Have I shot myself in the foot?

taffysvan

Hello everyone,
I got a PPC fine for parking in Scotland and I live in England. I did consult on here and found the template letter and loads of other stuff in all the hundreds of threads and posts. I sent the letter but on subsequent trawling and reading I realise that I may have shot myself in the foot by technically admitting to be the driver. Regrettably I did not see the Scotland advice to enter in to no dialogue.
This is the sequence so far

Received fine from Smart Parking
Wrote letter
Received email from Smart parking saying no deal and fine stands.
Ignored and entered into no further correspondence.
Received threatening letter 1 from DRP
Received threatening letter 2 from DRP

This is the letter I sent,
Dear Sir or Madam,

Ticket number: TCXXXXXX
Vehicle registration number:

You issued me with a parking ticket on XX/XX/15 but I believe it was unfairly issued. I will not be paying your demand for payment for because the charge is disproportionate and not commercially justifiable as the amount you have charged is not based upon any commercially justifiable loss to your company or the landowner.

According to the Unfair Consumer Contract Regulations, parking charges on private land must not exceed the cost to the landowner during the period the motorist is parked there. In my case, the £100 charge you are asking for far exceeds the cost to the landowner of parking there over time. The parking costs £1.00 per hour which means that I would have to park there for 100 hours or 4 days to warrant this charge not the 40 minutes over on my ticket.

There were no prominent signs in the car park to indicate this is private land or that cameras are operating on arrival & departure. Nor is there is prominent signage outlining the excessive overstay charges.

If you choose to pursue me please be aware that I will not enter into any correspondence and this will be the only letter you will receive from me until you answer the specific points raised in my letter.

Yours faithfully,


My question is - Can they get me as I refer in the letter to myself in the first person? Would they view it as my admission that I am the driver and if so will they take me to court in Scotland?
Do I pay now because I've been stupid and more or less said it was me or carry on ignoring?

Thank you

enfield_freddy

if you have admitted to being the driver in your first letter , then yes there is a chance of them taking you to court ,

Half_way

You've removed a significant hurdle in admitting who was driving (you said me)
Can they get you?? no

Before going any further its not a fine, please read the sticky thread

Will they take you to court? highly unlikely this is not so smart parking

Do you pay now? what planet are you on? never ever even think about paying a PPCs ridiculous charges.

You said its a private car park, but whos private car park is/was it? complaints about the PPc should be directed at the car park owner that lets these parasites onto their land, the land owner is responsible for the actions of their agents in the case smart parking

bazster

Not-very-Smart has never taken anyone to court, although who knows how things may change if Barry Beavis loses his case (judgment due next week)?

It seems very unlikely that any parking company would bring a case in the Scottish courts against a resident of England. Not only have the Scottish authorities taken a very firm line against this racket, the hurdles they would have to jump over to bring a case out-of-jurisdiction would simply make it not worth their while.

taffysvan

It was a carpark operated by Perth City Council who I guess own the land.

Half_way

That could be bad news for Perth city council ( why are they letting a PPC loose on their car park )

taffysvan

The consensus seems to be to continue to ignore and sit tight so thank you all I will hold my nerve.

Umkomaas

@OP - read here:

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/smart-parking-issuing-bogus-tickets.html

Coupon-mad

taffysvan wrote: »

The consensus seems to be to continue to ignore and sit tight so thank you all I will hold my nerve.

Ouch, appealing in Scotland, even having found the NEWBIES thread and NOT reading the advice about Scotland and not using the template first appeal from the sticky thread here, how did that happen? Rhetorical question, never mind, I'm guessing that rubbish template was the old MSE article one (awful, awful, awful).

We don't need to see any debt recovery letters (DRP or Zenith) please, or we will self-combust. Hopefully you've read all about them in post #4 of the NEWBIES thread already and seen enough to bore yourself silly, just the same as we feel about that letter chain.

taffysvan

Thanks for the patronising reply. I'm sure if there was a thread about heavy sarcasm yours would be right up there as a sticky.
I do appreciate all the really helpful advice. ��

Coupon-mad

taffysvan wrote: »

Thanks for the patronising reply. I'm sure if there was a thread about heavy sarcasm yours would be right up there as a sticky.
I do appreciate all the really helpful advice. ��

I'm helpful - that's why I wrote the NEWBIES thread that is right up there as a sticky. You said in your first post you'd read the threads & advice then not used the 1st appeal template and not read the special info about Scotland.

Frustrated by how you mucked this up, that's all, makes me a sarky moo when I read this sort of thing, how did that happen to you?!