Napier Parking Ltd - missed initial letters now have a final notice from BWLegal

crazyparanoid

Hello,
I got my first parking ticket from Napier Parking Ltd which I sadly missed due to changing house and not updating my home address in my logbook. I did update it on the driving license. I had set up a redirection with Royal Mail but the posts never came through to my new address. 
Anyway, somehow I received a letter from BWLegal in the post at my "new" address, I don't know how they got it if they followed the same route? 
I made the mistake of calling them because I panicked that I lost my opportunity to appeal but reading the Newbies thread, I shouldn't have done it?
I basically entered the car park because my OH was going to meet someone for a short duration in a building nearby and there was no space to wait. I don't remember parking but I was definitely waiting inside and was out at 10mins. I've done that so many times I thought it was a pay and display car park but don't know when they got it changed. I am now stuck I don't know what to do because it has increased from £60 to £160. I don't want to go to court because it will affect my citizenship application and I cannot do that. I am always careful not to be fined and this will go into my application too now. The newbies thread is confusing as it has a lot of information. I have been trying to call Napier directly but there is no way to speak to them except for appealing which has already passed and BWLegal say they can't do anything and that Napier can't help at this point either. What are my options at this point? BWLegal have it in their records that I was only waiting for my OH to return and was waiting there. I have until 18th March to pay my fine to BWLegal.

Le_Kirk

It is amazing how many times it happens that a PPC cannot find your correct address to send the PCN but can then find it when sending chase or debt collection letters!  What does the letter from BW Legal say?  Is it a letter before/of claim, giving you 30 days to respond or does it give you 14 days.  If it states 30 days, then it is a proper LOC, follow the advice in the second post of the NEWBIE sticky about how to respond.  If it gives you 14 days ignore it as per advice in fourth post of NEWBIE sticky.  Whatever, you MUST write to the DPO of the PPC and advise them of your new address for service (you don't want a claim form going to the wrong address) and tell them they must erase your old address and advise all of the agents and subcontractors of the same.
Come back here if you receive a N1SDT claim form.
IANAL but this is a civil matter not a criminal case, so I doubt that your citizenship status/application will be affected.

crazyparanoid

Le_Kirk said:

It is amazing how many times it happens that a PPC cannot find your correct address to send the PCN but can then find it when sending chase or debt collection letters!  What does the letter from BW Legal say?  Is it a letter before/of claim, giving you 30 days to respond or does it give you 14 days.  If it states 30 days, then it is a proper LOC, follow the advice in the second post of the NEWBIE sticky about how to respond.  If it gives you 14 days ignore it as per advice in fourth post of NEWBIE sticky.  Whatever, you MUST write to the DPO of the PPC and advise them of your new address for service (you don't want a claim form going to the wrong address) and tell them they must erase your old address and advise all of the agents and subcontractors of the same.
Come back here if you receive a N1SDT claim form.
IANAL but this is a civil matter not a criminal case, so I doubt that your citizenship status/application will be affected.

The post was sent on 11th February and they expect a payment by 18th so I am guessing 30 days? It doesn't say that in the letter. 

I just read the 2nd post about writing a letter but I am super scared. What if it does end up in court? I'm guessing this will be my last chance and the next thing is they either dismiss me or send me a court notice?

What is a PPC and how do I contact the DPO? Do I have any say if I didn't update my address in the logbook? BWLegal say if I did update and they still sent it to the wrong one then the initial period will be considered. 

I thought there was a rule saying 10 minutes of grace was allowed, or is this only once you have parked?

There are 2 things I can find in this area for citizenship:

Fines

A fine counts as a criminal conviction and forms part of a person’s criminal record, 

with the exception of fiscal fines imposed under Scottish Law, see Procurator Fiscal 

fines for more information.

All fines must be declared, and any failure to declare may result in an application 

being refused on the grounds of deception. See deception and dishonesty.

You must consider whether or not the person is of good character on the balance of 

probabilities. Generally, the more recent or sizeable the fine, or if the circumstances 

of the conviction or disposal call the person’s character into question, the more likely

it is that the person will not be considered to be of good character. See considering 

the balance of probabilities.

Compensation orders

Fixed penalty notices, penalty charge notices and penalty

notices for disorder

Fixed penalty notices, penalty charge notices and penalty notices for disorder are

imposed by the police or other authorised enforcement officers for traffic rule

violations, environmental and civil violations. A fixed penalty notice may also be

issued where a person has committed an offence under the coronavirus Regulations.

It is a way of the criminal justice system disposing of minor offences without the need

for a person to attend court.

Receiving one does not form part of a person’s criminal record. A fixed penalty

notice will not normally result in refusal unless the person has failed to pay or has

unsuccessfully challenged the notice and there were subsequent criminal

proceedings resulting in a conviction. In such instances, they should be treated in

line with the sentence imposed by the court.

However, multiple fixed penalty notices over a short period of time, could

demonstrate a disregard for the law and therefore demonstrate that someone is not

of good character.

See considering the balance of probabilities for more information.

I will have to notify them either ways. 

crazyparanoid

Ok, I realised it may not be an LoC. This is what they have written:

We have previoisly contacted you about the balance due to our client of £160.00 for the above contravention and we also asvised that if you fail to make a payment or contact us to discuss your account, then your case will proceed to a Letter of Claim.

Very important - this is a serious matter and should not be ignored
We wish to bring to your attention that, in a final effort to avoid the need for litigation, our client will still accept payment of the balance over the pre-approved monthly arrangement.

bla bla bla...etc etc

In the event that you fail to contact us before 18 March 2025, you will then be sent a formal Letter of Claim, which may proceed to a County Court Claim being issued if the balance remains unpaid. 

If I wait, will the fine increase even more?

Gr1pr

Debt collectors letter, no 30 days notice,  no Letter of Claim yet 

Definitely not a fine   ( its just an invoice,  a civil dispute   )

Definitely not a Penalty   ( see above  )

Definitely not come from an authority   ( see above   )

The INVOICE PCN is probably £100. Or less,  and cannot go up

If you lost in civil court,  you get a Grace period of 30 days to pay in full 

The newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum,  5th post has explanations on initialisms and similar shortcuts 

I do not believe that this case would affect citizenship,  not if you accept and follow the advice given here 

Le_Kirk

It is NOT a fine, just a speculative invoice, it is CIVIL court NOT criminal.  From the questions you are asking, I can see you have not read the NEWBIE sticky.  All acronyms and abbreviations are in the fifth post.

kryten3000

Since the original notices were sent to your old address I would make sure BW Legal AND Napier have your correct address for service to avoid the danger of them using the old address to issue a claim form.

You can send both a notice of correction and tell them to ERASE the previous address from their records.  

Coupon-mad

...Which is already in the suggested LBC reply in the NEWBIES thread.

This isn't a fine and will not affect your Citizenship Application.