Wrong registration smart parking charge

Feegz

Hi, we returned from a family holiday to newquay not long ago and in return received a pcn from smart parking ltd showing our vehicle entering and leaving fistral beach. We paid for a ticket and left well within the time but got 2 digits wrong when entering our registration. We have appealled 2 them and showed the ticket clearly showing we have paid for the stay (we live in Cumbria) but to my amazement they are still wanting £60 if paid early or £100 if not!! This is disgusting behaviour in my opinion. We have since offered to pay any administration costs but they have still refused, we have now appealed to popla but I had not come across this site and hope my chances have not gone as appealed on the grounds of being unfair as we clearly paid to stay. They have gone down the route of us being responsible for putting the precise registration in and say there signs clearly state we are liable if not.....I fear popla will also approach this black and white stance!! Any advise would be greatly appreciated as we were just on a rare family holiday with the kids and paid for our short parking stint for a couple of family beach pictures. It is disgusting what these firms are doing to people who have genuinely paid for there stay and stayed less time than paid for aswell. Please please help as I am NOT willing to let them get away with it. Thanks in advance 👍

Coupon-mad

we have now appealed to popla but I had not come across this site and hope my chances have not gone as appealed on the grounds of being unfair as we clearly paid to stay.

Arrggggh...that was a terrible appeal. I am so sad when people come here so late - this was a slam dunk cinch for a keeper to win. You can't win at POPLA with the version you wrote. Damn. Unless it can be rescued in the comments...

Now, when you appealed did you say 'we' throughout and not give away who was driving?

Have you got to the stage of Smart providing their evidence pack? Have POPLA said it's in, and given you seven days to comment?

Feegz

Hi, yes we are at the 7 day stage with popla, my wife did the popla appeal but don't think she put who was driving (out at a quiz night tonight) but she received the notice as owner but wasn't the driver.

Coupon-mad

she received the notice as owner but wasn't the driver.

Great - it might be rescuable!

She needs to give comments on the evidence saying that:

These are my comments on the evidence. POPLA please consider them, since this is a matter of liability and statute that overrides any other appeal point or evidence.

Whilst I was an occupant of the car and can give an account as the keeper/passenger, I was not the driver.

After reviewing the evidence provided by the operator, it is clear that the driver of the vehicle has NOT been identified (and the appeal was not from me as driver, because I was not, I am the keeper/passenger only). For the operator to transfer liability for unpaid parking charges from the driver of the vehicle to the registered keeper of the vehicle, the regulations laid out in the PoFA 2012 must be adhered to and POPLA must be satisfied that the driver has been identified, regardless of appeal points made. This is a matter of statute that POPLA must look at in all cases.

As the operator has NOT met the minimum requirements of PoFA 2012 and uses non-POFA wording, POPLA can only conclude that the Parking Charge Notice was issued incorrectly, and is pursuing the wrong party. So, the keeper limits their comments to that point alone.

Feegz

Thank you so much. So if I get her to copy the top part of what you have put we may stand a chance. It's disgusting practice by then and I'm sure many will just pay the extortionate charge.....had we not paid or over stayed then I would have no issue.....you could have knocked me over with a feather after we sent proof of our ticket which was luckily still in the cargo them and the response they sent. Grrr

Coupon-mad

All the blue parts I have written there, go into the POPLA portal.

Please lobby your MP when this is all over:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/72869191#Comment_72869191

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5701131

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/parliament-discuss-unfair-parking.html

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2017-03-21/debates/382789C8-0168-4C4B-8260-0540AF83C7D3/DVLAAndPrivateCarParkingCompanies

Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)

''My constituent, Steve Mostyn, parked in the Clarkston car park. He paid his 50p and was a bit surprised to receive a penalty charge. It appeared that he had keyed in a digit wrongly; the number he had keyed in did not actually appear in the DVLA database—that registration number did not exist—but the company still fined him. He found that completely unacceptable. He thinks that the model that Smart Parking is operating is corrupt and unethical, and is particularly concerned that those who are more vulnerable and those who can perhaps least afford to pay are those who will not feel able to appeal and will just cave in. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that that is simply unacceptable?''

and

Steve Double MP (Newquay!!):

''Some hon. Members have said that they are inclined not to name the parking firms. I am going to name two, and there is a very good reason why I am going to do so. I would like the Minister’s help. My office has received many pieces of correspondence, both from local people from Newquay and tourists who have gone to Newquay on holiday, complaining about those companies’ actions and the unfair way they believe they have been treated. Despite numerous attempts by my office to contact those firms and open some constructive dialogue with them, not once have they responded. They have not got back to me or even given me the courtesy of sending a letter saying, “Please leave us alone. Go away. We don’t want to talk to you.” Never, not once, have they responded, despite my many attempts to contact them.

I am therefore more than happy to name ParkingEye and Smart Parking as the firms operating in Newquay in that way. They deserve to be named because of their refusal to respond to me as the local Member of Parliament''.

and

Drew Hendry MP:

''The current system has been built on the flawed premise of industry self-regulation, enabled by the provision of data from the DVLA. We are sharing DVLA data with companies whose practices, as we have heard from hon. Members today, are simply outrageous. I agree that it is right to call out companies such as Smart Parking, which has been mentioned several times and operates in my constituency too.

The hon. Gentleman talked about what reasonable behaviour would be, and it is certainly not reasonable behaviour to impose unreasonable fines without a real appeal process. I have had a similar experience to other hon. Members of writing to parking companies; Smart Parking was one that refused to acknowledge an MP wanting to act on behalf of a constituent. ''



The more MPs who realise this is a scam industry of fat cats that needs seriously restricting/strangling, the better. That is why we are here every day.