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Smart parking - am I guaranteed to lose if it went to court
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Dollypartoni
Posts: 8 Forumite
Hi everyone, I’ve never posted on this and only found out it existed last night and have been reading the stickies for hours but I can’t see anything regarding my situation and I think I’ve really messed up.
In late November i got a parking ticket from smart parking for being parked in a car park without paying. They are correct I didn’t pay. It was gone 8pm, there was only one other car parked there and I stupidly presumed it was free after 6pm. I stayed there until 11pm.
I’ve not been driving that long and never received a ticket before and I’m such a fool I thought you just ignore parking tickets not from the council so when I got the ticket from smart parking a few weeks after, i did nothing and I binned it. The charge was £60 and I was being made redundant that month too so I just saw a bill that I thought I could bin and not have to pay so I got rid of it. Then a month after that, I received a letter form drp(the usual threatening of court action and the fine became £160) and received another one today from drp.
Now I know you ignore DRP and I will, however, should I go back to smart parking and see if I can pay them directly? Or do I wait for the court letter? I don’t even have the ref code to write to smart parking as I binned that letter so would they find my case from the drp ref number? As it’s been over 2 months, I doubt I can appeal this anyway? If it went to court, am I guaranteed to lose as 1: I never appealed to smart parking or even acknowledged this invoice with them (I’ve been ignoring) and 2: I did actually Park without paying. Although in another thread someone won an appeal being parked in the same car park I was in at a similar time due to the signage not being clear (as well as other reasons)
Please advise. I will never presume anywhere is free to park and hopefully never get a ticket again and if I do I won’t ignore
Best regards
DollyPartoni
In late November i got a parking ticket from smart parking for being parked in a car park without paying. They are correct I didn’t pay. It was gone 8pm, there was only one other car parked there and I stupidly presumed it was free after 6pm. I stayed there until 11pm.
I’ve not been driving that long and never received a ticket before and I’m such a fool I thought you just ignore parking tickets not from the council so when I got the ticket from smart parking a few weeks after, i did nothing and I binned it. The charge was £60 and I was being made redundant that month too so I just saw a bill that I thought I could bin and not have to pay so I got rid of it. Then a month after that, I received a letter form drp(the usual threatening of court action and the fine became £160) and received another one today from drp.
Now I know you ignore DRP and I will, however, should I go back to smart parking and see if I can pay them directly? Or do I wait for the court letter? I don’t even have the ref code to write to smart parking as I binned that letter so would they find my case from the drp ref number? As it’s been over 2 months, I doubt I can appeal this anyway? If it went to court, am I guaranteed to lose as 1: I never appealed to smart parking or even acknowledged this invoice with them (I’ve been ignoring) and 2: I did actually Park without paying. Although in another thread someone won an appeal being parked in the same car park I was in at a similar time due to the signage not being clear (as well as other reasons)
Please advise. I will never presume anywhere is free to park and hopefully never get a ticket again and if I do I won’t ignore
Best regards
DollyPartoni
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Comments
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Read ALL of this thread. There are sections on debt collectors and the court process
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=48168220 -
Also don’t believe smart do court...0
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Thanks for the link I have read it all. As I’ve not yet received a court notice, I am wanting to know if I should contact smart parking (even though I got the ‘invoice’ over 2 months ago and regrettably never appealed this with them) or wait and see f I get a court order? I will be emailing the debt collection agency tomorrow as on the stickie. Thanks0
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If you've missed the appeal window then just ignore them and any debt collector letters, and only respond to a real letter before claim or court papers. This is all clearly explained in the NEWBIES thread, which does NOT say to email the debt collector - in fact it says the exact opposite! The only people you could be emailing are the landowners to get them to tell Smart to cancel the PCN.
As Michael Winner used to say in the Esure adverts ... Calm down dear!
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:rotfl: :rotfl:Smart parking - am I guaranteed to lose if it went to court
No one is ever ‘guaranteed to lose if it went to court’.
If you lost to Smart it would mean that you would be the first one to lose at court to them, because you’d be the very first one we’ve ever seen them ‘take to court’.
Sleep easy, the bogeyman doesn’t exist.
Have you complained to the landowner and assertively asked them to get this cancelled?Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .
I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street0 -
Thanks for your reply. On the stickie thread it says ‘if you have letters from any debt collector such as Debt Recovery Plus or Zenith and are on the face of it, too late to 'appeal', then (if in England/Wales) either ignore them or robustly respond. ‘ so I was going to email them the template that was posted on the stickie thread? Do you suggest I just ignore them?0
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The car park is near the town centre near a dual carriageway so no idea who the landowner is0
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Yes. Nothing you might send them (other than a cheque) will make a blind bit of difference.Do you suggest I just ignore them?Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .
I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street0 -
Dollypartoni wrote: »The car park is near the town centre near a dual carriageway so no idea who the landowner is
Do some research. Local Authority Planning Department. Local Rating Office. Google. Land Registry will give it to you on a plate for 3 quid.
You need to take control. You can’t remain an island in the stream on this. It certainly isn’t what we are!Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .
I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street0 -
Hello, I have received a letter from SCS Law regarding the above original post.
The letter head is from SCS Law and the return address to return the reply form is SCS Law, Canary Wharf London but if you wish to pay it gives you the Debt recovery Plus website or phone number.
It says !!!8216;please note this letter is to be considered a letter before claim for the purpose of ...!!!8217; and ends with !!!8216;our client does not consider that this matter is suitable for alternative dispute resolution!!!8217;.
It also came with a Annex 1 information sheet.
The first page of the letter is very vague though just says the date of the alleged contravention.
!!!8216;Smart parking is entitled to these sums under contract law. When your vehicle parked at the above mentioned site, the driver of the vehicle agreed to be bound by the terms and conditions of parking which is displayed on signage throughout the site.!!!8217;
Says some more about the driver being in breach and the sun still being outstanding then goes to mention the Parking eye VS Beavis 2015 case.
I have 30 days to response to the letter.
!!!8216;We reserve the right to refer to this letter, in particular on the question of costs should this matter proceed to trail!!!8217;
Have Smart parking started to take people to court? I!!!8217;ve seen a few replies to 2017 questions about SCS Law saying to write back requesting all the information they have on the case etc.
What!!!8217;s my next step? It!!!8217;s around £180 my charge. I have not advised smart parking on anyone chasing who the driver was. I have not contacted them te this ticket at all as previously mentioned in my original post.
Thank you for any help0
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