County Court Claim - BW Legal - Gatwick Drop Off (£20 to £790)

LoveForums

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Really hoping somebody would be able to push me in the right direction in what to do, maybe I've already messed up my chances to defend this properly. Should I go to court should I just agree to set up a payment plan I'm honestly really struggling with this and can't wait for this to be over so much stress.

I received a CCJ Claim form from BW Legal acting on behalf of National Car Parks (I will try to attach a picture) but to sum it up they are trying to claim £790 for 4 parking tickets at the Gatwick Drop Off the breakdown is as follows; £400 for 4 fines, £250 for recovery costs, £70 court fee and £70 legal representatives costs so £790 for what would have cost me £20 what a scam.

This was the first time I found out about these fines, I'm a private hire driver and use all airports for drop offs however I had a VRM change and not sure what happened but I believe maybe I didn't get to update my numberplate on autopay it's hard to track down every single payment and to make sure I have paid as its easy to forget and sometimes you end up going to 2/3 airports in a day.

I want to point out that I did not receive PCN's for these fines however I had no address change just the VRM change on that particular vehicle. I also want to point out that on the CCJ Claim form BW Legal did not input the drop off zone so I still had no idea where these PCN's were incurred when I had to submit a defence. It just states '... which incurred between 23/03/2023 and 29/03/2023 in the private drop off zone at [BLANK] by the driver of vehicle [My number Plate]...'

I submitted a defence which I will post below but I come to understand whilst going through the treads on this forum I should have wrote different and not in first person.

Today was the last day to submit my N180 which I did and I basically said;

Yes to Mediation 

Yes to Small claim track
Yes to determination without a hearing

Hearing venue I requested somewhere close as I have a disability and various medical conditions

The defence I submitted

Dear Sir/Madam,

[Address]

[Date] Claim/Case Reference: [XXXXXXX]

I trust this letter finds you well. I am writing in response to what I understand to be a County Court Judgment filed against me by [NPC] for four alleged unpaid parking tickets related to a breach of drop-off zone rules. I am a private hire licensed driver, providing transportation services to passengers in London, and I appreciate the opportunity to present my defence.

Defence;



Lack of Information:

I wish to bring to your attention that I have not received any correspondence regarding the alleged parking violations in question. As a diligent driver, I am committed to promptly paying fines or appealing when necessary. I can provide proof of historic interactions concerning PCNs, where I have either paid or appealed. However, with regards to the four tickets in question, I have not had the chance to view the evidence, pay, or appeal, which I find to be unjust.

Unfamiliar Locations:

Given the nature of my work, I operate in various locations, making it challenging to identify specific incidents on any given day, as I traverse different parts of London. Nevertheless, I am registered with well-known drop-off zones such as Heathrow Airport and Gatwick Airport, underscoring my commitment to adhering to regulations. However, providing a set of a few dates earlier in the year makes it impossible for me to pinpoint where these instances could have occurred. I have attempted to review applications associated with my work, such as Uber, but I could not discern a specific trend of locations for these alleged violations.

Request for Evidence:

I kindly request [NPC] to provide comprehensive evidence supporting their claim, including specific dates, times, and locations of the alleged parking violations.

Special Circumstances:

I wish to bring to your attention that I am a disability badge holder. While I am not fully aware of the rules at the location in question, I mention this as many places offer a range of benefits for individuals with disabilities or blue badges.

I expect to receive any letters or fines at my home address [Address] where I have resided for over 25 years, and where my car is also registered. This would allow me the opportunity to promptly review any potential PCN or violation notices and either pay/appeal.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Yours faithfully,

What do you guys think I should do if anybody could help me the slightest I would be over the moon

LoveForums

I forgot to point out the only way I realised what the pcns were for was that BW legal sent me out a pack today (10/02/2024) which has everything inside and stated what they were for that's why I mentioned I submitted my defence without even knowing what I was defending properly

Coupon-mad

Do NOT do Mediation!

Refuse it when you get the appointment.

And don't use ChatGPT to write letters.  We can see it was used in that defence due to the terrible wording.  On this forum we hate seeing ChatGPT stuff.  At least you are here now!  We will help you write a much better Witness Statement later on.

All four could have been cancelled easily on appeal that first month, had you come here then. Easy ones.  Come here first next time.

Did the claim arrive to the right address?

Le_Kirk

You don't want determinaion without a hearing.

Debszzzz2

LoveForums said:

Yes to determination without a hearing

Le_Kirk said:

You don't want determinaion without a hearing.

LoveForums said:

Today was the last day to submit my N180 which I did and I basically said;

What is the procedure to get that changed as the OP has already submitted the N180?

Coupon-mad

Oh dear.

Send a new one with TWO 'NO's then ring the CCBC. Tell them you did it wrong first time.

LoveForums

Coupon-mad said:

Oh dear.

Send a new one with TWO 'NO's then ring the CCBC. Tell them you did it wrong first time.

So just to clarify No to mediation, No to determination and Yes to small claim track. Do I have to give them a reason for these answers it’s nearly 4am so I’ll do it first thing when I wake up then also Monday morning i’ll wake up and call them right away hopefully they understand/accept as the 10th was the last day not sure why i didn’t come here earlier only just about submitted on time.  

LoveForums

Im not sure what happened with these pcns normally I would either pay/appeal any pcn received but I didn’t receive them so I couldn't appeal or do anything.

troublemaker22

The only way to get CNBC to answer the phone within an hour of calling is to call at 8.30 am sharp when lines open.

LoveForums

troublemaker22 said:

The only way to get CNBC to answer the phone within an hour of calling is to call at 8.30 am sharp when lines open.

So I guess slightly good news managed to get through almost straight away by calling 8.30am sharp turns out my last filing day was today so the lady on the phone said if I sent the corrected version yesterday then it should be fine and she will make note to ignore the first version and for them to use the one I sent last.

Coupon-mad said:

Oh dear.

Send a new one with TWO 'NO's then ring the CCBC. Tell them you did it wrong first time.

They are currently working on cases from 17th Jan so was told it would be a few weeks until It comes to my case type thing. Can you advise how I should proceed please 

Le_Kirk

Proceed by waiting for your notice of Allocation.