SMART PARKING Charge Notice

Durham1966

Hi Coupon-mad,

I did as you suggested and on the 18th of October, I appealed online telling them that there were flaws in their letter and there was no loss caused by the driver's parking.

I did think that it had been cancelled as I had not received any reply until today (15/11/13) when I received a letter informing me that they had considered my appeal in detail and have decided to uphold the PCN as they believe that it was correctly issued in accordance with the terms and conditions advertised within the area concerned.
They also go on to say that it is the responsibility of the driver to check the signs in the car park before leaving the vehicle. Although the PCN has not been issued to cover any loss caused by the vehicles parking but as a core term of the parking contract which falls outside The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999. The parking charge is therefore not classed as damages or a penalty for breach, either of which might be linked to actual loss resulting from a breach. The parking charge is a part of a contract that was accepted by the driver when they left their vehicle parked and cannot, now in effect, be renegotiated although a discount period is offered as per the BPA Code of Practice. The driver agrees to either park in with the terms and conditions or accept a Parking Charge Notice of £70.00 if the terms and conditions are not adhered to.

I think they are saying that it was never meant to cover a "loss" but is part of a "contract".

Any thoughts on this ??

atilla

Did they provide you with the popla code?

Stroma

Complete drivel, on their rejection did they supply you a popla verification code?

Coupon-mad

Thoughts are that it's POPLA time as they are silly enough not to have cancelled!

POPLA (the stage where certain wording WILL WIN but ordinary appeals often do not) is discussed along with other stuff you might want to know, here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822


Just to add your earlier post to here so people can see what was said on someone else's thread at first:

Durham1966 wrote: »

15-10-2013
Hi, I have received a letter from the above company and it does not outline why the Parking Charge was issued yet on the reverse side it states "The Parking Charge has been issued for the reasons explained overleaf, therefore giving reasonable cause for Smart Parking Ltd to apply to the DVLA for the details of the registered keeper"

The time and date is stated but not the reason ?

I thought the "facts of the case" had to be described in the document ?

Has anyone any thoughts on this ?

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Welcome to MSE.

It's a 'Notice to Owner' following a windscreen ticket isn't it? I have seen one of those and it was easy as pie to appeal and get cancelled within days.

Not only should they NOT call it a NTO (should be Notice to Keeper) but you are correct, Smart Parking miss off the contravention on these NTOs which follow a windscreen PCN = a non-compliant notice on two counts.

Appeal it online telling them you've sussed these flaws and there was no loss caused by the driver's parking either, and it will be cancelled I suspect.

Durham1966

Hi,
Thank you all for your replies, and yes they did furnish me with a POPLA verification code, however, if time allows, I will await the reply to a letter I sent to the ASDA manager asking him to cancel the charge.

Cheers

Durham1966

Hi, It's over 2 weeks now since I wrote a letter to the Asda manager and I have not had a reply, does anyone know if this is a normal reaction and therefore I should give him more time or does it look like my letter is being ignored ?

The_Slithy_Tove

Durham1966 wrote: »

Hi, It's over 2 weeks now since I wrote a letter to the Asda manager and I have not had a reply, does anyone know if this is a normal reaction and therefore I should give him more time or does it look like my letter is being ignored ?

Whatever you do, DO NOT MISS the POPLA deadline. Start working on your POPLA appeal now, so it can be reviewed by this forum, and so you are ready to submit it if you have no joy from ASDA. Don't leave it to the last minute.

Coupon-mad

You now have just a few days to get a POPLA appeal in if you haven't already. This was made clear before so I hope you have done that too.

'How to win at POPLA' is in the 'NEWBIES, READ THIS FIRST' sticky thread near the top of this forum and you can adapt a suitable example from that link. NOW!!

Durham1966

Hi, Thank you for the replies, to The Slithy Tove and Coupon-Mad.
I have ascertained that Asda do not get involved in settling these incidents and they forward any letters directly to the parking operator.
Therefore since my rejection letter arrived on the 13/11/13 I take it that I only have a few days to make a POPLA appeal ? I will now try to compose a suitable appeal from your information on "How to win at POPLA" although any help would be gladly accepted.

AoD

Be careful. The code must be used 28 days from issue, not when it arrived.

This post from the Parking Prankster explains all;

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/what-does-my-popla-code-mean.html

Coupon-mad

Durham1966 wrote: »

Hi, Thank you for the replies, to The Slithy Tove and Coupon-Mad.
I have ascertained that Asda do not get involved in settling these incidents and they forward any letters directly to the parking operator.
Therefore since my rejection letter arrived on the 13/11/13 I take it that I only have a few days to make a POPLA appeal ? I will now try to compose a suitable appeal from your information on "How to win at POPLA" although any help would be gladly accepted.

You ascertained wrong (see the 'Successful complaints about PPCs' sticky thread). If you believed a fob-off from the Store Manager then you've been had.

But check the date your POPLA code was generated and look to do that first as you don't get a second chance at that, whereas with the Asda complaint you could escalate if after putting this POPLA appeal in, by emailing the CEO as per the sticky thread.

We can help fine-tune your POPLA wording if you draft it from the examples and show us your draft first.