POPLA appeal unsuccessful (Smart Parking Ltd)

Con1750

Hello,

Just looking for some advice regarding a PCN I received. This has gone through the appeal stage and over to POPLA after who have then ruled against it.

Unfortunately I hadn't found this forum and the advice given here before doing both appeals.

Basically I received a ticket when visiting a friends flat the parking has ANPR there and requires a check in when entering the residence on an iPad in the foyer. After entering the car reg it just simply says "Registration Validated" no receipt is given or proof of parking or anything. All good, then a ticket turns up a few weeks later in the post saying they had no record of my reg being entered. I was pretty annoyed as i've parked here a bunch of times after and not received a ticket.

Do I have any other options at this point? I'm not so worried about the cash just don't want to give these clowns any of my money as it just seems like an unfair cash grab to me. I can post up the appeal if need be.

Thanks in advance

Redx

no you do not have any options , unless you can get the landowner or managing agent to cancel it

the claimant has 6 years to issue a court case to claim their money


you have the right to email a SAR to the DPO at not so SMART and obtain all your data , including redacted records from the PDT machine around the time the VRM was entered

Con1750

Redx wrote: »

no you do not have any options , unless you can get the landowner or managing agent to cancel it

the claimant has 6 years to issue a court case to claim their money


you have the right to email a SAR to the DPO at not so SMART and obtain all your data , including redacted records from the PDT machine around the time the VRM was entered

Thank you for the prompt response Redx, I'll file a SAR to smart parking to get the data. Do you have any experience with Smart and are they likely to even bother with small claims court? The PCN was only for £60 then upped to £100 after the initial period.

KeithP

Con1750 wrote: »

The PCN was only for £60 then upped to £100 after the initial period.

I'm sure you meant to say:

The PCN was for £100 but reduced to £60 for the initial period.

Redx

I have never received a private parking ticket, so my experience is from helping others in the family , plus friends , plus on here too

they may try court , yes, they have 6 years to decide

the PCN was not £60 and upped to £100 , it was always £100 (as seen on their signage and on the NTK) and was reduced by 40% for early payment within 14 days, as per the BPA CoP, before reverting back to the default tariff of £100 , which is where it stands now

Con1750

Redx wrote: »

I have never received a private parking ticket, so my experience is from helping others in the family , plus friends , plus on here too

they may try court , yes, they have 6 years to decide

the PCN was not £60 and upped to £100 , it was always £100 (as seen on their signage and on the NTK) and was reduced by 40% for early payment within 14 days, as per the BPA CoP, before reverting back to the default tariff of £100 , which is where it stands now

Thank you for the response again, based on this would you recommend just waiting to hear from them before forking over the money?

I've submitted a SAR request to them via email so will see what they come up with.

Quentin

No-one here will advise you to fork up!


You are now in the debt collector stage - all explained in the Newbies FAQ thread - see post #4


Ignore everything except a lbcca or Court correspondence


If it comes to that then come back to the FAQ for advice on how to defend a court claim at that time

Redx

As above, we won't tell you what to do, just advise you on facts for you to make up your own mind

Umkomaas

I wouldn't be overly worried about Smart starting a court claim against you. They had a bit of a dabble a couple of years ago, but ran away when faced with a robust defence. We've seen nothing of them on the court front since then.

The last time figures were produced, Smart were issuing around three quarters of a million tickets a year, with only a handful (a couple of dozen or so) court claims issued, most simply fizzling out. I rather suspect your single, one-off ticket is not high on their priority list!

But they do have 6 years to pursue, and I don't think we can ever say 'never', but I personally wouldn't be losing any sleep over it. You'll have plenty of notice if they do issue proceedings.

Your main danger would be if you moved house, and as Smart only have your current address, if they issued proceedings, they would go to your former (present) address. If they are not responded to, you risk a CCJ and major credit problems.

So if you do move in the next 6 years, you must write formally to Smart to inform them of your new address. Come back on this thread if you do move, and we'll talk you through things then, if necessary.

Con1750

Thanks for the replies everyone, pretty helpful. I'll see if they write to me again. I've had some papers through following my SAR request.

The_Deep

Read what Pete Wishart MP said recently in the House of commons about Smart Parking

"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."

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams so consider complaining to your MP.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.