Smart Parking Charge Notice - Pay By Mobile issue

nm411206

I was hoping on some advice from those with a greater knowledge on this excellent forum as I fear by acting before discovering this platform I may well have burnt my bridges to have my PCN rescinded. I've just read the newbies section and all the great advice and the various links as instructed, that will serve me well moving forward, but did not find the answer to the situation I find myself in now.

In short.... I was on holiday in Cornwall in September and we took a day trip over to Newquay and used the car park on Fistral Beach. Its out of the way of the town so no cash points that I found on site and as we had no cash with us we attempted to use the Pay By Mobile option as the paying machine did not accept cards. We called the advertised number quoting the location code a total of 7 times between 15:25 and 16:02pm only to get the same incorrect message every time.

'2519 Bedworth Railway Station. Please note parking at this location is free all day today so there's no need to pay at this time'.

My car is leased from Arval (who are registered keepers of the vehicle) and sure enough a few days after getting home they contacted me via email (charging me an additional £15 admin on my monthly rental) to say they had received a penalty charge notice from Smart parking for £60. As they quoted the PCN number and website I foolishly perhaps went to the Smart Parking website to view the fine and clicked on the appeal button onsite and basically quoted the details I've posted above regarding being unable to pay by phone due to the message incorrectly stating it was Bedworth railway station and free all day. Unfortunately as I had not found this forum and newbie advice at this point I guess i accepted that I was the driver as I completed the personal details section with the appeal. (schoolboy error I know now!)

I was nominated by the lease company in any case and the fine was issued directly to me in my name.
This morning the response to my online appeal arrived from Smart Parking advising they were upholding the PCN charge according with Ts and Cs advertised. They acknowledge my appeal, but cannot rescind the PCN on this basis. They confirm that the contravention occurred as their payment system confirms no ticket was purchased. I explained in my appeal why this was not possible. This is therefore a breach of advertised Ts and Cs and they have no option but to uphold the PCN.
It goes on to say I can appeal via POPLA, but warn in doing so I will fall out the discount period and the fine will be increased to £100 plus £10 admin fee if not received within 28 days.
So basically, by jumping the gun and appealing directly on the Smart Parking website have I burnt my bridges or is there any hope of appealing via POPLA? I definitely cannot afford £100 (£60 is a struggle) and I'm concerned if I just ignore it I could get issued defaults and CCJ as they have all my details.
If anyone can help with this predicament I would be very grateful?
Thanks in advance

twhitehousescat

I had a friend that was in simular situation to you

I told him them read a thread that was called
**NEWBIES!! PRIVATE PARKING TICKET? OLD OR NEW? **READ THESE FAQS FIRST!** Thankyou!

they did , they read it , they understood it , they acted as it suggested

last time I saw them they were happy , swimming with dolphins and riding a push bike all year round with no "unsightly worries "



try reading it

nm411206

Yes, thanks for the advice.
I think I mentioned that I read that thread and associated links etc.... There's a wealth of great information on there but I couldn't find anything related to my situation.
I knew I had to buy a ticket, but the means to pay was not there and was in fact telling me in error that the parking was free all day.
Could you perhaps direct me to the section that will cover this area?
Thanks again....

nosferatu1001

Youre skim reading. Because right at the start it tells you NOT to look for an exact match

You do what everyone does

FIrst - edit your post. THE DRIVER parked. THE DRIVER tried to pay... etc. NOONE must be able to work out who parked the car. Thata is crucial, and if you want to lose, argue the point.

Second - submit the standard blue appeal
SMART either accept or reject

If they reject, THIRDLY you appeal to POPLA and win.


ITs SMART. Insanely easy to beat them.

nm411206

Thanks for the reply.
Apologies I'm not 100% clear on what you are saying. Just to clarify...
I did already appeal online at the smart parking site and they rejected it and have issues a POPLA code. I should have supplied the standard blue appeal as you say but I had already jumped the gun before I found this site. By doing so I completed the personal details so does this implicate me as the driver. The fleet company already nominated me anyway so thats good they are out of the loop altogether now.
I'm trying to establish if I have a case as I don't want to appeal via POPLA and lose if I have no chance and then have to pay the inflated charge. I mean I tried to pay, but can they not argue I should have not parked there if I couldn't pay with cash. The crux of my argument is that it stated it was free all day even though it incorrectly recognised the location as Bedford railway station.
Thanks

Redx

the fleet nominated you as hirer or lessee or keeper, not as driver

the last few paragraphs of post #1 of the NEWBIES thread detail how to deal with hire vehicles, written by expert edna basher (I do not believe you have read his advice at all)

sometimes a driver appeal is better because they can talk about what happened on the day, but this only works in landowner complaints or in court , not at popla (and as a driver POFA2012 offers nothing, no protections at all)

popla wont care about "what happened on the day", just legal arguments

nobody can tell you about your legal case, consult a solicitor if you want legal advice

as for POPLA, if you can contruct a good popla appeal where you can win on a technicality, then yes you may well win , possibly on "frustration of contract" (look it up by using the search)

in future, avoid naming or inferring who was driving

nm411206

In appealing online at smart parking I didn't use third party language such as 'the driver' etc. but I used the first person so I guess i'm implicated as the driver.
Its whether or not I have decent grounds to appeal as I still was onsite for 101 mins despite making numerous calls to pay.
Thanks

Redx

where a lease vehicle is concerned, the lessee usually has the protection of POFA2012 because the PPC dont get copies of the hire docs nor copy them and issue with the NTH


if you inferred that you were driving, then POFA2012 cannot help you and POPLA will not care about what happened on the day


to win at popla , you need a legal argument, to win on a T.K.O.


you do not seem to understand this basic concept yet


at the moment, you are just digging a deeper hole with all the "what happened on the day"

nm411206

Yes thanks and understood Redx...
I get that I should not have identified myself as the driver in the first instance which is good knowledge for the future and I also understand about the nominated driver/ hirer aspects, but again I inadvertently nominated myself as driver so the situation is it is not really disputed that I was driving.
They've rejected the appeal (as I guess they do this most times for people who don't use that blue template on the newbies thread).
POPLA is not interested in what happened on the day, only a technicality or possibly a legal argument... I'm not sure if I have one... was hoping someone would advise?
I will also look up frustration of contract, seems like the only avenue to go down now, but all things are pointing to cough up the £60 and move on. If it happens again I'll will certainly know what to do, but at this stage by putting my foot wrong at the early stages of the appeal perhaps I burnt my bridges.
Appreciate all the advice and pointers... great site.