April 2015 PCN from Excel Parking Services - Now BW Legal writing

[ezybjma]

Hi!

 

Firstly i am new here and just looking for a bit of advice, my issue is as follows:

 

Last April (2015) I parked in an Excel car park in Nottingham and bought a ticket and returned within the stated time

- not a problem.

 

 

However, i was sent a PCN by Excel for being parked slightly outside the white line of the bay..

At the time in question there were building works going on in the car park

and a lot of builders dust everywhere obscuring things,

as well as the ground being very uneven in the bay and tricky to park in.

 

I took the old advice of ignoring this charge as the car park was not full when my car was there

and it was not really obstructing another bay and i therefore considered the charge unreasonable.

 

 

I was passed through the usual debt recovery agencies (Zenith etc..) and the amount owed fluctuated until about October last year when everything went silent.

 

 

About 3 weeks ago now i have received a new letter from BW Legal stating that the debt has been passed to them

and the amount is now £154 including £54 costs.

 

 

I have continued to ignore but they have somehow now got a hold of my mobile number and keep calling me

- i have yet to speak to them though.

 

Obviously it is too late to appeal the charge through the usual avenues but i just wonder what the best course of action is now,

i still think the £154 is incredibly disproportionate for what actually occurred

and so i do not wish to pay it,

however it is a bit of a nuisance having these people chasing me.

 

Any advice welcomed!

 

Thanks

[dx100uk]

https://cse.google.co.uk/cse?cx=partner-pub-0964707606882478:652l7hswbgv&ie=UTF-8&q=Excel+BW+Legal&sa=Search+CAG#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=Excel%20BW%20Legal&gsc.page=1

[dx100uk]

safe to ignore still

unless/until a claimform arrives

and we've not seen any for these historic speculative invoices thru BW

its just willy waving

hoping people will panic and pay

in this instance

they are solely a DCA

and not solicitors

though they have NO LEGAL POWERS anyway

as with any DCA.

THEY ARE NOT BAILIFFS

 

 

dx

[ezybjma]

Just had a good re-read of those posts, thanks very much!

 

 

So my understanding is that if its this old i can just ignore it now?

 

Thanks again!

[ezybjma]

Just seen your latest post,

 

Many thanks!

[ericsbrother]

BW are acting as an dca so ignore them.

Any claim Excel make will have to have to have some substance

and this wouldnt be enough to show a cause of action.

 

You can put their number on a barred list or better still,

answer without saying anything and let them waste their money.

 

 

Dont hang up until well after they have,

it will block their line.

[ezybjma]

Many thanks for your response! I will continue to ignore

[armadillo71]

Many thanks for your response! I will continue to ignore

 

Do not ignore real court papers though...

 

In your case they would have to rely on keeper liability under Schedule 4 of the POFA 2012,

which Excel do not claim to use.

But it seems that does not bother BW Legal;

 

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/bw-legalgo-legal.html

 

Do not speak to BW Legal on the phone - block the number.

[ezybjma]

Thanks for your reply,

 

No i will not of course ignore real court papers, if it comes to that then i will have to work out what to do next.

 

I have blocked their number on my phone as advised,

 

Many thanks!

[ezybjma]

Hi guys,

 

today i have received another letter from BW Legal entitled Final Notice.

It states that further to the previous letter where payment was advised it has still not been received.

 

 

It then states: "Excel now requires full payment of the balance within 10 days from the date of this letter (19/05/2016),

failing which Excel has instructed us to commence County Court proceedings against you for recovery of the balance.

 

 

For the avoidance of doubt the balance relates to the £100.00 parking charge

and the £54 for Excel's initial legal fees, which were detailed in the car park terms and conditions."

 

It then goes on to outline the events of county court proceedings etc and also references PE vs Beavis

 

Should this be treated as a letter before action? Or should it still be ignored?

 

If court claim papers do arrive, is the amount escalated?

Or would the amount still be £154 on the claim papers?

 

Do i need to start fighting this at all now?

Up until now i have given absolutely no response or acknowledgement to anybody.

 

Thanks

[ericsbrother]

Not a lba, just another threatogram dressed up a bit.

 

 

The detail about £54 legal fees- utter cobblers as they are claiming for a breach of contrac

t so how can you also agree to pay something not part of that contract.

BW just add that amount for themselves.

 

I would respond to BW and say that there was no breach of contract at the time

and that any claim will be vigourously defended as being vexatious and a full costs order sought.

 

they will then know that you are not shy,

just treating them witht he contempt they deserve.

[ezybjma]

Thanks for the reply,

I have never responded to something like this in a formal fashion so how do i go about it?

 

 

Do i email or post?

 

 

And how exactly do i word it?

[ericsbrother]

write exactly what I said starting "there was no such....." up to full costs order sought"

Send by post to BW

That is all that is needed, it is not rocket science, just proof that you arent burying your head in the sand and making yourself an easy target

[dx100uk]

type in excel BW

in the search CAG of the top red toolbar

lots of examples to the letter

if you go read a few like threads.

 

 

dx

[ezybjma]

Okay thank you i will do that today.

 

 

Do i need to make any reference to the fact that the driver has not been identified?

or is that irrelevant now that they are pursuing me as the registered keeper?

 

Also i have been reviewing the original NTK again.

It does not state a period of parking, only a date and a contravention time.

Is this enough to count as a breach of the PoFA and thus render the NTK useless?

 

Edit ^^ The NTK specifies a time,

but then goes on to say

"The period of parking to which this notice relates is the period immediately preceding the contravention time referred to above"

- Is this enough to satisfy PoFA?

 

Would it be easier to upload a redacted copy of front and back to check compliance?

 

Thanks once again

[ericsbrother]

all too late to worry about,

 

keep it in mind though if they are dumb enough to want to try their luck at court.

 

As already said, they dont rely on PoFA so unless you intend making a complaint about them getting your details by fraud to the DVLA

it will mean little as they cant now claim it for their causus belli.

 

Fire off the osd off letter to BW and I suspect that will be the end of the matter.

 

keep that to the one line I suggested so you dont drop yourself in it my mentioning irrelevant things

[ezybjma]

Thank you very much for the guidance, posted first class today:

 

To whom it may concern,

 

There was no such breach of contract at the time and any claim will be vigorously defended as being vexatious and a full costs order sought.

 

Sincerely,

 

Thanks again guys

[ericsbrother]

thats the stuff. As said, keep the rest of their letters for at least a year should they fancy losing some money.

[MisterProzilla]

Hi guys,Any updates on this one? I'm in a very similar situation, just about to fire off the same brief letter

 

 

my thread is here:

 

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?465890-Excel-BW-Legal-final-letter-advice-needed&p=4912930#post4912930

[ezybjma]

I havent received any more paperwork thus far, they keep trying to get me on the phone and text messages but i have blocked the number now

[ezybjma]

Update: after sending the advised letter, i have now received a further letter entitled: Letter of claim, it reads as follows:

 

Further to our letter dated....

where we requested that you either pay the balance in full or provide your detailed grounds for disputing the PCN, by .....,

we are yet to receive payment and/or a response to our letter.

 

Please pay the Balance by ...... to prevent legal action from being taken

 

. For the avoidance of doubt the balance relates to the £xx parking charge and the £xx for our clients initial legal fees, which were detailed in the car park terms and conditions.

 

It then goes on to give a paragraph entitled: County Court Proceedings with a breakdown of costs totalling £245.36

 

The total amount that they want me to pay now has risen from £154 to £162.18

 

What does this mean and what should i do about it?

 

Redacted full letter can be scanned if necessary,

 

Thanks in advance

[ericsbrother]

then respond by saying that there is no debt and any claim will be met with a counterclaim for harassment as your client knows fill well it has no cause for action.

 

All of the costs are made up and designed to scare you into paying more than any contractual amount that could be ordered.

 

BW will always say they are only acting on their clients instructions but they actually add these extra amounts on for themselves as basically a no win no fee contingency, which is unlawful (tort of maintenance)

[ezybjma]

Thanks for your response ericsbrother, I shall do that.

 

Out of interest, if it goes to court is it possible that i could be asked directly if i was the driver? As that would surely put a large hole in my main defence.. seeing as the driver has never been identified

[ericsbrother]

the law doesnt allow it,

you could decline anyway and cite possible incrimination and self-incrimination,

a topic that has stretched many a judge's mind.

 

 

The Road Traffic ACt has parts where when you are obliged to name the driver but this isnt one of those cases.

 

 

The PoFA offers protection if the company get things wrong they are just wrong

and cant go after anyone else nor ask you to identify the driver.