PCN received from smart parking appeal sent but refused popla

daveleeds56

PCN received for alleged parking contravention in mecca car park as the keeper as ive seen on some of the posts on here but was refused as they said all appeals must be sent within 28 days according to BPA code of practice ( paragraph 22.7) and stated that they were handing it to Debt Recovery Plus who have sent a few letters.i appealed over the signage as like their letter it isn't very clear on entering the car park even though they reckon it is, in fact the words/lettering in their letter is so small i had to use reading glasses and a magnifying glass to read it.When you turn off the main road to enter the car park you go through a pedestrian crossing and there is a petrol station to the left so you are watching out for pedestrians crossing and cars exiting the petrol station when you approach the mini roundabout at the entrance to the car park not looking halfway up the lamp post where the first sign is and all signs are like this high up but none are placed in the part of the car park where the car was left.
I also queried the amount as it said £100 cut to £60 if paid within 14 days otherwise it would go back to £100 and they could also add 10% if not paid within 28 days but when their next letter came they wereasking for £160 and they said this was within what their body deems reasonable.Then they dropped it to £136 to be paid by 6/12/16 to avoid court action but as i am on jobseekers allowance i couldn't pay it if i wanted to.
I have now received a letter from a company called Zenith collections stating that they are now in charge of obtaining the money but are willing to accept a payment of £80.
Whilst looking through another thread i noted that this person was advised that as the company hadnt waited for 29 days from the alleged contravention to obtain personal details from the DVLA and this was illegal/unlawful.The first letter i received from smart parking was dated 02/08/2016 and stated the date of the contravention was 26/07/2016 which is only 7 days,is this information true and what do i do with the information i get back from the DVLA? I've also seen another post on that same thread where the lady was advised that according to PoFA the letter is supposed to state the exact time parked not just time entered and time of leaving the car park .I also understand that according to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 access to an ADR service must be made available for a period of 12 months.

daveleeds56

If the three things ive queried from other posts are true what do i do next? Do i write to the companies regarding these points or do i just wait and see if they go any further?

daveleeds56

i also forgot to mention that a bit before all this happened someone stole the number plates off my car whilst it was in the car park of our flats and i have a police crime number, should i throw this in to add doubt as to who was actually driving the car at the time of the contravention or whether it was actually my car parked there?

The_Deep

You will get far more responses it you break that wall of text into paragraphs.

Quentin

daveleeds56 wrote: »

If the three things ive queried from other posts are true what do i do next? Do i write to the companies regarding these points or do i just wait and see if they go any further?

You can safely ignore debt collectors.

Wait and see if you get court documents and if so come back to find current advice on a defence at that time

fisherjim

Zenith collections is another scam name Debt Recovery Plus use to try to bully people when everything else has failed.

When they drop the settlement "offer" to £80 they are really getting desperate and probably have no where else to go.

As Quentin says ignore and see what happens probably nothing if experience on here tells anything.

Also, follow The Deep's advice in future posts please, I went cross eyed trying to read your post, a couple of presses of the return key will help!;)

Redx

edit post #1 so people can actually read it please ( use the carriage return key to create paragraphs , you are not the only one with reading difficulties and I dont own a magnifying glass )

as for debt collectors , the NEWBIES sticky thread tells you to IGNORE them , as does this thread you missed too

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

so IGNORE drp and do not correspond with them , do not phone them , just file all the paperwork in a folder for 6 years

come back if you get an LBC from not so SMART or their solicitors (in the post) , OR if you get an official MCOL from Northampton (in the post)

debt collectors are powerless and all they can do is send letters, like DRP or ZENITH (same company)

your financial circumstances are irrelevant

daveleeds56

thanks for that its just that some people advise you to ignore and others say dont ignore but dont pay or admit to being the driver so for now i'll just wait and see

The_Deep

Smart Parking have form for misuse of personal data, read these:


http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/smart-parking-settle-out-of-court-for.html


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5585388

Redx

daveleeds56 wrote: »

thanks for that its just that some people advise you to ignore and others say dont ignore but dont pay or admit to being the driver so for now i'll just wait and see

NOPE, nobody tells you to IGNORE the speculative invoice (the pcn)

the second part in red is correct but you should ALWAYS APPEAL, once , to the parking company

after that it all depends on who it is and which trade body they are in

SMART are in the BPA so popla should be used

if you time out or fail at popla , its IGNORE for 6 years unless you get an LBC or an MCOL from Northampton

that is the correct advice written in simple jargon

so anyone who has "missed the boat" is told to IGNORE for 6 years unless a court case looms

and the advice regarding debt collectors is always the same on here and has been for a decade

IGNORE THEM

pappa_golf

daveleeds56 wrote: »

i also forgot to mention that a bit before all this happened someone stole the number plates off my car whilst it was in the car park of our flats and i have a police crime number, should i throw this in to add doubt as to who was actually driving the car at the time of the contravention or whether it was actually my car parked there?

an accusation that you will have to back up , do NOT go down this road



Signed

Mrs Christine Hamilton