Free Traffic Legal Advice

This is a private ticket matter, PCN in this case standing for "Parking Charge Notice", not "Penalty Charge Notice" which is council tickets.

Please advise a moderator to move the thread to the private tickest forum using the "Report to Moderator" control at bottom right of your ost.

Just a friendly bump for this thread! Any help/advice would be very much appreciated

That letter is just a debt collection letter. You can safely ignore all debt collection letters as they are powerless to actually do anything. However, if they do issue a Letter of Claim (LoC) then you have to be aware that they are most likely going to issue a court claim after that.

Obviously, at the time of the alleged contravention, you hadn't updated the vehicles V5C document with your current address at the time which is why you never heard anything about this until now. Your first concern should be that the operator holds two possible addresses for you and could simply send the claim to the old address and you would know nothing about it until you suddenly found that you can no liger get credit and that all your insurance goes sky high and you discover that you now have a CCJ on your credit file for the next 6 years.

You must send a Data Rectification Notice (DRN) to the DPO at UKCPM and instruct them to update their records with your current address for service and to erase any previous address they hold for you. The highlighted words are there for a reason and you should use them. You can send a copy of the letter from BW Legal as proof that you are the person concerned.

Apart from that, you should do nothing else until you receive an LoC at which point, come back and we'll advise on the next steps.

Thanks for this, I've emailed UKCPM this morning and attached the letter received from BW Legal. Do I also need to email BW Legal and update them with my new address as I have moved again as of this week which will be my permanent home for the foreseeable. 

Yes, also update BW Legal. They’re the ones going to be issuing the claim on behalf of the operator.

Hi,

I received the following letter to my updated address. is there anything I need to do or still continue to wait?

Thanks

https://imgur.com/a/xpnMf7U

Email recieved 28th April which il continue to ignore.

Account Details
Our Client: UK Car Park Management Limited

Balance Due: £170.00

Supply Address:

Client Reference: XXXXXX

Our Reference: XXXXXX

 
28 April 2025
Dear XXXXXX,

Following our recent correspondence, we have not been able to contact you despite numerous contact attempts. This is an important matter and should not be ignored. We need to speak to you about the outstanding balance of £170.00 owed to our client UK Car Park Management Limited.

We don't want you to miss out on the pre-approved instalment offer of £57.50 which expires on 2 May 2025.

If you contact us, we can assist you in finding a sustainable repayment or help resolve any outstanding queries you may have which would avoid the matter escalating any further.

Benefits of setting up an arrangement to pay

You will not receive further letters, calls, emails or SMS chasing the balance once your plan is set.
This would prevent your case from escalating through our collections process, which could, if applicable, reach a legal stage.
If this account is being reported to credit reference agencies, then setting up a repayment plan may help improve your credit score as the balance reported each month reduces.
Don't let this matter escalate. Get in touch now

Get in touch by calling us on 0113 487 0432
Chat with us by clicking the 'Live chat' link below to connect to an agent
Fully manage your account and set up plans via our customer portal at portal.bwlegal.co.uk
Raise a query or tell us something via our contact form at myaccount.bwlegal.co.uk/help

Respond to the LoC with the following:

Dear Sirs,

Your Letter Before Claim contains insufficient detail of the claim and fails to provide copies of evidence your client places reliance upon and thus is in complete contravention of the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims.

I am the registered keeper of the vehicle. I am not obliged to identify the driver and I decline to do so. As there is no legal presumption that the keeper of a vehicle was its driver on any particular occasion, your client cannot pursue me as driver as per VCS v Edward (2023) [H0KF6C9C].

If your client is seeking to rely on Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA) in order to hold me liable as keeper, they are unable to do so. The initial Notice to Keeper was not received, as I had moved address and the V5C logbook had not yet been updated with the DVLA at the time of the alleged contravention. As such, no PoFA-compliant NtK was served within the timeframes required by paragraph 9(5) of the Act. Even if your client were to issue or re-send a copy now, it would be well outside the statutory period and would not remedy the defect. Your client is therefore unable to rely on PoFA to establish keeper liability.

As your client cannot pursue me as driver or keeper, it would be an abuse of the court’s process for your client to issue a claim against me and I will defend any such claim vigorously and seek costs in relation to your client’s unreasonable and vexatious conduct under Part 27.14(2)(g)

Because your letter lacks specificity and breaches the requirements of the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (paragraphs 3.1(a)-(d), 5.1 and 5.2) as well as the Practice Direction - Pre-Action Conduct (paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c)), you must treat this letter as a formal request for all of the documents/information that the protocol now requires your client to provide. Your client must not issue proceedings without complying with that protocol.

As solicitors you must surely be familiar with the requirements of both the Practice Direction and the Pre-Action Protocol for debt claims and your client, as a serial litigator of debt claims, should likewise be aware of them. As you (and your client) must know, the Practice Direction and Protocol bind all potential litigants, whatever the size or type of the claim. Its express purpose is to assist parties in understanding the claim and their respective positions in relation to it, to enable parties to take stock of their positions and to negotiate a settlement, or at least narrow the issues, without incurring the costs of court proceedings or using up valuable court time. It is embarrassing that a firm of Solicitors are sending a consumer a vague and un-evidenced 'Letter of Claim' in complete ignorance of the pre-existing Practice Direction and the Pre-Action Protocol.

I confirm that, once I am in receipt of a Letter Before Claim that complies with the requirements of para 3.1 (a) of the Pre-Action Protocol, I shall then seek advice and submit a formal response within 30 days, as required by the Protocol. Thus, I require your client to comply with its obligations by sending me the following information/documents:

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; for how long it is claimed the vehicle was parked, 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. If the claim is for a contractual breach, photographs showing the vehicle was parked in contravention of said contract.
7. Is the claim for trespass? If so, provide details.
8. Provide me a copy of the contract with the landowner under which they assert authority to bring the claim, as required by the BPA/IPC Private Parking Single Code of Practice (PPSCoP).
9. a plan showing where any signs were displayed
10. Photographs of the signs displayed (size of sign, size of font, height at which displayed) at the time of any alleged contravention.
11. Provide details of the original charge, and detail any interest and administrative or other charges added
12. Am I to understand that the additional £70 represents what is dressed 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?
13. With regard to the principal alleged PCN sum: Is this damages, or will it be pleaded as consideration for parking?

I am clearly entitled to this information under paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c) of the Practice Direction. I also need it in order to comply with my own obligations under paragraph 6(b).

If your client does not provide me with this information then I put you on notice that I will be relying on the cases of Webb Resolutions Ltd v Waller Needham & Green [2012] EWHC 3529 (Ch), Daejan Investments Limited v The Park West Club Limited (Part 20) Buxton Associates [2003] EWHC 2872, Charles Church Developments Ltd v Stent Foundations Limited & Peter Dann Limited [2007] EWHC 855 in asking the court to impose sanctions on your client and to order a stay of the proceedings, pursuant to paragraphs 13, 15(b) and (c) and 16 of the Practice Direction, as referred to in paragraph 7.2 of the Protocol.

Until your client has complied with its obligations and provided this information, I am unable to respond properly to the alleged claim and to consider my position in relation to it, and it is entirely premature (and a waste of costs and court time) for your client to issue proceedings. Should your client do so, then I will seek an immediate stay pursuant to paragraph 15(b) of the Practice Direction and an order that this information is provided.

For the avoidance of doubt, it is entirely irrelevant whether this response is based on a so-called ‘template’ or not. I am a layperson exercising my right to respond fully to a Letter of Claim using all resources available to me. Any attempt by your firm to dismiss this response on the basis that it resembles material found online—or to bully, belittle, or intimidate me for asserting my legal position—will be treated as unprofessional conduct. Should your firm attempt to sidestep its obligations under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims by insinuating that this response is unworthy of consideration, I will escalate the matter by lodging a formal complaint with the Solicitors Regulation Authority. You are officers of the court and are expected to act accordingly.

Yours faithfully,

What appeal? You're not submitting an appeal, you're responding to a letter of claim.

Where are you trying to submit this correspondence?