wish for us to correspond with you via this email address (Yes/No):