Smart Parking charge. ANPR Camera shows that I overstayed by 9 SECONDS!

joey9020

Can anyone give me some advice? Yet again the little man is being targeted by unscrupulous cowboy companies.

I went to Camber Sands back in September, and parked in Western Car Park, Rye. I purchased a ticket for one hour, and left on time (or so I thought). Smart Parking have since provided 'evidence' that I overstayed, or as they put it - 'insufficient paid time'. The ANPR images show my car entering the car park at 3:26:57pm, and leaving the car park at 4:27:06pm - a total stay in the car park of 1 hr and 9 seconds. Surely this can't be legitimate?

As an aside, all previous correspondence on the matter have been set to an old address (I changed my address with DVLA a short while after this supposed offence). So it is now in the hands of a debt collection agency called Debt Recovery Plus, and they are demanding a payment of £170! I told them there's no way I would be willing to pay such an exorbitant amount (infact I shouldn't be paying anything whatsoever), to which the rude woman I spoke to said I should expect court summons shortly.

Can anyone advise as to what my options are here? Surely they don't have a case (i'm paying for time parked not time in car park, haven't provided evidence of the ticket duration I purchased etc).

Umkomaas

Please read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #4 which tells you all about debt collectors and how to deal with them.

to which the rude woman I spoke to said I should expect court summons shortly.

Yeah, right. You won't be receiving any kind of 'summons'. In fact Smart have hardly ever taken anyone to court (and they issue close on 1 million parking tickets per year) and I don't think they'd chance their arm for a 9 seconds 'overstay', when they are required by the BPA’s Code of Practice to provide you with a 10 minute grace period to leave the car park.

You'll receive a few more quite harmless letters from DRP and then it will go quiet. However, you could try to head all that off with a sharp complaint to the BPA about Smart's inability to follow the Code of Practice to which they are committed as part of their membership of the BPA Accredited Operator Scheme.

Here's the Code of Practice link, read the section on Grace Periods:

https://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/BPA_AOS_CODE_OF_PRACTICE_CURRENT.pdf

Access the BPA complaints portal via their website.

Redx

Read the BPA CoP clause #13 about grace periods

Complain to the BPA as mentioned above

Ignore the debt collectors completely

No summons will arrive , it's not a criminal matter , it's a civil matter

If an MCOL arrives from the CCBC in Northampton , defend it and tell the judge about the BPA CoP grace periods , let the idiots waste their money and claim your costs

Keep all paperwork for 6 years

Don't phone anyone again , especially not debt collectors

joey9020

Thank you so much for your response. Just had a look at clause 13.2 within Grace periods and it clearly outlines that a minimum of 10 minutes must be provided.

Out of principle I'll take it up with the BPA directly

nosferatu1001

Absolutely
Ask them what sanctions they will impose for this obvious breach of the CoP

joey9020

As childish as it is, I would love to ring back the debt collection agency and have it out with them. I'll follow your advice though and refrain.

It's comforting to know that if they choose to pursue this further then i'm covered by the code of practice that they adhere to already.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Redx

For a paid for period , authorising the parking , it's 2 grace periods , so as well as the ten minutes or more to exit the car park , it's say 5 to 10 minutes at the beginning to enter , park up , read the signs and pay for parking

The parking period commences at the point of sale as you purchase the ticket , backed up by a court ruling about it

Therefore , the grace period can be up to say 20 minutes , not 8 or less seconds

So a strong complaint to the BPA is in order attaching a copy of your ntk to the complaint, plus stand your ground to these cheeky b********s

The_Slithy_Tove

Before you embark on these complaints, you need to check one thing:
Was the correct VRN entered into the machine in the car park? If you still have the ticket from the machine, check it.

Even the ironically named Smart Parking are unlikely to be dumb enough to pursue this on the facts as we see them so far. More common is a mismatch between what was entered into the machine, and what the number plate actually is. No match = no payment (or, as they may put it, insufficient payment) for the actual car.

beamerguy

joey9020 wrote: »

As childish as it is, I would love to ring back the debt collection agency and have it out with them. I'll follow your advice though and refrain.

It's comforting to know that if they choose to pursue this further then i'm covered by the code of practice that they adhere to already.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Don't bother with the debt collector, they are brain dead and you will get more sense from a monkey at the zoo. You could send them a banana in the post with instructions how to use it ?

The_Deep

they are demanding a payment of £170!

More than allowed by law, this read,

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Read what Pete Wishart MP said recently in the House of commons about Smart Parking.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]"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." [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] [FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP as it can cause the scammer extra costs and work, and has been known to get the charge cancelled.

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.

[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]

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






[/FONT]

joey9020

The_Slithy_Tove wrote: »

Before you embark on these complaints, you need to check one thing:
Was the correct VRN entered into the machine in the car park? If you still have the ticket from the machine, check it.

Even the ironically named Smart Parking are unlikely to be dumb enough to pursue this on the facts as we see them so far. More common is a mismatch between what you entered into the machine, and what your number plate actually is. No match = no payment (or, as they may put it, insufficient payment) for the actual car.

Unfortunately I don't have the ticket in my possession anymore, didn't think there was any point in holding onto it. I guess the onus is probably on them though to provide evidence that I did incorrectly input VRN, or chose less than 1 hr duration...