Smart Parking help

Nattylou74

My dad has received a letter from Smart Parking about a "parking infringement" on 30th June. The letter was dated 9th July, but wasn't received until 17th July. This was also followed up on 30th August by a letter from Debt Recovery Plus. Unfortunately, my parents were out of the country from 12th July to 17th September so have only just opened their mail and found these letters. My dad is 73 and very easily confused.  The letters have scared both him and my mum, both on a basic pension, and don't have £170 to spare. They are terrified that they are going to go to jail or get a "black mark" on their perfect credit file. Please can someone help me to help them. Thank you so much 

pogofish

So so this is a DRP thread, not Smart Parking...?

Post Four of the Newbies Sticky tells you all about them and the rest of the thread will inform and lay out your remaining options, which pretty much means you need to sit tight for the next six years to see if they try a court claim.
You can use that time to put together a decent defence.

Redx

and nobody is "going to jail" , its a civil action, so at most they would owe less than £200 , except smart DO NOT KNOW WHO WAS DRIVING SO KEEP IT THAT WAY

IGNORE DRPL

READ THE NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread near the top of this forum

Coupon-mad

What you need to do is reply as Dad, giving YOUR POSTAL ADDRESS INSTEAD, telling Smart Parking that the keeper (NOT DRIVER, OBVIOUSLY...) has been away, knows nothing about this and please can Smart Parking note their current address for service is as above.   Ask for a POPLA code (you probably won't get one but at least all the letters will arrive to your house now).  If one of them has a Blue Badge, append a copy of that too - cover the photo or ID code to protect it from misuse/copying.

DO NOT SAY WHO PARKED. 

You can tell Dad you've written an appeal (true) and they should hear no more (true - you will but they won't).  You MUST NOT write in your name, you are replying as the keeper (Dad) but giving your address.

You already know from reading the NEWBIES thread that Smart don't use the POFA and why that means the keeper isn't liable. 

Easy one. When you've done the above to protect them from the letters, do TWO MORE THINGS:

(1) complain to the retailers and point out that the occupants of the car are elderly (frail, slow? disabled?) and need more time and should have their car added to a 'white/exempt list' for the store to stop this ever happening again. And demand the store cancel the PCN for your family if they want you to return ever again.


(2) AND - please now make a real difference - A TASK FOR SEPTEMBER.

The Government is (this month only) consulting about a new statutory code of practice (CoP) and framework to rein in the rogue parking firms.  Read and comment on the draft CoP proposal and the enforcement framework consultation, and get everyone you know to do the same.

You will need to register to comment on the CoP and enter an occupation even if you are retired or a homemaker, but otherwise it is easy to navigate, and comment upon each section/subsection individually. You can save comments to edit later and or submit comments once you are happy with them.

https://standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com/projects/2020-00193#/section

You do not need to register to comment on the enforcement framework which can be found here. It has a link on page 5 to make comments.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/913272/Code_Enforcement_Framework_consultation.pdf

At the very least, we say the parking charge level should be £50/£25 or higher level £70/£35, as per Council PCNs in E&W.  

And we say the added fake 'debt recovery' costs are just double counting the cost of letters, and MUST GO because that is unfair and illegal.

Please be heard.  You can bet the hundreds of PPCs will be commenting.

No apologies for repeating this vital 'call for action' to consumers, on every thread this month!

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.

Nattylou74

Update. I sent copies of their evidence to smart Parking as part of their appeal and have heard nothing back. However my dad has received another letter from the debt collection agency. He is extremely concerned about the possible impact on his credit score. What do you suggest I do now? 

Redx

File the debt collector letter , it's covered in the 4th post in the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum

Debt collectors are powerless , do not give them importance because they are not , they should be disregarded and you have already been told to disregard drpl letters !!

Nothing is going to happen from a debt collector , only from Smart Parking or their legal representative s , nobody else. It needs a loss in court and non payment of the judgment within one month before his credit rating is affected. It hasn't been to court , so nothing will happen to his credit score !!

Carry on with all previous advice , remembering to disregard debt collector letters and not bother us with them either , because we are sick of seeing them and repeating ourselves

Learn what is important , also learning what is trivial too , nobody here is interested in debt collector letters

File away and ignore , it's that simple

Coupon-mad

Did you miss the pictures of these useless letters in post #4 of the NEWBIES thread? There is no effect on his credit rating.