BW Legal: what a letter means and what to do

A letter from a law firm can feel more alarming than one from a collection agency, and sometimes it is more serious: it can be the last step before a court claim. It does not mean you have been taken to court, and you still have time to check the debt, reply and get free advice. This guide covers England and Wales, where BW Legal is based.

Who are BW Legal, and why are they contacting you?

BW Legal is a trading name of BW Legal Services Limited, registered at Companies House under number 07966978. The company was incorporated on 28 February 2012, is active and has its registered office in Leeds. Companies House lists Wab Investments Ltd as owning 75% or more of its shares since April 2016.

It is a firm of solicitors run as a licensed body (sometimes called an alternative business structure), authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) since 9 September 2013 under SRA number 569773. It is also authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 619068, since 26 February 2016. Its FCA permissions are debt collecting and debt administration, and it cannot hold client money. The trading names on the FCA register are BW Legal and BWL.

BW Legal describes itself as the UK’s largest independent debt recovery law firm, instructed by various clients. Its website says it is a member of the Credit Services Association (the trade body for debt collectors), the British Parking Association and the International Parking Community.

Who BW Legal acts for

BW Legal acts for other organisations, so the letter should name the creditor: the company you originally owed, or a company that has since bought the debt. Its website has help sections for people contacted about energy accounts and about parking charges. GOV.UK also lists BW Legal Services Limited, trading as BWL, among the debt collection agencies HMRC may use for unpaid tax. If it is HMRC, see owing HMRC money.

The type of debt changes your rights, so work out which one your letter is about.

The Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims applies to any business claiming a debt from an individual, but not to claims for taxes and duties, which have their own court procedure.

Parking charges are different

Many BW Legal letters are about private parking charges, for example from a supermarket or retail park car park. A private parking charge is not a fine, and it is not credit: it is a civil claim by a parking company that says you broke the terms of parking on its land. That has three practical effects.

• The FCA’s debt collection rules and the Financial Ombudsman Service cover credit debts, so they do not apply to a parking charge. BW Legal’s conduct as a law firm is still covered by the SRA Code of Conduct.
• There is no credit agreement to ask for. Instead, ask for a copy of the parking charge notice, the photos or other evidence, and the terms shown on the car park signs.
• You can challenge a charge with the parking operator first. If your challenge is rejected, you can appeal to POPLA if the operator is a member of the British Parking Association, or to the Independent Appeals Service if it is a member of the International Parking Community. If you have not challenged it yet, ask the operator whether you still can.

A penalty charge notice from a council is different again: the council enforces it, and can later use bailiffs, rather than suing through a law firm.

Is the debt yours, and is the amount right?

Letters sometimes reach the wrong person, or ask for more than is owed. Check before you pay or admit anything.

1. Compare the letter with your own records: the creditor, the account or reference number, the dates and the amount.
2. Write to BW Legal asking for the name of the original creditor, who owns the debt now, a breakdown of the balance (including any interest, fees and costs added) and, if the debt was sold, the notice of assignment. Our guide on how to ask a creditor to prove a debt has more detail.
3. For a regulated credit agreement, write to the creditor that owns the debt asking for a copy of the agreement and a statement, with a £1 fee. It has 12 working days to reply and cannot enforce the agreement while it fails to do so.
4. If the debt is old, check whether it could be statute-barred. In England and Wales most debts cannot be recovered through the courts once 6 years have passed from when the creditor could first sue.

If you dispute a credit debt, say so in writing and explain why. The firm must then suspend collection, investigate and tell you the outcome. If you have had a Letter of Claim and ask for documents, the creditor must either provide them or explain why they are unavailable within 30 days.

What can BW Legal do, and what can it not do?

Solicitors must not abuse their position by taking unfair advantage of clients or others, and must not mislead anyone. SRA guidance says special care is needed with people who are not represented, and names exaggerated threats about costs, artificially short deadlines and intimidating letters as examples of poor conduct. For credit debts, the FCA’s rules also stop collectors pressuring you or pretending to have powers they do not have.

After a court judgment, a creditor can ask the court for a warrant of control (bailiffs), an attachment of earnings order, a third party debt order or a charging order. A judgment on a regulated consumer credit agreement can only be enforced in the County Court.

What should you do at each stage?

When the first letter arrives

Read it, even if you cannot pay. Check the details as above and reply in writing. If you are going to get debt advice, say so: for credit debts, a firm told that you or an adviser are working out a repayment plan must pause active collection for a reasonable period.

If you get a Letter of Claim

A Letter of Claim (sometimes called a letter before action or letter before claim) is the formal warning a business must send before starting a court claim. It should be dated near the top of the first page and come with an information sheet, a reply form and a financial statement.

• You have 30 days from the date on the letter to send back the reply form. If you do not reply, the creditor can start court proceedings.
• On the reply form you can say whether you agree you owe the money, ask for documents, offer payments or say you are getting debt advice.
• If you say you are getting debt advice, the creditor should not start court action until at least 30 days after it receives your reply form, or 30 days after it sends any documents you asked for, whichever is later.
• If you agree a repayment plan, the creditor should not start court action while you keep to it.

Filling in the form, even partly, counts as engaging with the creditor. A court will expect both sides to have followed the Protocol and can take it into account if they did not.

If a court claim form arrives

A claim form means court action has started, often through Money Claim Online. Respond by the date on the claim. You can pay, admit the debt and offer instalments, or defend all or part of it, and if you are not paying in full you can ask for another 14 days. Our guide to a Money Claim Online claim form goes through each option.

Ignoring the claim usually leads to a default judgment. A county court judgment (CCJ) stays on the public register for 6 years unless you pay it in full within one calendar month.

After a judgment

Keep to the payments the court orders. If you cannot, contact BW Legal before you miss a payment and get debt advice about asking the court to change the payments.

How do debt solutions affect BW Legal?

A debt solution affects what BW Legal can do for the creditor, in different ways:

• Breathing Space: creditors cannot contact you about included debts, add interest or charges, or take enforcement action, for up to 60 days (England and Wales only).
• A debt management plan: informal, so creditors do not have to agree, freeze interest or stop action, including court action.
• An IVA: a legally binding agreement under the Insolvency Act 1986. Creditors bound by it cannot take further action to recover the debts included in it. Protocol IVAs usually last 5 or 6 years, fees come out of your payments, and it usually stays on your credit file for 6 years from the start. See does an IVA stop debt collectors?
• A debt relief order, for debts under £50,000, less than £75 a month spare, assets under £2,000 and a vehicle worth less than £4,000. Creditors cannot ask for payment of listed debts during the order.
• Bankruptcy: after a bankruptcy order, creditors owed debts in the bankruptcy have no remedy against your property or you personally for those debts.

Each has costs, conditions and long-term effects, and none suits everyone. The debt solutions comparison sets them side by side. IVAs are available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, not in Scotland.

How do you complain about BW Legal?

1. Complain to BW Legal in writing, using the complaints details on its website or your letter. Say what happened, with dates, and what you want done. Keep copies.
2. For a credit debt, if you are unhappy with the final response, or 8 weeks have passed, you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You normally have 6 months from the final response.
3. You can also complain to the creditor BW Legal is acting for, such as the lender, the energy supplier or the parking operator.
4. If you think a solicitor has behaved dishonestly, misled you or taken unfair advantage of you, you can report it to the SRA. The SRA can take action against the firm, but it cannot make it pay you compensation.

Harassing someone with payment demands calculated to cause alarm, distress or humiliation, or falsely claiming official authority to collect a debt, can be a criminal offence. Our guide to dealing with debt collectors explains your rights in more detail.

Is this letter really from BW Legal?

Scammers copy the names of real law firms and collection agencies.

• Check the firm on the FCA register (firm reference number 619068) and the SRA’s register of solicitors (SRA number 569773).
• Use contact details from your own paperwork, the creditor’s official website or those registers, not a number from an unexpected text, email or search advert.
• A genuine Letter of Claim names the creditor, gives an account reference and includes a reply form.
• Be wary of anyone pushing you to pay at once into an account you do not recognise. If in doubt, ask the creditor directly whether it has passed your account to BW Legal.

What to do next

1. Check the letter and note the date on it. If it is a Letter of Claim, reply within 30 days using the reply form.
2. If anything is wrong or unclear, ask for documents in writing before you pay.
3. Get free, impartial debt advice from MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice or National Debtline. See where to get free debt advice.
4. If a court claim arrives, respond by the date on it. Do not ignore it.