PCN issued by smart parking ltd

Moey4264

Hi guys

Received a PCN through the mail yesterday for staying in a car park for 2 hours and 22 minutes.

The driver used the car park many times as it is very near to a cinema he frequently visits. However recent change of ownership means that they have changed the rules and they now charge for parking 24/7. the driver did visit the car park the next day to check if signage has been changed and it has.

Due to the drivers frequent use of the car park and past knowledge of regulations whilst using it (previously was free after 6pm) he never thought to look for any new signage.

The letter was sent to the keeper father who is not the same person as the driver. The fine is £60 if paid within 14 days of issue, the date on PCN being the 27th oct 2016.

The driver was going to ignore the letters but now thinking it is best to lodge an appeal.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Ralph-y

hi and welcome to the forum .........

you need to read through the newbies thread

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

then come back for more help/advice

we will need the PPC name , and a time line .... dates .....

Ralph:cool:

Fruitcake

Do not ignore this. That advice is four years out of date since the law changed in 2012.

Read the Sticky thread for NEWBIES then appeal as advised using the BPA template in blue as Not-so-Smart are BPA members. It needs to be appealed in the keeper's name.
You should edit your original post to remove any information about who did what. So, "The Driver" did this, "The Driver" didn't see the signs, etcetera.
Copy and paste and send the appeal template exactly as it appears in the NEWBIES.

That's phase one done.

Do not pay, do not ignore, do not reveal who was driving, do not miss the appeal deadline.

You will then need to read up on how to beat this at PoPLA (second stage appeal) if/when Not-so-Smart reject the initial appeal. Don't panic if that happens because it is normal.

The_Deep

Can you post a picture if the sign? I'll bet it is con-compliant with POFA

Moey4264

Thank you all for helpful advice and prompt responses.

The timeline is as follows

22/10/16 - Driver enters site
22/10/16 - Driver leaves Site
31/10/16 - Keeper receives PCN notice in post

The PPC uses an ANPR system to monitor the car park. The letter itself has a date of 27/10/16.

The PPC is 'Smart Parking ltd' who are registered with BPA and so were able to take the name of the registered keeper from DVLA.

The driver has read through the newbies thread and seen the blue template and also read through POFA (but is not great in understanding legal jargon).

The driver states the main issue being that the car park was free but at some point during their last visit and the one in question land ownership was changed and so feels their greatest defence is not realising a change in regulations.

I am unable to post a link of the picture because i'm a new user on the forum (spam prevention)

Fruitcake

Delete the times from your post. That is enough for the PPC to identify you.

You can post images by uploading them to a web hosting site such as tinypic or photobucket, then post the URL here, but change http to hxxp. Someone here will change it to a live link.

Your main point of appeal will actually be about half a dozen appeal points at PoPLA. For now you need to send the initial appeal to the PPC using the BPA template you have already found.

Don't use a web hosting account in your real name, and ensure there are no other personal pics user that username.

Moey4264

[IMG]hxxp://imgur.com/a/HBog2[/IMG]

unfortunately this is the only image from the car park that i have received from driver

Coupon-mad

OK that's only the entrance sign and does not make it clear that there has been a recent change to 24/7 tariffs:

http://imgur.com/a/HBog2

The driver used the car park many times as it is very near to a cinema he frequently visits. However recent change of ownership means that they have changed the rules and they now charge for parking 24/7. the driver did visit the car park the next day to check if signage has been changed and it has.

Due to the drivers frequent use of the car park and past knowledge of regulations whilst using it (previously was free after 6pm) he never thought to look for any new signage.

We agree. And in the BPA Code of Practice it says they should have extra signs up so locals are very clearly informed about any change in enforcement.

DO NOT BLOW THIS BY THE WRONG PERSON APPEALING!

The driver will NOT be appealing, but (as long as this was in England/Wales) the Registered Keeper (father) appeals as per the NEWBIES sticky thread. Please read it and use that template appeal. Do not write your own, do not let the father say 'no'. The father will win.