Private "Fine" escalated to BW Legal

Gr1pr

That was my verdict on the story so far,  but the OP was adamant that it wasnt the case   ( but personally I agree with coupon mad,  that a pcn was issued on moving in day,  its the only explanation that makes sense regarding the VRM details and the date when the OP moved in  , regardless of the pcn reference,  especially because it was a hired motorcycle so their initial pcn, who then should have named the hirer  )

Nellymoser

I'm thinking like Gr1pr and C-mad.

Tell us the date your car's Keeper Registration document (V5C) was updated. KeithP explains how to find the date in this post

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80642100/#Comment_80642100

Was your parking permit displayed in your car on 16th Jan 2023 the day you moved in?

Ser_Apollo

Coupon-mad said:

They haven't messed up.

This one is about your car. And there could be even more.

You definitely got a PCN (sent to your old address in 2023) re the car on the day you were unloading & moving in. You may even have more from that first week or two because your car will have been registered - at that time - to your old address. The DVLA cannot have changed it on day one.

I can't explain the same PCN ref for both. Are you sure? Still got the bike PCN?

No, can't be. We got the Parking Permit for the Car on the 15th, the day before we moved in. And we didn't use our for moving but had a rental Van. And Van unloading is allowed on the estate. And as we never had any contact with CPM before 2024, the same references on two different number plates MUST be a mess up in their system cause the bike in question was an "insurance hire" as the old bike was irreparably damaged. It's the amount of money, the same reference and the same Parking Company. Not to mention that we did use Royal Mail Redirect for the first 12 months as well. So any "Parking Charge" sent to the old address would've been forwarded. So it must be a mess up. In our favour that is, though. And yes we still have ALL the letters from the first PCN about the bike, the landowner communications, etc. everything is documented. So it is a mess up. 

Coupon-mad

I am still unsure.

They can't have attached your car numberplate to you without going to the DVLA.

Easy to find out: send an email to the DVLA data team (see post 5 of the NEWBIES thread) and ask for a list of persons/companies which have received your keeper data for that car and when, since 1.1.2023 to date.

That info costs nothing.

Ser_Apollo

Coupon-mad said:

I am still unsure.

They can't have attached your car numberplate to you without going to the DVLA.

Easy to find out: send an email to the DVLA data team (see post 5 of the NEWBIES thread) and ask for a list of persons/companies which have received your keeper data for that car and when, since 1.1.2023 to date.

That info costs nothing.

That's a good idea. Will do thanks. I'll keep you all posted as we are at a loss as well. 

Ser_Apollo

Hi everyone, so I got an update. 

So on 6th May, I sent an email to BW Legal, after they sent an LoC, all according to the newbies thread (just copy and pasted the email text from the newbies thread). This is their response now, that we received today via email: 

"

Thank you for contacting us, please find our response below: Good Afternoon, We write in reference to the above matter and your recent correspondence.   Debt recovery costs are contractually agreed by the motorist when visiting the car park.  They only apply when the opportunity to pay the parking charge has expired and the parking company has been forced to commence debt recovery activities.  Such contractual costs are recognized by the courts as covering debt recovery activity between the expiry of the parking charge notice and the commencement of litigation, including pre-litigation correspondence.  The fees we charge our clients for our services are subject to VAT.  However, these are separate and distinct from contractual debt recovery costs recoverable by our client from the motorist. We can confirm we have placed your account on a 30 day hold which will expire on 06 July 2025, please contact us before then with an update.   Should you wish to discuss this matter further please contact us on XXX or alternatively sign in or register on our Customer Portal at XXX. Alternatively you could contact us via live chat at XXX which is open from Monday to Friday 8am - 5:45pm and Saturday 9am - 2:45pm. If you have any further issues or new questions that you would like us to assist you with, we kindly request that you use the contact options below to submit a new query. You can also log into our Customer Portal by clicking here, and go to the Contact History of your account to view the contact.

 

Yours sincerely,

BW Legal" I did check the Newbies Thread but am unsure, what is next. They did not really answer any of the questions raised in the email I sent, did they? Because the specific questions were:  "1. Am I to understand that the additional £70 represents what you lot dress up as a 'Debt Recovery' fee, and if so, is this nett or inclusive of VAT? If the latter, would you kindly explain why I am being asked to pay the operator’s VAT? 2. With regard to the principal alleged PCN sum: Is this damages, or will it be pleaded as consideration for parking?" Any advice or can you link another thread in case I missed it, what to reply to their email!?  Thank you all so much for your help.  PS: I just anonymised their contacting details with XXX .

Gr1pr

You dont reply to their response 

But you should consider reporting them to HMRC with possible VAT concerns,  same as everyone else was advised to do 

Then await a possible court claim pack arriving in the post from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL 

Ser_Apollo

Gr1pr said:

You dont reply to their response 

But you should consider reporting them to HMRC with possible VAT concerns,  same as everyone else was advised to do 

Then await a possible court claim pack arriving in the post from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL 

Okay, thank you so much. That is really helpful. Will do that. I hope everything is going to work out in our favour. Have a great day. 

Ser_Apollo

Hi everyone, 
so there is a small update. 

This morning we received another letter from BW Legal. The date on the letter is 22/08/2025 and arrived today 01/09/2025. The letter is basically saying "We appreciate it might have been an oversight in non payment, so we extend the deadline of full payment to 26th September 2025." 

BUT what is interesting is that they changed the Number Plate (again). So not only is now the bike Number Plate "ABCDEFG" again, instead of our car number plate, but the date of Contravention changed from "16. January 2023." to "30 September 2024", all while the "incident" actually happened in October 2024. And they are still using the same reference Numbers, like "Our reference: 12345" and "Our Clients reference: 12345" are the same as on all other letters. 

Honestly, BW Legal's organisation Skills are less than Zero at this point, in my opinion. 

Anyway, my question to all of you lovely people is: What do I do? Just ignoring it, again? Because I was expecting the Court Claim Pack by now? And yes I did report them to HMRC back in June already. 

Have a great week, everyone. 

Car1980

Yes I would ignore and just look out for a court claim.

BW Legal don't always follow through. I have two LOCs from them in my drawer from years ago.