BW Legal Parking Fine – Pay or Appeal?
Got a BW Legal parking fine and unsure what to do next? You’re at the right place. Every month, more than 130,000 people visit our site looking for guidance on fines and parking tickets.
In this article, we’ll explain:
- If you need to pay your BW Legal parking fine.
- How to challenge a BW Legal parking fine.
- The role of the Independent Appeals Service.
- Tips to avoid future parking fines.
Research from Which? found that the increase in fines can be attributed in part to unclear rules and the different payment methods offered in private car parks1.
So if you’re feeling confused about these matters, don’t worry! We have lots of useful advice and real examples to help you.
Not sure what to write in your parking appeal?
You don’t need to start with a blank page.
We’ve created a free parking ticket appeal letter template that gives you a clear structure to follow.
Free editable parking appeal letter template from MoneyNerd.
Do you have to pay them?
You might have to pay BW Legal to prevent the matter from escalating to the courts, which could add further expense if you lose.
Some people don’t pay and are never taken to court, but this is a big risk you probably don’t want to take.
Keep in mind that the best way of getting out of a parking fine is successfully appealing against it.
» TAKE ACTION NOW: Get legal support from JustAnswer
Appeal Process Steps
I’ve put together this quick table to help you understand how to appeal your BW Legal parking fine.
If you want to learn more about PCNs or the appeal process, don’t forget to check out our specialized guides.
| Process: | Steps you should take: |
|---|---|
| When you receive the ticket… | You should gather as much evidence as you can to support your appeal claim and prove that the ticket was unfairly issued. |
| If you were given the ticket in person/attached to your car… | You must make an informal appeal (sent to the local authority/council that issued the PCN) within 14 days. This should be a letter with the evidence proving why the ticket was incorrectly given. |
| If it was posted to you… | You will be given 21 days to submit an informal appeal (from the day you received the letter). Your informal appeal should be a letter with the evidence proving why the ticket was incorrectly given. |
| If the informal appeal is rejected… | You will receive a Notice to Owner and will have 28 days to respond to this with a formal appeal. You can conduct the formal appeal online or via paper form. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal can send you one of these forms. |
| If the formal appeal is rejected… | You will receive a Notice of Rejection. From here, you are free to challenge the council’s verdict at an independent tribunal. |
| If the independent tribunal disagrees with your appeal… | You should pay the ticket within 28 days of the tribunal rejecting your appeal. If you don’t, the fine will be increased by 50%. If you don’t have the money to pay the fine, you should contact Citizens Advice or another debt charity. |
Keep in mind that the parking fine appeals process stipulates that a challenge must be filed within 28 days of the ticket being issued.
You only have so long to make an appeal, and it’s unlikely that the car park operator will have passed the matter to a collection business before this timeframe expires.
Private parking tickets
BW Legal parking fines are when this debt collection law firm works for a private company to chase unpaid private parking tickets.
These are known as Parking Charge Notices and shouldn’t be confused with council parking tickets which are called Penalty Charge Notices.
They might chase unpaid parking fines for several different car park operators across the UK.
Unlike council parking fines, a private parking fine is not a real fine. These should be considered more like an invoice you have received from a private business.
What’s Included in the Free Appeal Template
A clear structure
The template gives you a simple framework for putting your parking appeal together, so you don’t have to work out what to write from scratch.
What you’ll add
- Your parking charge details
- Why you’re appealing
- Any relevant evidence
- What you want the parking company to do
Easy to adapt
Just replace the sections in [square brackets] with the details of your own situation and edit the wording where needed.
You’ll get the template by email so you can save it, edit it and use it when you’re ready.
Free parking appeal letter template from MoneyNerd.
LBA
You may have received a letter from BW Legal about an unpaid Parking Charge Notice.
This is called a Letter Before Action (LBA) because it gives you a chance to pay by a set deadline or they say they will take you to court.
It allows you to pay and is a necessary step in the process of taking you to court.
Check out what happened to one person who didn’t realise they had received a Parking Charge Notice.
Source: Moneysavingexpert
Additional fees
When BW Legal start chasing a motorist for an unpaid private parking fine, they may add additional fees to inflate the debt.
However, in a case from a few years ago, a judge ruled that BW Legal were abusing the process and should stop adding on inflated costs for no genuine reason.
Additional costs may be added when the claimant has been left out of pocket, which was not in these cases.
Here is an example of someone being chased by BW Legal for a parking fine:
“I received a parking fine from Britannia Parking when I pulled into a pub car park and stopped for 16 minutes to check a warning light on my VW campervan. I unsuccessfully appealed through Britannia and POPLA and now BW Legal have upped the fine to £160 and has given me until 29th April before commencing County Court proceedings.”
- Baz23 (Money Saving Expert forum)
Feel more confident before you send your appeal
Writing a parking appeal can be difficult when you’re not sure what to include or how to structure it.
Our free template gives you a clear starting point, helping you:
- Set out what happened clearly
- Explain why you’re disputing the charge
- Include the important details
- Avoid starting from a blank page
Simply adapt the template to your own circumstances before sending it.
Free parking appeal letter template from MoneyNerd.
Can they take you to court?
BW Legal might advise their client, the private car park operator to take legal action against you if you don’t pay the money.
However, the client may be unwilling to take legal action if the fine is a small amount.
The bottom line is there isn’t any way of 100% knowing for sure whether ignoring a BW Legal parking fine letter will result in legal action or not.
As such, I suggest you don’t ignore a BW Legal Parking Charge Notice.
The consequences of not paying a parking fine on private land could result in court action.
Once a default is registered on your credit file, you have a month to pay the fine or a County Court Judgement (CCJ) remains on your record for six years.
As you can see, County Court Judgement (CCJ) implications are serious.
BW Legal Contact Information
| Website: | https://www.bwlegal.co.uk/ |
| Phone: | 0113-487-0430 Mon-Fri 8am-6pm / Sat 9am-3pm |
| BW Legal make payment online: | https://payments.bwlegal.co.uk/ |
| Address: | Enterprise House 1 Apex View, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS11 9BH |
Ready to appeal your parking ticket?
Don’t start with a blank page.
Get our free parking ticket appeal letter template and use it as the starting point for your response.
Add the details of your parking charge, explain why you’re appealing and adapt the wording to your circumstances.
We’ll send the template straight to your email.
Free parking appeal letter template from MoneyNerd.
References
