I never received a Parking Charge Notice and today I got a letter from DRP

latheesan

This January I went to Matalan store and I didn't have any change for the parking, so I went in the store to use their ATM and it was not working. So, I did my shopping and went home expecting me to pay a fee for not parking - I was in a hurry.

I never got a letter from the company that manages the parking (Smart Parking Ltd).
Instead, today (almost after 3 months) I got a letter from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd saying that I have to pay parking charge of £155 and the reason of issue is: Overstayed Paid Time.

I never actually paid for a parking ticket in the first place, so I am not sure why the reason states "Overstayed paid time". Anyway, I decided to call DRP to ask them why they are asking me to pay £155 and they said they are processing the claim on behalf of their client (Smart Parking Ltd).

I explained to them that I never got the letter and that I would have paid it if I actually got the letter. They said, parking companies would have sent the letters in bulk and when its with the postal service, it's no longer their responsibility to ensure delivery and that they assume letters are always delivered and cited "Interpretation Act 1978" as the reason.

I called Smart Parking Ltd and they said they can't help as the matter is with DRP and if I wish to appeal, I need to send a written letter to their main office saying that I never got the letter.

I am worried they are going to take me to the court. Any advice on what I should do?

This is the letter I got from them: http:// i.imgur.com / XM0a8mh.jpg (remove spaces - sorry I can't post link yet)

DoaM

See post #4 (I think) of the NEWBIES sticky FAQ for what to do about debt collectors.

latheesan wrote: »

They said, parking companies would have sent the letters in bulk and when its with the postal service, it's no longer their responsibility to ensure delivery and that they assume letters are always delivered and cited "Interpretation Act 1978" as the reason.

Rubbish ... that only applies if they've retained proof of posting (such as what you get from the Post Office - a certificate of posting which includes the post code for the recipient/addressee). Not-So-Smart Parking aren't clever enough to do that.

Redx

DRP cannot take you to court , only not so SMART, which is unlikely

IGNORE drp , they are powerless, dont even read their drivel , we dont

pappa_golf

paid time was £0.00 , ie you did not pay

Coupon-mad

I am worried they are going to take me to the court. Any advice on what I should do?

Well we will all eat our hats if they do, seeing as Smart never sue anyone and DRPlus are only daft debt collectors who are toothless and just send letters.

What happened when you complained in person to the Matalan Store Manager, brandishing the annoying fake PCN? Some Store managers cancel these every day, they are so fed up with them.

latheesan

@Coupon-mad

I never actually got the PCN from Smart and when I stated this to DRP, they said "oh well we got a copy of it so we are going to send it to you now".

Which is fine, once I get the letter I am going to try and take it to the store manager and ask what I should do and see if they can help cancel it.

Fruitcake

latheesan wrote: »

@Coupon-mad

I never actually got the PCN from Smart and when I stated this to DRP, they said "oh well we got a copy of it so we are going to send it to you now".

Which is fine, once I get the letter I am going to try and take it to the store manager and ask what I should do and see if they can help cancel it.

In future, never, ever 'phone a parking company, and never, ever, ever contact a debt collector by any means whatsoever, ever.