Smart Parking

Redx

All debt collector letters should be ignored regarding private parking , it's been that way for over a decade and nothing has changed , so disregard them , they are powerless and nothing will happen , just file them away

They (Smart)might do , nothing can be guaranteed one way or the other

But given what you said you have a good and acceptable case to put to a judge

That you complied as soon as you were able to do so , paid for parking , and grace periods plus the CRA 2015 cover it , so a trivial matter and one that should not punish you at all

I doubt they will issue a court case , but come back to this thread for help if you receive a court claim pack from the CCBC in Northampton , within the 6 years allowed

The_Deep

I need advice today as I got a letter from Debt Recovery Plus last Tuesday (14/01/20) giving me until tomorrow (21/01/20) t ito pay my £160 debt...

You owe no-one anything unless a judge says so, read what [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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, 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]

Sfletcher4

So do I need to send one of those example letters to Smart Parking on the grounds of what is said here by lazydaisy?

I know previous advice has always been to ignore debt collector letters, and I agree that has been good advice until now.

But I am now coming to the conclusion that posters should be advised to respond robustly to ANY letter from a debt collector - not just the last one that threatens court action.

Why?

1 PPCs are becoming increasingly litigious
2 Ignoring debt collector letters is likely to result in the PPC marking the motorist as an easy target and issuing an LBC
3 A significant number of posters who ignore these letters seem to go on to ignore LBCs, and only seek help when the court papers drop through the letter box, so encouraging a response now, should also result in a higher number challenging the LBC, thus giving them a better chance of avoiding court action.

In short, I think it is time for the 'hot potato' process to start at an earlier stage in the process.

I have posted a couple of letters on recent threads today, which are reposted below for ease of reference.

Sfletcher4

Wow, thanks Deep.
Unfortunately I was on holiday for a few days in Dawlish and I am from Bromsgrove. It poured with rain the whole time that we were there and we needed to take the kids somewhere. It was dark and rainy when we got there (Tenpin Bowling) and I didn't think to look at the signs. It just worried me that I knew that I had been in the car park outside of what I had paid for, albeit 11 minutes before and 4 minutes after. Makes the parking guys in council car parks look like good guys for at least doing a circuit of the carpark before the give you a ticket.

Castle

Sfletcher4 wrote: »

Today, I have managed to get in touch with Smart Parking after 19 minutes waiting (@7p per minute) who eventually told me that I entered the car park at 1540 and left at 1756. The time that I had paid for was 1552 - 1752.

You do realise that they are using two different clocks, which are not synchronised.

Sfletcher4

No.
So you mean that would be against them if they tried to take me to court?

Castle

Sfletcher4 wrote: »

No.
So you mean that would be against them if they tried to take me to court?

Yes; but as Redx mentioned in post 12, I also can't see them issuing a claim; given that parking was paid for.

Sfletcher4

So in that case then, I'll do nothing except file any correspondence and wait for (hopefully) nothing.
Thanks

Redx

the lazydaisy thread is old and out of date


just ignore for now, disregard debt collection letters , come back if you receive a court claim , the world wont fall in during the interim period


its the court claim (if ever it happens) you need help with , not these spam letters

Sfletcher4

Thats brilliant.
What amazing service and advice.
Thank you so much everyone. I've been educated and de-panicked.