PCN Perth Mill Street

Dmo1092

Hi all,

Around six months I was in Perth for work and parked in a car park that I had previously, the machine allowed me to purchase a three hour stay and I entered my money for the amount. However, th emachine did not require me to enter my registration and I got a £60 PCN a month later as I had not assigned my time against my vehicle.

I was able to use the machine the other nights of the week with no issue and appealed on the basis that a simple review of cctv footage would should me purchasing the ticket and returning tomy vehicle. I appealed several times in which they repeatedly stated I had not "complied with the terms and conditions of the car park" -nd the company, smart parking refused to discuss the matter over the phone.

After my last appeal in which I requested the cctv footage, I did not hear from them since (August). I have now received a letter from debt recovery plus stating they now want £160. I do not want this matter to affect my credit rating or any similar consequences, what should I do ?

Coupon-mad

This is Scotland...why did you appeal and tell them who was driving? The driver is the only person in Scotland they can pursue, hence why the advice here is not to appeal if it's in Scotland or NI. Certainly NOT to say who parked...

You also PHONED the scumbags too...another absolute no-no. Luckily it's only Smart Parking!

Start ignoring them and wise up, you should never have responded. Relevant threads:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5035663

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5549276

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5312711




HTH

Dmo1092

I was naive at the time and thought given the reason for me not having the time allocated against my car may have been a mistake on their part. I spoke to the, briefly on the phone but this would have been a short call and no real information passed.

Even if they believe that I am the driver of the vehicle, but have never explicitly stated so, is it still appropriate to ignore all correspondence?

Coupon-mad

Yes of course. Relax! Read the links.

To any newbies skim-reading:

WE SAY THIS BECAUSE THIS WAS IN SCOTLAND WHERE THERE IS NO KEEPER LIABILITY AND NO POPLA APPEAL.

System

The local MP/MEP is on the case there. Drop them a line.

AltheHibby

It's Pete Wishart MP.

Dmo1092

Hi all I have received another letter from Debt Recover Plus, which is headed notice of intended court action. The letter basically says that if do not pay in next two weeks they will pass my notice to their client with the recommendation of court action against me.

Is this normal?

AltheHibby

Perfectly normal. Perfectly ignorable. File it with the rest and forget it.

Dmo1092

Thanks,

Also received response from the Perth MSP who had been in papers taking on smart parking and said the following,

Thank you for your message in relation to the SmartParking issue.

"Over recent months I have been contacted by many hundreds of constituents who have been hit with unfair penalty notices from SmartParking. Their tactics are to refer underpaid charges to a debt collection agency, pushing the sum demanded up to £160. Unfortunately, many people feel intimidated by this and end up paying up, even when they are not in the wrong.

Legal advice published last year by Citizens' Advice Scotland suggested that penalty charges such as those imposed by SmartParking would not be legal in Scotland. Unfortunately, the waters have been rather muddied by a decision in the Supreme Court last autumn, which although determined on an English case, might be considered to be influential should there be a similar case in Scotland.

However, most penalty tickets which are issued are simply not enforceable because they are addressed to the registered keeper of the vehicle, rather than the driver on the date when the alleged offence took place. SmartParking take photographs of car registration plates and then apply to DVLA for details of the registered keeper. But it is not the registered keeper of the car who is liable for the charge, but the driver of the car on the relevant date. And SmartParking have no way of proving who the driver of the car was, this means that such penalty notices are effectively irrecoverable.

In all the many cases I have had, I have yet to hear of anyone being taken to court by SmartParking for recovery of the sums claimed.

I have in recent weeks picked up that SmartParking are cancelling more notices where these have been appealed, and I wonder if all the adverse publicity they have attracted is having some impact on them.

Please be assured that I will continue to press the Scottish government to take action at every available opportunity. Over the past few weeks I have had a number of meetings in relation to the activities of private car park companies, including with Which?, Citizens Advice Scotland and the British Parking Association. I am now approaching the Scottish government again to see what can be done about statutory regulation of private car park companies, to deal with abuses such as those we receive from SmartParking."

catfunt

Dmo1092 wrote: »

Hi all I have received another letter from Debt Recover Plus, which is headed notice of intended court action. The letter basically says that if do not pay in next two weeks they will pass my notice to their client with the recommendation of court action against me.

Is this normal?

Yes. However debt recovery companies are toothless and can't take you to court. File away safely and don't worry.

fisherjim

Debt Recovery Plus are lying muppets who are trying to bully you into paying them for doing absolutely nothing but sending out threats, a nice little earner Rodders!

The last thing they want is for the PPC to try court, as DRP would then be out of the loop and can't threaten you any more and get nothing.

Nice to see an MP that is more on the ball though, pity the wasters down here (Tubby All promises and no action Pickles for one) can't get into gear!