Threatened with court action - advice required.

FirstTimeBen

Hi all,
I've read through the newbies thread but can't really see any part that's relevant to my current predicament.

Basically in November 2016 I parked at a car park managed by Smart Parking. I realised after entering my registration number incorrectly that I had entered it wrongly, but assumed that because I paid and had a ticket there would be no issue (naively!). A few weeks later I received a PCN from Smart Parking, and unfortunately I foolishly had not kept my parking ticket.

I appealed via their in house appeals procedure, and to no surprise this was rejected. Since then I have emailed the landowner and the store I have visited, but both have stated they are unable/unwilling to help.

In the meantime I have not acknowledged Smart Parking communication, meaning that last week I received a letter from a debt collector who had been instructed by them. During the appeal they also have stated they could find no record of my ticket being purchased, which to be honest is a lie as I 100% did purchase the appropriate ticket, my only mistake being entering my reg number wrong.

Smart Parking have also today contacted me via email (I believe the landowner passed on my emails to them) and they have offered me 'as a gesture of goodwill' the chance to settle the matter by paying £100 today. The original charge was £60 but they claim that the early payment discount has now ended.


So, to summarise - how should I now proceed? Is it likely Smart Parking would take this to court? I am starting to think that due to my lack of evidence, paying the £100 may be the option to take (begrudgingly, as I still feel the charge is unfair and they are lying about being unable to locate my ticket from their parking meter records).

All input appreciated, thanks.

Quentin

See the newbies faq thread near the top of the forum for advice - you are in the ignore/debt collector stage now.


Your title says you have been threatened with court - who by, and how?


If you do get court correspondence then come back for advice on preparing your defence at that time

Half_way

Who's car park was it?

FirstTimeBen

The landowner is LCP, a large property landlord that owns a lot of industrial property (I know this as my business rents our unit from them).

My main issue is that I don't technically have much of a defence, as I no longer have the parking ticket. So my worry being that if they did take me to court, I would have to pay out a considerable amount more than the £100 they've asked for today.

FirstTimeBen

Within the letter from the debt collection agency, they state that if payment is not received they will be recommending that Smart Parking refer the issue to court.
Not sure if this is simply an idle threat, as I have no idea what proportion of unpaid claims actually end up in court?!

twhitehousescat

ok let them suggest to smart parking to take you to court , do tou know how many times Smart have ventured into court?

clue:
http://www.bmpa.eu/companydata/Smart_Parking.html


the debt recovery company are on commission , its there jo to frighten you , hound you and get you to pay up

DO NO Tring / write to the debt collection Cos , if they fail , they do not get paid , "if" the parking co took you to court (very slim) the debt collectors get nothing

a debt collector CANNOT start court action , only "not" so smart,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and guess what? http://www.bmpa.eu/companydata/Smart_Parking.html

FirstTimeBen

So,to summarise - Smart Parking haven't taken a single 'offender' to court in the past 2 years!?

I am very tempted to hold my ground and just ignore any future correspondence if that is the case. Just hope it's not a case of sods law and I'm the first person they bring to court.

Coupon-mad

FirstTimeBen wrote: »

So,to summarise - Smart Parking haven't taken a single 'offender' to court in the past 2 years!?

I am very tempted to hold my ground and just ignore any future correspondence if that is the case. Just hope it's not a case of sods law and I'm the first person they bring to court.

Smart have NEVER tried court, in my memory (maybe 8 years of posting here). And they issue hundreds of thousands of PCNs.

You certainly have a defence. As you say your business rents a unit, do you mean on this site? If so, what does your business lease say about the right for employees to park or is it silent about parking charges?

FirstTimeBen

Uunfortunately we lease on a totally different site, ours is more of an industrial estate rather than a retail park which is where the so-called alleged offence occured.

My main worry being that although I feel that I have a defence, I have no way of proving it. I paid for the ticket via cash so I can't even use my bank statement as proof of payment.

I think I will hold my nerve for a little while longer, until as/when/if Smart Parking decide on their next move.
I am hoping that eventually they'll just give up, presumably as they have done with many others in the past judging by their lack of court action.

Coupon-mad

You will get Debt Recovery Plus letters, if you can't hold your nerve through the tired old, hysterical DRPlus/Zenith letter chain that everyone has laughed at for a decade, we will give up! It's all over the forum for years and years, everyone ignores this trash.

I've laughed at those letters myself. Hilarious drivel. This is not about 'holding your nerve' at all. It's quite amusing once you have stepped across the line of thinking you have 'no defence' and realised what a scam this entire thing is. You will get some letters, then some more letters. Please don't update each one here, we've seen them far too often - Google them instead, or search the forum for the word 'Zenith' or 'Debt Recovery Plus landmark Beavis case' or whatever drivel they are spouting, and read other threads to set your mind at rest that the sky does not fall in.

FirstTimeBen

Well that's quite reassuring, I must admit.
Thanks for the feedback, it did feel like I was being held accountable for a crime on the level of murder by the tone of some of the letters received already.
Thank you for your input, it's appreciated :T