DRP unauthorised parking charge

ds3155

Hello,

I'm going to start with an apology, if a similar scenario is somewhere else please send me a link to where it is, I have looked. But struggled. i have read the newbie sticky thread but im pretty sure that began with parking tickets, which i didnt get at all as i was in the car the whole time i was there.
I have received a few letters for unauthorised parking, which is correct you cant park there. This was my fault but was at a location that was shut and wouldn't be open until the following day.( you might argue no excuse but ive certainly learnt my lesson) I haven't been back since but i get the impression you cant park there at all. They did also provide photos of the vehicle arriving and leaving.

Ive read the previous posts about ignoring drp until it gets passed to smart and when you get a letter of intended court action. which ive done so far. But am getting worried given the 'evidence'.

I am not the owner of the vehicle so the letter is not addressed to me by name but obviously the individual isnt impressed. the second to last letter from DRP was a notice of intended court action and that it was being passed to the creditor smart parking.

The most recent letter was an offer to pay unpaid parking charges by instalments which seems out of sync given the letter that preceded it.

shall i pay it? or send a letter of complaint etc

Any help/direction is greatly appreciated

thanks

The_Deep

Pay them no one shilling unless so instructed by a judge.

You should advise the Registered Keeper that he/she should inform Smart Parking that you were the driver, he should do it by post and obtain a free Certificate of Posting. That way, if anyone gets taken to court, it will be you.

Read what an MP said in the House of Commons last month about thes scammers.

Pete Wishart (SNP, Perth):

"I am sick and tired of receiving emails from people complaining about the behaviour of parking companies, telling me that they will never again visit Perth city centre because of the negative experience they had when they had the misfortune to end up in a car park operated by one of these companies. I have received more complaints about one car park in the city of Perth than about any other issue. That car park is operated by the lone ranger of the parking cowboys: the hated and appalling Smart Parking—I see that many other Members are unfortunate enough to have Smart Parking operating in their constituencies. It has reached the stage where one member of my staff now spends a good part of each day just helping my constituents and visitors to my constituency to navigate the appeals process.
…
The BPA does not have the ability to regulate these companies and has shown no sign whatsoever that it is trying to get on top of some of the sharper practices. The BPA gives a veneer of legitimacy to some of the more outlandish rogue operators by including them in their membership, allowing them to continue to operate. The Bill will oblige operators such as Smart Parking to amend their practices."

If you want to complain, do so to your own MP.

It is the will of Parliament that these scammers be put out of business. Hopefully that will take place in the near future. The Bill has passed through the HOC without hitch, and goes to the Lords soon. In the meantime involve your MP, the poor dears are buckling under the weight of complaints about these scammers. Read this one which I wrote earlier

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of alleged contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors. Is has been suggested by an MP that some of these companies may have connections to organised crime.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, (especially Smart}, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week), hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers.

Sir Greg Knight's Private Members Bill to curb the excesses, and perhaps close down, some of these companies passed its Third Reading in late November, and, with a fair wind, will become Law next year.

All three readings are available to watch on the internet, (some 6-7 hours), and published in Hansard. MPs have an extremely low opinion of the industry. Many are complaining that they are becoming overwhelmed by complaints from members of the public. Add to their burden, complain in the most robust terms about the scammers.

ds3155

thanks will continue to ignore and send the letter you mention. Should I get the registered to keeper to name me or just that it wasnt the keeper driving?