Bw legal hounding please help

Parking_nightmare133 · 20 April 2019 at 8:08PM

Hello kind people,

I have been receiving letters from bw legal for a year now. Ncpfailed to send me any of the original letters so the first I knew someone had overstayed by a few minutes was the debt collectors stage!!

I have read your forum and send a response stating this and asking for:
1. an explanation of the cause of action
2. whether they are pursuing me as driver or keeper
3. whether they are relying on the provisions of Schedule 4 of POFA 2012
4. what the details of the claim are; where it is claimed the vehicle was parked, for how long, how the monies being claimed arose and have been calculated
5. Is the claim for a contractual breach? If so, what is the date of the agreement? The names of the parties to it and provide to me a copy of that contract.
6. Is the claim for trespass? If so, provide details.
7. Provide me a copy of the contract with the landowner under which they assert authority to bring the claim, as required by the IPC code of practice section B, clause 1.1 !!!8220;establishing yourself as the creditor!!!8221;
8. a plan showing where any signs were displayed
9. details of the signs displayed (size of sign, size of font, height at which displayed)
10. Provide details of the original charge, and detail any interest and administrative or other charges added
11. Provide a copy of the Information Sheet and the Reply Form

They have responded by:
. Stating the Ncp did write to me- no proof though and they didn’t as I received nothing!
. They are perusing me as the keeper and ask for drivers details
. They are not relying on freedom act 2012
. They have not provided a contract
. They do not provide evidence of signage however state it is clear and prominent
. They say they are under no obligation to provide sign details

I would be so grateful if anyone could assist me with where to go from here??

A single mum, working full time and having this to and fro is beginning to take its toll.

Thank you In advance for any advice/ help you can give.

☺️

Parking_nightmare133 · 20 April 2019 at 8:15PM

I have only been told/ shown photos stating the time Someone arrived and left (1hr 30 mins difference) and have no idea how long They ‘apparently’ overstayed as usually have a 2hr ticket.

Redx · 20 April 2019 at 8:45PM

email a SAR to the DPO at NCP and get all their data and docs about this matter (with a scan of the V5C attached so they know its you)

that data reply (within 30 days) should tell you what the issue was at the time of the incident, and to be clear, its not YOU they monitored, it was your vehicle, namely , the number plates entering and leaving

they monitor vehicles , not people

do not expect this to be simple, this will be a long and drawn out process, with plenty of work from you if or when they issue an MCOL from the CCBC in Northampton

AT THE MOMENT YOU ARE SPARRING , THE REAL FIGHT COMES LATER ON

Umkomaas · 20 April 2019 at 8:45PM

Stating the Ncp did write to me- no proof though and they didn’t as I received nothing!

Send them a SAR - that should extract what personal data they hold about you and your vehicle’s VRM, including notices to you about the parking event. Don’t ask for anything that is not personal data (like a copy of the landowner contract, or photos of signage).

They are perusing me as the keeper and ask for drivers details
. They are not relying on freedom act 2012

They can’t have it both ways. In order to pursue (not peruse!) you as Keeper, the only way they can do this is under the auspices of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Schedule 4). You are under absolutely no obligation to identify the driver.

Umkomaas · 20 April 2019 at 8:47PM

As you will see from the first few pages of the forum, there is an onslaught by BWL on behalf of Britannia or NCP (and a few other hitherto court-shy PPCs) which is being conducted on an industrial scale - roboclaims.

You are caught in a one-way traffic flow where you must fight or pay - there is no longer a safe 'do nothing' option.

1. Pay now, it costs you exactly what they are currently demanding.
2. Ignore it, a 'judgment in default' will inevitably follow for at least what they want - maybe with even more costs added; continue to ignore that, you're getting a CCJ with credit crushing consequences for 6 years.
3. Defend, yet lose in court, the cost award is likely to be noticeably less than their current demand ~£175.
4. Defend, and win in court, you owe them nothing and you could claim up to £95 for half a day's pay/loss of annual leave, plus travel costs @45p per mile, plus your parking cost for the day.

Your least costly option has to be 3, with hopefully a win as per 4.

But BWL/Britannia or NCP cannot physically take everyone to court, and there is evidence to show that with a well constructed defence, BWL can come along with a reduced 'offer to settle', which if refused, becomes a discontinuation. We can't give you guarantees on that, but as you have little choice other than to defend (if you don't want to pay), you need to give this your very best shot.

Whether you have a good defendable case to argue, you will need to read other similar cases at the defence (or beyond6) stage and learn from those.

ROBOCLAIMS - HOW BWL OPERATE

You might find it useful to understand how BWL operate - as I have surmised from the hundreds of different threads I've read involving BWL.

Other than the auto acknowledgements and template letters, you will get nothing sensible from BWL - they are dealing with literally hundreds of thousands of unpaid parking charges and are spewing out various threatening letters, using a conveyor belt approach to go through a computer controlled process towards a LBC, and a MCOL Claim - and it is really only at the final stages, as a court hearing becomes a possibility, that there's any real human intervention.

You need to understand that you're not dealing with an old fashioned firm of solicitors, just progressing from a quill and ink operation, BWL are industrial harvesters of debt, using the equivalent of massive farming machinery to do their work. This is what their website tells you:

A multi-award winning law firm specialising in volume collections, across both regulated and unregulated sectors, who are dual regulated through the FCA and SRA.

We employ around 265 people at our Leeds based office which in turn makes us the largest privately owned debt collection law firm in the UK.

Parking_nightmare133 · 21 April 2019 at 8:48AM

Many thanks for the time taken to respond. As suggested I will request a SAR. Sorry autocorrect changed Persue to peruse!!

One of my main issues is that ncp (despite having letter templates) have not sent out the first two letters to me. The first I received was a trace debt recovery letter and I thought it was a scam due to having no notifications prior to it.

Is there anything I can do about that as they won’t be able to prove they posted it as it was never sent (not one but both letters- chances two letters on different dates go missing from the post and in all the time we’ve lived here nothing else has ever not turned up is highly unlikely)

I was denied my chance to appeal/ popla and do not think it’s fair to be catapulted to a higher stage without this.

Kind regards

Fruitcake · 21 April 2019 at 9:17AM

Use the SAR to find out what information they have, including copies of alleged correspondence. Get that sent of asap. Note any failure to provide the info you requested.
Use that in court to state they have provided no proof of sending despite you requesting it, so there can be no proof you received it. Proof of postage is free and easy so there is no excuse for not having it. Put the onus on them to show how unreasonable they are being.
Make sure you obtain a free proof of posting yourself when using first class from a PO counter to show the judge what it looks like and how easy it is to get.

You should edit your posts to remove information about who parked. This thread can be linked to the keeper and thus to the driver. Any PoFA arguments will then be sunk without trace making it harder for you to defend. This assumes you haven't already told the scammers who was driving.

beamerguy · 21 April 2019 at 9:29AM

Parking_nightmare133 wrote: »

Many thanks for the time taken to respond. As suggested I will request a SAR. Sorry autocorrect changed Persue to peruse!!

One of my main issues is that ncp (despite having letter templates) have not sent out the first two letters to me. The first I received was a trace debt recovery letter and I thought it was a scam due to having no notifications prior to it.

Is there anything I can do about that as they won’t be able to prove they posted it as it was never sent (not one but both letters- chances two letters on different dates go missing from the post and in all the time we’ve lived here nothing else has ever not turned up is highly unlikely)

I was denied my chance to appeal/ popla and do not think it’s fair to be catapulted to a higher stage without this.

Kind regards

You are not the first to suffer this problem from NCP.
The last issue we saw on here about NCP was the same, no POPLA code and straight to debt collectors then to BWLegal.

The OP was advised to complain to the BPA. They did and NCP cancelled the charge. We wonder just how many times NCP do this

You need to complain to Steve Clark at the BPA.

As already said, BWLegal are a robo claim outfit who are probably keyboard warriors with little or no idea what they are claiming for.

Because of their lack of attention, it leads them to be whooped in court because of the support from this forum.

Read up about BWLegal
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5672664

What are the times NCP are claiming for ??

Parking_nightmare133 · 21 April 2019 at 9:34AM

Thank you, it is a one off charge for overstaying but I still do not know for how long as it does not state this in any of their correspondence!!

I have sent SAR and once received will email Steve Clark.

Many thanks

The_Deep · 21 April 2019 at 9:41AM

If the solicitor is behaving in an unprofessional manner complain to their regulatory body, the SRA

http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page

and to your MP, the days of these scammers are numbered.

On 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these private parking companies. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, and persistent offenders denied access. Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers.

Until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

beamerguy · 21 April 2019 at 9:43AM

Parking_nightmare133 wrote: »

Thank you, it is a one off charge for overstaying but I still do not know for how long as it does not state this in any of their correspondence!!

I have sent SAR and once received will email Steve Clark.

Many thanks

OK, the SAR will provide this info, so come back here

In the meantime, don't worry, rest assured there are members on this forum, solicitors included, who are much smarter than BWLegal

Bw legal hounding please help

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