PCN Smart Parking/DRP Help

ian2ft

Hi please help.

I used the fantasy island extra car park in Ingoldmells, Skegness on 08/07/2018. I paid for several hours and left at least 2 hours before my ticket ran out. However a few weeks after, i received a letter stating I have received a parking charge notice from a company called "smart parking" the letter stated I had paid for insufficient time and included a picture of my car and number plate leaving the car park.
I contacted smart parking via email and they said there payment system confirms i paid for 120 minutes but stayed for 169 minutes, however no proof was given to show this. I know for a fact that I paid for more than enough time as when leaving I was going to offer my ticket to another car before realising i couldn't because the tickets were issued with car number plates on. Unfortunately i did not keep my ticket and cannot prove that I paid accordingly.

since then i have received numerous more letters from a company called "debt recovery plus ltd" threatening court action. The charge is now £160 as I have not responded/paid. the most recent letter states that the last day i can contact them to set up a payment plan is tomorrow.

Has anyone had a similar situation? Ive looked online and seen that many other people have had issues with the same car park company and i have also seen online that its recommended to ignore parking charge notices because they are not actual fines or "penalty charge notices".

As they are now threatening court action, I am not sure what to do. I work in a bank and do not want this affecting my job but i refuse to pay this ridiculous sum for something I know I didn't do, however as i have no longer got the parking ticket, I don't have anything to prove it? I have seen that this car park has been investigated in the past for the exact same reason.

Can anyone help or offer advice as to what i need to do?

Thanks in advance

Fruitcake

The advice to ignore has not been given here since the law changed in 2012. You have been reading old out of date advice.

Everything you need to know about this unregulated scam can be found in the sticky thread for NEWBIES that was just underneath where you clicked the button.

Once you have spent time reading this you will know what to do about powerless deb collectors.

beamerguy

since then i have received numerous more letters from a company called "debt recovery plus ltd" threatening court action. The charge is now £160 as I have not responded/paid. the most recent letter states that the last day i can contact them to set up a payment plan is tomorrow.

DRP TRYING TO SCAM PEOPLE AGAIN ????
Take no notice of this pathetic bunch of money scammers
100% POWERLESS MORONS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74439905#Comment_74439905

IGNORE DRP and wait to see what smart do.

Le_Kirk

Send a SAR under GDPR rules to Smart and ask for all and any data they hold about you, including but not limited to the data from the PDT machine referencing your VRN AB12CDE on 08/07/2018 at or about the time stated on the PCN. Send a copy of the PCN and a COPY of your V5C to prove who you are. Any acronyms you don't understand are in post # 5 of the NEWBIE sticky.

Umkomaas

Just a guess - Smart operate on some car parks where parking for the first 3 hours is free and no ticket is required. But if you want to stay for x further hours you need to purchase a ticket priced from a table of charges at the time of parking up, or just before the first 3 free, ticketless hours expire.

It's at this stage you have to enter your VRN. If you entered an incorrect VRN - even one incorrect digit, including 0/O slips - the system doesn't marry up the ANPR image of your VRN and what you've input. PCN automatically on the way.

As I said it's a guess, but a plausible one to perhaps answer why you've received the PCN.

Do you still have the ticket from the P&D machine?

Whatever the reason, as you're at the debt collector stage, you just continue to ignore, unless you receive court papers from Smart - the chances of which are extremely remote.