BW Legal - National Car Parks Limited

DebtFreePlanning

Hi all,

Hoping for some advice on what to do next. Have read through many other examples but - to be honest - I am confused by what my next options are.

To explain the circumstance, in October 2019 I parked in a Car Park I have used for many years, without problems. The car park is a pay and display car park. I had no change with me so I rang the payment line which I did many times before and tried to make payment, but for some unknown reason the automated line was not accepting my payment. So I downloaded the payment app and tried to make payment again, but again my card was not being accepted. So I moved the car to a different car park around the corner, where I knew you paid on exit. From start to finish, I was in the initial car park for approx 30 minutes whilst trying to make payment. 

Anyway, fast forward a few years and I have received letters from BW Legal about this occasion, claiming on behalf of National Car Parks Limited.

I have been back and forth with them, but last month they issued a County Court Claim against me. I responded and said that I would be willing to pay for a ticket retrospectively, and send them a payment for this. They have since replied again rejecting this with a 'Notice of Intention to Proceed' with the County Court Claim, for a total payment of £280.48. They have 'kindly' said that they would accept a payment plan for this balance.

I just do not know what to do next. I simply cannot afford that. I am currently in the process of finalising a Debt Management Plan with StepChange, which would leave me with less than £1.00 per month disposable each month.

My story is genuine but I have simply no way of proving it. What is the best next step here? Do I bite the bullet and agree to the outstanding balance and offer the £1.00 per month to clear it? If I have to then I will. But I am not sure what the right next step is, as I have never been in this position before.

I have seen several threads advising about unfair parking ticket claims. £280.48 is clearly a ridiculous amount for a ticket that would have cost £2.60 for 30 minutes. But am I out of time to claim/argue this? Now that a claim has already been raised, am I at the stage of just defending the claim or paying it?

Any advice would be gratefully received. 

Redx

It's Defend or pay ( too late to argue )

What is the issue date from the claim form ?

Have you done the AOS online yet ?

DebtFreePlanning

24 November is the issue date of the claim 

I haven't done the AOS - am I still in a position to, or too late really now?

1505grandad

 "......but last month they issued a County Court Claim against me."

"24 November is the issue date of the claim"

Can you clarify? 

DebtFreePlanning

1505grandad said:

 "......but last month they issued a County Court Claim against me."

"24 November is the issue date of the claim"

Can you clarify? 

Of course - apologies

Essentially I have moved house (twice actually!) since the date of the incident. Last month was the first time I received any correspondence from them directly, as their letters were going to my old addresses.

So last month was the first time I became aware of any of this. The date of the claim is issued as 24 November, and they have given me until 17th February to come up with a repayment proposal

Redx

Show us a Redacted picture of the claim form below , no personal information or references whatsoever

Check your credit rating for a CCJ , because if it was November 2021 then it should be a CCJ now , meaning too late to defend it ! I suspect that you have a default CCJ

DebtFreePlanning

Redx said:

Show us a Redacted picture of the claim form below , no personal information or references whatsoever

Check your credit rating for a CCJ , because if it was November 2021 then it should be a CCJ now , meaning too late to defend it ! I suspect that you have a default CCJ

Thank you. No CCJ listed as of yet anyway

Below is the screenshot from the letter. Hopefully I have added this correctly. I might be reading it incorrectly but my understanding is that they have made the claim but not proceeded with it yet, and will only do so if I have not settled or arranged payment by 17th February?

Coupon-mad

Someone defended that claim.  Did you?

DebtFreePlanning

Coupon-mad said:

Someone defended that claim.  Did you?

I sent a reply explaining what happened and saying that I would be happy to pay for the price of the original ticket, as I have been since the day I tried to park there. I said that my understanding is that they are able to claim for any reasonable loss of income (circa £2.60 for a 30 minute stay) and would be prepared to pay this, as I have been since the day I tried to park there. But that's literally all I sent back - nothing in the form of a formal defence as I wasn't really sure what I was looking at/dealing with

DebtFreePlanning

DebtFreePlanning said:

Coupon-mad said:

Someone defended that claim.  Did you?

I sent a reply explaining what happened and saying that I would be happy to pay for the price of the original ticket, as I have been since the day I tried to park there. I said that my understanding is that they are able to claim for any reasonable loss of income (circa £2.60 for a 30 minute stay) and would be prepared to pay this, as I have been since the day I tried to park there. But that's literally all I sent back - nothing in the form of a formal defence as I wasn't really sure what I was looking at/dealing with

So essentially - in summary - this is what happened thus far:

1. I received a County Court Claim form last month
2. I replied explaining that it was the first I had heard of this as it looks like they had been writing to my old addresses for the past two years
3. In my reply I explained that - whilst I cannot recall the exact timings/specifics of the event, I know for certain that I tried to make payment via the app and the phone line but neither were accepting payment. Once this became clear I moved my vehicle to a neighbouring car park that allowed pay-on-exit instead of pay and display. In my reply I said that my basic understanding was that they were able to claim for reasonable loss of income from my stay there, which was circa £2.60 and I would be happy to pay for that, as I have been happy to since the very day I parked there
4. I then received a letter last week with the above screenshot, which references the 17th February etc

Redx

It appears that this is now a defended claim and they are trying to mediate a settlement before paying for a court hearing and going forward with it

So this is negotiation , mediation , because you defended the claim , even if it was a poor defence , it was still a defence , it could have been a full stop and still been taken as a defence

If you want to try to settle the matter and not go to court , then you organise an out of court settlement and they should discontinue the court claim

Your choice , but they won't settle for £1 a week and they want the balance paid in a short space of time , to stop the court hearing , so before any hearing