Private parking fines

Ranksruby

Hi all
Just been issued 11 private parking fines each going to be £100 as definitely not paying them they are in the hands of popla atm. Hoping they will realise the absurdity of them. I am a dog walker and help a man who is very ill with Parkinsons I have to drive through a car park (and they have clocked me going in and out of their site) to get to the clients car park (there is no other way to get to it) surely to god they will realise its a mistake but my word against theirs that I wasn't parking in their spot. I am going to fight this as so frustrated but don't know how much solicitors/court costs will be? Any legal people on her for advice will they issue each parking fine separately? Anybody any idea on costs for everything ? Thanks in advance

D_P_Dance

It looks as though they would be on a hiding to nothing if they took this to court, so why not let them.All your qyestions are answered in the newbie threads and/or the internet .

It is not a fine, it is an invoice from an ex-clamper to compensate them for the alleged harm they suffered when you did what you did. We call it a scam. Pay them not a penny unless a judge so orders it.

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP., it can cause the scammer extra costs, and in some cases, cancellation. 

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 later this year,

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

Ranksruby

Thank you. Knowing my luck at the moment I will probably lose at court but not going to pay a penny in the meantime just need an idea on the costs side to be ready for them and it's not a nasty shock at the end of it all if I did lose but I can't see why I would. Tia

D_P_Dance

If you win you get c@ £100, if they win they get £100 a ticket plus about £50  court costs, but why should you lose?  Why are you not reading the stickues/using a   search engine.  

beamerguy

Of course you are not going to pay, not on our watch

Who is the parking company ?
What type of car park is it ? such as a retail site ? Where is it ?
Please explain a lot more

Ranksruby

All this forum is totally new to me so apologies if not reading things properly. The company is called Smart Parking Limited and the car park in question used to be a pub car park in West Yorkshire but someone owns it now hence the meters that have gone up think only a few weeks ago.  Just feels like a total kick in the teeth with it all and on my mind. The poor guy wanted me to help him again after lock down as struggling with his dog who he lives for and he missed me lol. I have lost my dad, a cousin, now main carer for my mum with mental health issues, buying and selling a house for her (I am an only child) and now these stupid fines all in 4 months oh yes and a mum to two teenage boys that's the nail in the coffin ha but these fines I could do without. I am a stubborn mule and won't pay them but as my mother in law said yesterday it could costs thousands if I lose as its not just one £100 parking fine we are talking about 

D_P_Dance

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.

Ranksruby

Wow imagine just one person in itself to manage these robbing scoundrels

Umkomaas

Do you have 11 separate Notices to Keeper (NtK)?  If so you need to appeal each one separately to start the ball rolling. Use the blue text initial appeal template from the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, first post, unaltered, nothing about any of the circumstances you've listed above - none of them!  They are irrelevant in dealing with this. As Smart do not use the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Schedule 4) to pursue the vehicle's keeper, there is an 'out' for you at POPLA ..... if you play this correctly. What is the date of the earliest NtK?

Fruitcake

You have neither received any fines or penalties, but have instead received a number of invoices.

What happened when you complained to the landowner?
Have you complained to your MP yet about this unregulated scam?
Have you complained to the DVLA yet?  The scammers had no business obtaining the keeper's personal data  which is both a data protection breach and a DVLA KADOE contract breach. Include proof that the car park in question is the only vehicular access available, and that no parking event ever occurred. 
If you have location tracking on a smartphone, or a dashcam, include that evidence as proof that no parking event occurred.

If you received individual court claims, you would have the opportunity to have them all consolidated, but you would get all the help you need to fight it from this forum.
It's a shame you didn't come here first, but that cannot now be helped.

What did you put in your appeals?
Have you appealed each one separately?
Have you received the scammer's evidence yet so you can rebut it?
Did you take pics of the site and signage?

Ranksruby

Hey yes we have appealed them all separately through Smart Parking now to Popla. We got them all through the post the first one where we was allegedly parking in their space was 12th June and the notice that came through the door was dated 6th July.