"Smart Parking" charge

Semilanceata

Initally received a "Parking charge notice" through the post a couple of months back (I'd parked overnight in a well known supermarket car park thinking it would be fine, but it had captured my plates on camera)
It was asking for £40.

I ignored this, thinking it was still ok to do.

Recently I've received a 'notice to owner' through the post asking for £70, and if I don't pay up within 14 days then an additional £10 administration fee will be added, and it will be passed on to debt recovery agents etc

The trouble is I must've received this letter late, as it has already been more than 14 days since their date, so I presume they will have passed this on to the 'debt recovery agents' by now.

What can I do in this situation?

Thanks

Fruitcake

Semilanceata wrote: »

Initally received a "Parking charge notice" through the post a couple of months back (I'd parked overnight in a well known supermarket car park thinking it would be fine, but it had captured my plates on camera)
It was asking for £40.

I ignored this, thinking it was still ok to do.

Recently I've received a 'notice to owner' through the post asking for £70, and if I don't pay up within 14 days then an additional £10 administration fee will be added, and it will be passed on to debt recovery agents etc

The trouble is I must've received this letter late, as it has already been more than 14 days since their date, so I presume they will have passed this on to the 'debt recovery agents' by now.

What can I do in this situation?

Thanks

Where was this (England/Wales, or Scotland/NI) and what is the name of the PPC?

Start by reading the Sticky thread for NEWBIES at the top of the main page. You will find plenty of info there including what to do about late appeals.

You can ignore anything and everything from debt collectors, but not genuine court papers. Hopefully you can kill it before it gets that far.

Edna_Basher

Hi

A few extra details from Smart Parking's Notice to Owner would be handy, especially the date of the Notice to Owner and the "Contravention" Date.

It's possible that this could be a new "contravention", so it's worth checking the Parking Charge Notice Number against the one on the original notice to see if they match.

Guys_Dad

Dates are crucial. See last page of POPLA decisions sticky thread - today's posts.

Coupon-mad

Semilanceata wrote: »

Initally received a "Parking charge notice" through the post a couple of months back (I'd parked overnight in a well known supermarket car park thinking it would be fine, but it had captured my plates on camera)
It was asking for £40.

I ignored this, thinking it was still ok to do.

Recently I've received a 'notice to owner' through the post asking for £70, and if I don't pay up within 14 days then an additional £10 administration fee will be added, and it will be passed on to debt recovery agents etc

The trouble is I must've received this letter late, as it has already been more than 14 days since their date, so I presume they will have passed this on to the 'debt recovery agents' by now.

What can I do in this situation?

Thanks

Who cares about debt collector letters - it's junk mail!

As ever, this is covered in the sticky thread at the top of this parking forum - which is why I wrote it. Sadly, last year it got silly as we could not keep up with all the ''help I have got a private parking ticket, what do I do?'' threads so I wrote a sticky thread BEGGING newbies to 'read these FAQS first'.

Smart almost always just cancel when they get sent the appeal template from the NEWBIES thread, EVEN WHEN YOU SUBMIT IT LATE. And if not then the sticky tells you how to win at POPLA and explains what that is...if they send a POPLA code.

T81_madlizzy

Semilanceata

How are you getting on with this, have you continued with the fight?

Just got pinged by this lot myself!:mad:

Coupon-mad

T81_madlizzy wrote: »

Semilanceata

How are you getting on with this, have you continued with the fight?

Just got pinged by this lot myself!:mad:

Why the red face - this is stupid Smart parking who don't know what a compliant NTK looks like so the keeper cannot lose if they don't say who was driving!

As ever, this is covered in the sticky thread at the top of this parking forum - which is why I wrote it. Sadly, last year it got silly as we could not keep up with all the ''help I have got a private parking ticket, what do I do?'' threads so I wrote a sticky thread BEGGING newbies to 'read these FAQS first'.

Smart almost always just cancel when they get sent the appeal template from the NEWBIES thread, and if not then the sticky tells you how to win at POPLA and explains what that is...

T81_madlizzy

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Why the red face - this is stupid Smart parking who don't know what a compliant NTK looks like so the keeper cannot lose if they don't say who was driving!

As ever, this is covered in the sticky thread at the top of this parking forum - which is why I wrote it. Sadly, last year it got silly as we could not keep up with all the ''help I have got a private parking ticket, what do I do?'' threads so I wrote a sticky thread BEGGING newbies to 'read these FAQS first'.

Smart almost always just cancel when they get sent the appeal template from the NEWBIES thread, and if not then the sticky tells you how to win at POPLA and explains what that is...

Many thanks

I had read your sticky but struggled to get past the fact I hadpaid and displayed, but was parked unwittingly in a staff bay!

Will now wait and appeal as directed!:cool:

Semilanceata

Hi, sorry for late reply.

I have read the sticky, and been through it many times, but it all seems so complicated, and I find it confusing.

I have received a second letter from a debt recovery agency stating 'intended court action' if the ridiculous amount they're demaning isn't paid by next week.

Is it too late for me to use the template letter in the sticky, too late for popla? (august was the alleged contravention)
How would I go about this now?

Thanks

Guys_Dad

You have been given all the information you need in the threads above. You have been told what to do about debt collectors' letters.
You have been advised what to do re Smart.
Repeating the same advice from others yet again is a waste of time.

In short, c-m wrote "Smart almost always just cancel when they get sent the appeal template from the NEWBIES thread" and "Who cares about debt collector letters - it's junk mail!"

What is complicated about those two bits of advice?

And "Yes" you have sat on your bum too long for POPLA.

Semilanceata

I checked the sticky thread.

This link was given as a 'strong response' to the PPC after the debt collector stage
http / forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=82895&st=20&p=904431&#entry904431

But reading through, it looks like it didn't work, a few threads down someone has used it, and the Debt recovery guys responded saying the ppc can't deal with the 'debt' anymore because it's illegal for 2 companys to chase the same debt

This is what I mean, this is way overcomplicated.

How long from the actual date of the alleged contravention is it too late for popla?

(a google search turns up nothing for this, just lots of threads with mixed opinions)