Smart Parking - ANPR, Double-Dipping – 1st appeal rejected – Popla Appeal Advice

JT3769

Hi
I could really do with some advice, I can’t believe I am having to waste my time worrying about this and having to contest this. I am so angry about this because I know I am in the right.

Sorry in advance for the long post, I just want to give the detail that might be necessary or useful for any help or comments people might have regarding the questions I have put at the end. I have searched for smart parking and Popla but haven’t found anything that addresses some of the questions I have.

I entered a Smart Parking ANPR controlled car park, once in the morning and once in the evening, with a gap of approximately 7-8 hours and they have double-dipped me claiming I over-stayed. The entry and exit times for each of the visits were no more than about 20 minutes apart. The only ‘proof’ I have that this is completely wrong is that I know I was at a location 24 miles away all day in between the 2 visits with 3 other people, one of who I had driven there and back with in my car.

I responded just as the keeper of the car, at no point did I say I was the driver. I appealed using the template given for BPA and added in claiming the ANPR is obviously faulty and giving an indication of the windows for the entry and exit times for both visits and that 3 witnesses were available to say that the vehicle was elsewhere. They have refused the appeal and given a POPLA code.

In the refusal letter, where they acknowledge that I am appealing on behalf of the driver, they have stated ‘…having reviewed the images taken on this date, there are no further images taken for the registration xxxx xxx that would suggest more than one visit was made on the date in question, therefore we have no option but to uphold the Parking Charge Notice.’

They have also said ‘Every accessible entry and exit point to this car park is managed by either an entry or exit camera which takes an infrared image of the vehicle registration as it passes by.’

Also in response to the bit in the template about the owner of the land and the contract, they have stated that ‘While we do hold a contract with the land owner, we are not at liberty to provide a copy of the contract between Smart Parking Ltd and the car park owner as the information involved is commercially sensitive and exempt under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.’

In relation to the Popla appeal, my questions are:

• Should I get or try to get witness statements to add to the appeal, I don’t know how I would go about this that would result in anything that would be legally worth anything anyway? Should I just say that if they take me to court I will produce these then?
• The car park has 2 different and separate entry/ exit points and I know that in the morning, I went in one entry and exited through the other and that in the evening, I went in and out of the same entry/exit point. As they have stated in their letter that ‘Every accessible entry and exit point to this car park is managed by either an entry or exit camera….’ (the underlining is mine) have they lef t themselves open to me being able to strongly dismiss the ANPR on this basis? i.e. to me this says, a camera records the entry or the exit, not both, therefore how can they claim or prove that I didn’t enter and exit when I said I did on both visits if that’s how they’re saying their cameras are set up?
• What argument do I have against their claim that they have looked for the other images but surprise, surprise have not found them? The car parking notices say that the site is managed by both ANPRs and a mobile parking attendant. They have not supplied any evidence from a mobile parking attendant to back up the PCN. Should I demand this from them in the time before the Popla appeal goes in or just say in the appeal that they have not supplied anything from this attendant. Can I demand to see evidence that they have searched or the evidence of the results of the search? Again should I demand this from Smart Parking before the Popla appeal or just state in the appeal that they haven’t provided any proof that they have actually looked for the additional images.
• They have refused to provide the contract by claiming exemption under the FOI Act 2000. My understanding is that the act doesn’t cover private companies it covers access to information held by public authorities so they haven’t got a leg to stand on to refuse it on that basis. Am I right in thinking this is the strongest point to use to claim they have no authority to charge me when they refuse to provide the evidence of the contract between themselves and the owner?
  
  Am I wrong to be focussing on the above, I’m not sure there is a massive amount that I can do regarding the validity of the signs etc., there’s probably a bit I could argue about, I am struggling a bit to see if the notice adheres to the section 9 part of POFA to see if I can argue about that.
  Thanks for any help you can provide.
  

System

A simpler method is to tell them to take you to court as you can prove you were somewhere else. In the alternative, if they do not issue a claim, they must remove your personal data from their files and cease processing it.

Don't waste time on this and put the ball back in their court. Be willing to take them to the ICO if they do continue to process your details.

peter_the_piper

Then also complain to DVLA as they had no reason to access your info.

Half_way

Whos car park was this?

Fruitcake

Have you complained to the landowner/retailer? If not why not?

Witness statements just need to be a short letter stating your car was seen by them elsewhere. Printed name, signed and dated, and a comment that the statement is a true and accurate record of events.

The_Deep

Iam is right, they are calling you a liar. Do not bother with appealing. Tell them that you have better things to do with your time.

Tell them to take you to court and let a judge decide. Warn then that, should they issue a claim, and the judge has finds for you, you will be going after them for costs and damages for defamation.


You hold all the winning cards here, call their bluff.

JT3769

Thank you all for the advice and comments. I'm glad I asked because I thought the advice would be to proceed with the appeal.


It's a car park near my house for a Tesco Metro Express, a Wilkos and at most 1 or 2 other shops so not just one retailer.


I had used the Tesco Express but I didn't complain because of the fact that there is not just one retailer there, it was the one time that I had not used a debit card, I paid cash and had no receipt and to be honest, naively, I thought the whole thing was so obviously a ridiculous error on their part that when I did the appeal to Smart Parking that that would be it. Obviously a big mistake on my part :-( I will complain to the Tesco store.

The_Deep

Complain to all of them. Tell them that if this is not cancelled you will no longer patronise any of them.


Point out to them the problems this company caused ASDA.

Half_way

You could try a google search as well to find out who the owner of the small retail park is

Coupon-mad

For the sake of getting it cancelled and avoiding months/years of demands, I would suggest a POPLA appeal based on other Smart ones recently, because they normally back down at POPLA stage when they see a long POPLA appeal from a keeper.

Smart should then crawl back under their stone which is what you want, really.