BW Legal for Napier Parking

[JAP]

I have had a final notice from BW Legal having been fairly disdainful of their client Napier parking. I stupidly contacted Napier back in december (by email maybe, cannot find trace) after my husband as Registered Keeper got a demand for unpaid parking fee. I naively told them I was the driver at the time but that I had no intention or requirement to park: I was in an unfamiliar place & seeking a safe place to stop to make an urgent phone call (had been held up in motorway queue, late for meeting, needed to let colleague and meeting hosts know I wouldn't make it) the exit from the dual carriageway I was on took me into Napier's car park, where I paused to make 2 phone calls, check sat nav for a way to get home and left). Their ANPR photos (which I didn't know was there, I didn't stop to read any detailed signage as I wasn't intending to park) shows I was there for 11 mins. (sent in original communication by Napier but BW Legal reps don't seem to have this or details of my appeal
The information above was the substance of my appeal. I didn't bother with IPC as some knowledge that they are all cowboys to some degree and no faith in bothering with them.
Napier hence passed to BW Legal who have phoned me on various occasions and I have maintained I do not consider myself liable in the circumstances , was not seeking to park, did not leave my car and had no passengers that did, only wanted safe refuge to make urgent phone calls etc. Their reps have said various like 10 minute grace period (tho that's not been in their letters and nor on Napier T Cs I have seen online, although those T&Cs I have seen online did say acceptance of parking is leaving the car etc. Which I didn't
Anyway, I then requested BW Legal to cease ringing me and only communicate with me by post.
Now a Final Notice. No T&Cs, no evidence, letter not signed by an individual (unless BW Legal is the name of a person) letter very formulaic Contravention specified as Failure to make required payment in accordance with T&Cs. They are very keen to quote Parking Eye Ltd v Beavis (2015) I know this is a civil matter not criminal but I'd obviously rather keep this out of County Court.
Advice very welcome, got 7 days to respond, with payment obviously, to this letter received today!

[JAP]

Just done some more poking around online, Napier do not publish their T&Cs for the car park in question but do for several others that they manage and they all state:

If you leave a vehicle parked in this Car Park, you enter into a contract with us and will signify acceptance of this fact.


and


If a vehicle is left in our Car Park, the driver has accepted these Terms and Conditions

This seems good enough to me in that I did not leave the vehicle, hence no contract (assuming same T&Cs at the car park in question but I don't know that yet, I am assuming that they are under obligation to send them to me if I ask? I am not inclined to take a trip so that I can read them at the car park?

[charitynjw]

Hi

Napier is with BPA.

The BPA Code of Practice allows min 10 minutes grace period on entry & a further 10 mins to exit.
Both Napier & BWL know this.
If I were cynical I would suggest that they are deliberately misleading you.

BPA CoP attached.....download the relevant version.

[JAP]

I have had a look at the latest BPA Code (I believe that would cover the alleged "contravention" of 26th September 2018 I cannot see a clause that talks about exit grace period? can you hlp? I do note, however that BPA latest news (on the Parking etc Bill becoming law) talks about minimum grace periods and the difference between grace periods and observation periods (although how an observation period is put into practice when the policing of a car park is through ANPR seems puzzling to me).
What would anyone advise regarding my way forward? I am inclined to write a short letter to BW Legal pointing out that they have not supplied me with the evidence they are relying on (theysent this to the registered keeper originally and he has not kept it), that I had no intention to park, and that they are not paying due regard to a minimum grace period for which guidance is 10 minutes but this is guidance, not absolute.
Any thoughts appreciated, thanks for your time.

[JAP]

This is the letter I have written ( I have amended slightly to take out identifying info re who I work for and who meeting) I would be interested to receive comments , improvements etc so tht I can incorporate into my next communication if necessary. Thanks

I respond to your letter of
21^st March. Your letter does not detail any of the particulars of your client’s position regarding the alleged contravention
orthe appeal I made to them.
I appealed to the alleged contravention on the grounds that I entered the Willen Lake (North) car park while seeking a safe place to stop my car in order to make an urgent phone call and to check new route details having been stuck in a long traffic jam on the M1 on 26^th September and that I had no intention or need to park my car.
As an employee of (a sight loss organisation) Iwas due to meet my visually impaired colleague to go to a meetingtogether. Thus, having been stuck in an hour long traffic jam on the M1 and certain to miss my meeting time I was most anxious to make contact with both my colleague and our meeting partners. I came off the M1 at the earliest opportunity at J14 and drove towards Milton Keynes, urgently looking for a place where I could stop and make my phone calls and to check a route back to my base. The road from J14 into MK is a dual carriageway and I turned into the first available exit: this turned out to be into the Willen Lake area which is not familiar to me. The road led me to a car parking area which appeared to be a safe and legal place to pause and make my phone calls and check my route.
As Napier’s photographic evidence shows I entered the car park and 11 minutes later left it. You have not supplied this evidence so I cannot quote the times shown. It was originally sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle who did not keep it after asking me to make contact with Napier Parking.
Notably, upon entering I didn’t see any signs notifying me of ANPR usage or that entering the car park on any terms would render me liable for a charge.
Your client has not supplied me with the terms and conditions of the car park I entered but I note from internet searches that other Napier Car Parks T & Cs state
If you leave a vehicle parked in this Car Park, you enter into a contract with us and will signify acceptance of this fact.
and
If a vehicle is left in our Car Park, the driver has accepted these Terms and Conditions.
My intention and actual practice when I entered the Willen Lake North car park was to use the area (which was virtually empty) as a safe place to stop and make an urgent phone call. It was clear that it was a parking facility but I did not have a need for one, it was the first safe place to stop to legally use my phone that I could find after J14 of the M1. I did not leave my vehicle at any point and would therefore argue that I did not accept the terms and conditions as laid out here by Napier.
I note that Napier is a member of the British Parking Association and the guidance in their code around observation and grace periods with which I am sure both BW Legal and Napier are familiar . I particularly note that the guidance on grace periods is minimum 10 minutes in the relevant code. I also note that Napier are expected to act in a professional manner. The use of ANPR in place of enforcement officers does not, obviously, allow for the same care and discretion of a trained individual who would have observed my actions and noted that I was not seeking to park my car as offered by Napier. A professional attitude, I would respectfully suggest , would take into account the particular circumstances of my entering Willen Lake (North) car park on 26^th September 2018 and I would suggest that in this case the grace period allowed should cover the 11 minutes that I was in the car park, having not sought a car parking facility, not having actually left my car and not having accepted the T & Cs of Napier.
Yours sincerely,

[charitynjw]

I have had a look at the latest BPA Code (I believe that would cover the alleged "contravention" of 26th September 2018 I cannot see a clause that talks about exit grace period? can you hlp? I do note, however that BPA latest news (on the Parking etc Bill becoming law) talks about minimum grace periods and the difference between grace periods and observation periods (although how an observation period is put into practice when the policing of a car park is through ANPR seems puzzling to me).
What would anyone advise regarding my way forward? I am inclined to write a short letter to BW Legal pointing out that they have not supplied me with the evidence they are relying on (theysent this to the registered keeper originally and he has not kept it), that I had no intention to park, and that they are not paying due regard to a minimum grace period for which guidance is 10 minutes but this is guidance, not absolute.
Any thoughts appreciated, thanks for your time.

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