PCN from Smart Parking - Possibly entered wrong Registration Number on ticket machine

Chocoholic77

Hi,
My aunt got a PCN from Smart Parking. She definitely paid for parking, but I have come to the conclusion she possibly entered wrong Registration Number on the ticket machine. Sadly she threw the ticket out as everyone does. Less than 2 weeks later a PCN from Smart Parking comes through the door with her car and Registration saying no parking ticket was purchased for this vehicle.

We contacted POPLA to appeal but they said we hadn't appealed to them in time allowed as it has to be done within the first 14 days from the first letter.

We appealed to Smart Parking. We then got a letter from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd saying no payment for a ticket was made with my aunts car Registration, and that the PCN was issued correctly as no payment was made to purchase parking for this cars registration number. So basically she is being fined because she supposedly didn't pay the £7 for parking.

So we are now at the "Debt Collector" stage.

Do we now totally ignore all letters until actual stamped court papers come through our door?
Or
Do we pay the fine of £160 !

Has anyone else entered the wrong Registration Number in one of these machines and disposed of the ticket?

Please help, she is very worried about it.

I had a load of these years ago, back in the day when in England you could just ignore them all as Watchdog said. But now I have heard you cannot ignore them.
Do any of these actually go to court?

Quentin

Yes, your 2 alternatives are to pay (not recommended! But if she is determined to, then she should try to negotiate a reduced rate) or ignore unless she gets a court claim. (They have 6 years to instigate court proceedings)

The_Deep

If this is as clear cut as you say, then, if they want a penny, they have a mountain to climb, They will have to prove that no payment was made, this will cost them time and money.


They will have to prove in front of a judge, that, on the balance of probabilities , your aunt is lying.


Tell her to sit on her hands and wait for court papers.

Chocoholic77

It was Fistral Beach Car Park in Newquay.

POPLA told us it has to be appealed to the company issuing the PCN within 14 days of receiving the PCN letter. Hence why they won't give us a 10 digit POPLA appeal number.

Smart Parking said we hadn't appealed in time either, so not sure sending a letter will help. Their last letter says that there was no payment for my Aunts registration number. She did pay, but obviously must have put in the wrong registration. Sadly she threw the ticket away as everyone does. This letter also says that "what if you do not agree. Although any correspondence that does not provide further evidence will be noted and retained, I cannot guarantee that we will reply".

These companies are such horrible people. In our original contesting letter we asked them to check the ticket machine records. But they just said that no parking payment was made for this registration.

I would love them to look into their system to see how many car registrations were paid for that day where the vehicle registration was NOT caught entering or leaving the car park. Because obviously she entered the wrong registration as she paid the money and had a ticket.

This is so unfair.

The_Deep

In court they would have to prove that no payment was received, not that no payment was received against a specified VRN. As I said, a veritable mountain.


Given that this is Smart, (who are not very smart), they are most unlikely to take this to court.


by a certain

Hot_Bring

Please could you give the dates you got notices and dates you responded ? I ask as you seem to have got Smart and POPLA muddled up.

Chocoholic77

I haven't got them mixed up.

We ignored the first letter which arrived on 20th July. We didn't send a letter to challenge the PCN until 28th August.

We called POPLA and they told us we need to have challenged the PCN within 14 days of the first letter in order for them to help us.

Coupon-mad

So let me get this straight, instead of appealing to the parking firm (as per the Notice) you decided to contact POPLA out of the blue and they (rightly) told you to appeal to the parking firm first. You cannot use an ADR like POPLA until you have first appealed to the operator themselves, which the PCN told you.

The question is, did you then appeal to SMART within 28 days of the PCN letter? Did you keep a copy, did you appeal online (not send a random letter which any parking firm can deny receiving)? If you can prove you appealed in time, complain to the BPA by email.

And the main thing to understand is, if anyone pays Smart, they are not smart, indeed that person would be very dim and stupid. Why not just read other Smart Parking threads to learn why they are not an operator to worry about.

Search this forum of 'Smart Asda' and you will find hundreds of results. And please read the Newbies thread (second to top of this forum) part 4 about 'ignoring the debt collector stage' which does what it says on the tin and gives loads of links to show a person why DRP and Zenith letters are laughable.

ManxRed

No, they ignored the NtK and the reminder letter, and THEN contacted POPLA who (correctly) informed them that they had to appeal to the PPC but were now too late to do so.

I think.

Coupon-mad

katonna wrote: »

I haven't got them mixed up.

We ignored the first letter which arrived on 20th July. We didn't send a letter to challenge the PCN until 28th August.

We called POPLA and they told us we need to have challenged the PCN within 14 days of the first letter in order for them to help us.

So you appealed too late, big deal. Why anyone would phone POPLA is anyone's guess, you missed the appeal deadline so POPLA wasn't available to you, but so what? Ignore the debt collector stage it is then! We don't need to hear about every letter, you can play snap with them if you read the Newbies thread links about this stage. Shows you examples of the letters.

Or just Google for Images, searching 'DRP Zenith letter' or similar (if that's the debt collector's name - we have thousands of threads about them if you search!). Please, no queries about CCJs or effect on credit rating or worries about someone coming knocking on the door. Already answered umpteen thousand times...no, it doesn't happen...please read the forum, use it like a library, search for other threads.

If the person pays they need their head examining, can't make it clearer than that.

Guys_Dad

I agree with c-m. You blew your appeal opportunity and now have to wait till the PPC decides whether to take you to court.

Don't agree with the Deep, for once, in how he advised on how it would roll out in court. I have direct experience of how PE would handle this and they would roll out a print out of the car registrations that they recorded on the day. Not a veritable mountain.

If your Aunt's number isn't there, then in the pre-trial evidence you could see if there was a simple transcription of 2 digits, and it could act in your favour.